Broken Anchor’s debut album is like a five-course meal for the melody-starved. The release, “Fresh Lemonade” (due in July), follows a trio of 2012 EPs that thrust singer-songwriter (and Hotel Café regular) Austin Hartley-Leonard into the full-band realm, as he teamed up first with producer Brad Gordon and then drummer Mike Duffy to fashion a […]
[File under People Who Impressed Us at SXSW, the Follow-Up:] What we saw at SXSW. Peace, the foursome of Harrison and Sam Koisser, Douglas Castle and Dominic Boyce, recall a whole slew of British guitar bands without leaning on any one influence too heavily. NME reacted predictably, giving them a “Best New Band” nod, and […]
“1996,” the first single from the new L.A. duo Haunted Summer, floats past like four minutes of French cinema, pensive and preoccupied (possibly by its own beauty) and completely lost in the moment. It’s the lulling and lovely first step for the girl/boy duo of Bridgette Moody (ex-Torches) and John Seasons (ex-Seasons), who have moved […]
[With the new releases coming fast and furious in 2013, we’ve compiled six fresh tracks from notable artists here. Have at it:] Hanni El Khatib, “Penny” – Expanding from a two-piece to four and expanding his sound palette too, Hanni El Khatib will release his second album, the Dan Auerbach-produced “Head in the Dirt” on […]
The bulletin here is not that Cotillon went off to Mexico, had an adventure and lived to tell about it; it’s that the L.A. trio survived all the “beer, waves, tequila, Federales, mariachis, dancers, donkeys, drinkable water (or lack thereof), dogs, donkeys that looked like zebras, pot, prescription meds, mariachis, and street kids” to make […]
As anybody who’s spent time with Magnetic Fields’ 1999 opus “69 Love Songs” – or the rest of their catalog, for that matter – can attest, Stephin Merritt ranks as one of the most provocative and prolific songwriters of the past two decades. Only a year after releasing his main band’s 10th album “Love at […]
Los Angeles loves its rock ’n’ roll, and all its shades of pop, but the heart of the city mostly beats to Latin rhythms. And the forthcoming EP “Midnight Sands,” from the local quintet Sister Rogers, offers a sophisticated take on that pulse. The band – guitarist Samuel Aguirre, singer Ericka Sancé, keyboardist Carlos Vides […]
[Sometimes you get caught up in the frenzy and euphoria of SXSW and your snap judgments don’t feel so snappy a week later. So over the next few days, we’ll have a handful of posts like this. File under People Who Impressed Us at SXSW, the Follow-Up:] What we saw at SXSW. All hail the […]
Beat-scene goddess Jennifer Lee, aka TOKiMONSTA, made her mark on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder imprint, her nimble production and oh-so-cool textures stretching boundaries in a world they’re already elastic. She steps up to Ultra Music for her new release “Half Shadows” (due April 9), which features collaborations with rapper Kool Keith, L.A. songstress Gavin Turek (April’s […]
Brothers Andrew and Campbell Scarborough, the driving forces behind the L.A. quartet Black Apples, have moved out of the garage, if their forthcoming EP “Tales and Truths” is any indication. Their 2011 debut established the band, newly arrived from Colorado, as purveyors of a psych-meets-soul-meets-surf riot, perfect for any party where there were no breakables. […]
