[Midweek text message from a friend: “Dude, what’s up with all the folk recently on Buzz Bands?” Noted.] The Stone Foxes have blasted out of the Bay Area with scuzzy but hooky take on bluesy garage rock – edgy, sometimes twangy stuff that might make you think the these twentysomethings have warrants out for their […]
Singer/dancer/actress/pitchwoman Gavin Turek – she of the massive curls who’s the spokesperson for the Rimmel London cosmetics line – has aligned with local imprint Sonata Cantata Records to release her first album. But before that, she’s exercised her electro jones on one of her favorite duos, NYC’s Ratatat. Turek is releasing a free EP of […]
If the forests made music, it would sound like Colorado’s Candy Claws. The duo of Ryan Hover and Kay Bertholf, which expands to a thicket of musicians when they tour, trade in lush, intricately arranged orchestral pop with vocals so hushed you need to wait for the wind to die down to hear them. They’ve […]
[Happy birthday, Geddy Lee … and here’s what’s up on our happy Thursday:] Top 4 shows to not-so-surreptitiously tweet from: ‣ Brooklyn’s Here We Go Magic, whose thicket of hypnotic beats, dizzying synths and spry melodies coalesce nicely on their sophomore album “Pigeons,” visits the Troubadour (with Beach Fossils opening). That’s HWGM’s video for “Collector,” […]
Missouri-born, Denver-based singer-songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff pens songs as provocative as novels, thick with details, characters and unexpected twists. His new album “In Memory of Loss,” out now on Rounder Records, is a collection of vivid memories and naked words about the future, produced by Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Califone). Sparse, organic instrumentation and gorgeous […]
The new single from Kisses – the collaboration between Princeton’s Jess Kivel and his girlfriend Zinzi Edmundson – is even better than the first (which we took a shine to back in March). “People Can Do the Most Amazing Things” (out next week digitally and on 7-inch vinyl on IAMSOUND Records) is a sleek, simmering […]
[Raising a glass to Juliana Hatfield on her birthday …] Five mp3s, with tonight’s corresponding shows: ‣ Polls, “Executive Toys.” The L.A. noise-pop trio celebrates its EP release at the Bootleg Theater. [See last week’s feature for more.] ‣ Jesca Hoop, “Feast of the Heart” (e-mail required). The songstress and former Tom Waits nanny celebrates […]
It’s been two-plus years since I happily stumbled upon Funeral Party at the Echo, and more than a year since I talked to James Torres about how fast the L.A. quintet was growing up. Since then, they’ve been busy – polishing their previously DIY sound, preparing their debut album “Golden Age of Nowhere” (which won’t […]
Villagers is the nom de musique of Dun Laoghaire poet and songwriter Conor O’Brien. His debut album “Becoming A Jackal” (out now on Domino) is on the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize, garnering rave reviews from heavyweight press and topping the charts in his native Ireland. O’Brien stilled a garrulous media audience at the Mercury nomination […]
Adding more feel-good entries to this summer’s retro-pop parade is New Jersey’s Slow Animal, whose theFUNsun 7” was just released on L.A.’s own JAXART label. Full of jangly, surf-style guitars, fuzzed-out vocals and a smattering of vintage-sounding oohs and ahs, Slow Animal’s blissed-out tunes feel right at home with the likes of Surfer Blood and […]
