[Another installment of the new L.A. sounds series …] L.A. five-piece Vanaprasta is working on its debut album, “Healthy Geometry,” and what I’ve heard so far points to a familiar but welcome take on 1990s indie rock – gnarly guitar interplay from Collin Desha and Cameron Dmytryk, arresting rhythms courtesy of Taylor Brown and Ben […]
Jonneine Zapata casts herself as something of a mystery woman, and it’s not just the icy, inhabited-by-the-music glare she projects onstage. The L.A.-singer will have you believe that with little more music training than the exposure to Mom’s record collection (heavy on the Motown) and childhood sing-alongs she has arrived where she is today, fronting […]
[Birthday cheers to Steve Tyler, even if Blender magazine won’t be celebrating any more …] I’ll start with a couple of fun-sounding under-the-radar things: Canadian genre-hoppers Hot Panda [pictured] plays the early set at the Silverlake Lounge. Then there is the electro-cool Alaska in Winter at Bordello. [Sample both below]. … Rosemary’s Garden, the new […]
[One in a series highlighting new music from SoCal artists …] Eric Maroldo explains that his music moniker the One and the Other refers to the duality between love and fear. The former Viper Room DJ overcame a lot of latter when he recorded “Montreal MM:0110” with friends in that Canadian city. His electro-sprinkled indie […]
[Happy Monday. Here are some new sounds that reached my ears:] What does O+S equal? The duo – a seemingly unlikely collaboration between Azure Ray’s Orenda Fink and Scalpelist (Cedric LeMoyne of Remy Zero) – has given birth to a self-titled album (due March 24 on Saddle Creek) of understated but cinematic pop. Many of […]
[Happy birthday to Nancy Wilson from Heart … Now, to a great slate of shows:] Bands, bands, from distant lands: The Soundtrack of Our Lives [pictured], those Swedish purveyors of psychedelic power-pop, are back with a new album, “Communion” (on Yep Roc), their first effort in four years. And quite an effort it is – […]
[New flavors for your iPod, have a taste …] Matthew Houck, who makes music as Phosphorescent, creates sepia-toned Americana that’s seemingly wired straight to the soul. His February release “To Willie” is a musical homage to Willie Nelson, much in the same vein as was Nelson’s 1975 nod to Lefty Frizell, “To Lefty From Willie.” […]
[Birthday candles Sunday for both Ry Cooder and Sly Stone on what will be a very busy weekend …] Tonight: Van Nuys-based imprint Hopeless/Sub City Records has been doing good things for years with its charity outreach, and its eight annual Take Action Tour, with DoSomething.org as this year’s beneficiary (the group will get three […]
[One of the Airborne Toxic Event’s new fans (see DJ picks), Adam Clayton of U2, celebrates a birthday today. Now, to highlight a few of the avalanche of good shows tonight …] Syd Straw has always been a marvel, whether lending her voice to the amazing Golden Palominos or fashioning solo work that is as […]
Sometimes Andrew Lynch seems like he’s everywhere. And maybe he is. The multi-instrumentalist has played alongside, or worked in the studio with, Afternoons, the Amateurs, the Black Pine, Castledoor, Earlimart, the Poor Excuses and Radars to the Sky, to name a handful. The Alaska native’s solo work merits attention too, for its occasionally playful and […]
