Every time I think mash-up artists are just dudes with too much time on their hands, something like Jaydiohead comes along. The handiwork of New York City DJ Minty Fresh Beats, the music melds Jay-Z and Radiohead. MTV.com has the full story. There’s been no beef (yet) from either artist’s camp, so you can download […]
Late-arriving holiday card hit my inbox on Christmas Eve, courtesy of the Lilys and L.A.’s Lone Palm Studio — a cover of the 19th-century carol about a 10th-century Bohemian. Some quick research tells me this song has been covered by an interesting array of pop artists. Add this psych-pop version to the list: ||| Download: […]
What’s next for for Dntel/James Figurine/Figurine main man Jimmy Tamborello? He says he’s collaborating with L.A. songstress Mia Doi Todd on a yet-to-be-named project. “I’ve given her songs that she’s writing to,” he says of the singer-songwriter, who released her seventh album, “GEA,” earlier this year. In other news, Tamborello refused to rule out an […]
[Quick notes for a Friday morning … ] ‣ I’ll miss the puppets too. L.A. three-piece the Spores, who combined brash electro-rock with a wildly theatrical stage presentation that included edgy and fanciful puppet characters, have called it quits after five years. ‣ The Blur reunion seems to have everybody atwitter — and wouldn’t their […]
On the cover of Obi Best’s debut album “Capades,” singer-songwriter Alex Lilly, faraway look in her eyes, is pictured in the tentative embrace of three figures sheathed in dark cloth. It’s an homage to her song “Who Loves You Now,” which trundles through a lot of loves lost in 4 minutes 28 seconds. “Those are […]
[Thirty years ago, Chic’s “Le Freak” started a six-week run at No. 1, but who knew Slash was a fan?] Just because Nov. 4 has come and gone doesn’t mean that Tom Morello’s protest music is somehow passé. Appearing as the Nightwatchman, Morello [pictured at the Hotel Cafe in 2007] is joined by the Coup’s […]
It’s not exactly a revelation to think of the music by new L.A. quartet Robotanists as “cinematic” — the previous project in which husband-and-wife principals Sarah Ellquist and Daniel de Blanke were involved, Loma Lynda, was a multimedia collective (including filmmaker Jason Bognacki) that fused movies and rock. “It was exhausting,” Ellquist says. “So many […]
You read it here first: Words are overrated. Well, at least when it comes to the music of El Ten Eleven, the L.A. duo who play frenetic, futuristic rock music in a language spoken by double-necked guitars, electronic and acoustic drums, effects pedals and looping gizmos. The exhilarating, 28-minute workout that is their lastest album, […]
[The behinder I get …] ‣ More valentines to the Smashing Pumpkins, whose second night at the Gibson Amphitheatre on Wednesday was even better than the first. No full review from me this time, but check out Friend of Buzz Bands Jeff Miller’s account at the OC Register’s Soundcheck blog. I will say it was […]
[Fresh sounds from the L.A. scene …] With the Fugazi-inspired art-rock of his former trio the Front now in his rear-view mirror, singer-guitarist Michael Bauer has entered the vortex of psychedelic rock. In the new quartet Useless Keys, Bauer is joined by” Rory Modica, Guylaine Vivarat (ex-Molecules) and Michael Regilio (ex-Green and Yellow TV). The […]
