The video for Hobart W Fink’s new single is smashing, if the song itself isn’t. The L.A. quartet of singer-guitarist Jayk Gallagher, singer Lauren Lakis, bassist Noe Santiago and drummer AJ Brown is cut from ’90s indie cloth, with a heavy stitching of irony, and “So Many Losers” sounds like something X and the B-52’s […]
Guy Blakeslee is turning the noise down and turning himself up. The mastermind of the stoner-rock trio the Entrance Band – known for their pedal-propelled, often-indulgent trips to the nether regions of psych-rock – has made his first solo album in 10 years. Like the Entrance Band’s November release “Face the Sun,” Blakeslee’s “Ophelia Slowly” […]
Producer Josh Legg’s Goldroom has been a model of DIY success, from slow-building the project with his electronic label Binary, to releasing two EPs, to staying busy as a remixer, and finally to building Goldroom into a real live band. And speaking of models, there are eight of them in the new video (directed by […]
When Foster the People first came back onto the scene to promote their sophomore effort “Supermodel,” many were curious to see if the new record would bring as much heat to match the success of their debut album (which got a kickstart with their popular “Torches” EP). Their set at Coachella proved the band still […]
Joe Purdy makes it sound so easy. The Arkansas-bred, L.A.-based songwriter, who released a dozen albums between 2001 and 2010, has built a grassroots legion of fans attracted to his plainspoken, evocative folk music, which is about as pure as it gets. Purdy’s calling card is his “voice” – wry, world-weary and guardedly optimistic all […]
When we first discovered Banks‘ bewitching and beguiling artistry in March 2013, we had a hunch her small of batch songs were bound to catch fire. After traveling the world and playing SXSW and Coachella and making plenty of year-end lists for 2013 (including this one), the Los Angeles singer-songwriter will finally release her debut […]
In the past couple of years, Groundislava, née Jasper Patterson, has been carving out a niche in the Los Angeles electronic scene with the rest of his WeDidIt crew, including D33J, Jonwayne, RL Grime and Shlohmo, and putting the finishing touches on his third full-length album. It follows his eponymous 2011 debut and 2012’s sophomore […]
In case you missed last month’s introduction, Babes are a little bit peculiar. Not in a so-strange-I’m-averting-my-glances way. Kind of in a please-cast-me-in-your-“Twin Peaks”-spinoff way. When not contemplating being sad or horny, or answering the “Babes Hotline” (470-BABES-77), siblings Sarah, Aaron and Zach Rayne and bandmates Bryan Harris and Jeffrey Baird. make seriously fetching retro-pop. The […]
Los Angeles native Mikey Omega has been rapping since middle school and developing his sound over the last few years, which he describes as “alternative trap.†The fruit of that labor will soon be released as the forthcoming mixtape “Wasted Potential,†and the first single to surface is “Snow Bunnies.” Built over a steady melody, […]
With each song to emerge from Kan Wakan’s debut album “Moving On” – whose release is now only one week away – we’re beginning to think that none of 2014’s albums-of-the-year lists will be complete without it. The L.A.-based septet – the brainchild of composer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui Linev, guitarist-producer Peter Potyondy and singer Kristianne Bautista [pictured] – arrived in […]
