That sweeping intro of “Forever Found” still sends us careening into a contemplative happy place, going on two years after the band then known as Oren Lyons debuted it. The Los Angeles septet now goes by Kan Wakan, of course, and the title track of the debut EP released in November remains deeply resonant in […]
Our anticipation for the New Division’s sophomore album just skyrocketed a few ticks. The Riverside-bred quintet of John Kunkel, Brock Woolsey, Janzie, Mark Michalski and Alex Gonzales, having regrouped after a hard-drive meltdown sabotaged the band’s work a year into the album-making process, will release “Together We Shine” on March 18. It’s further exploration of […]
Los Angeles-based instrumental producer Mndsgn (pronounced “mind designâ€) has been making beats for more than five years, collaborating with such artists as Danny Brown and Jonwayne, and has played Boiler Room TV and Low End Theory. In the fall, he released “Breatharian†on the Fresh Selects label, a conceptual beat tape about someone who believes […]
Considering her collaborations with big names such as SOHN and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Banks‘ latest Shlohmo-produced track “Brain” isn’t a shocker. However, the first taste from her forthcoming debut (due out on Harvest Records this year) is by no means any less seductive or ghostly. Transforming a typical “woh-oh-oh” pop chorus into the slinkiest […]
Especially considering the band’s youth, the Vim Dicta possess unique, no-holds-barred take on the psychedelic blues. The trio’s “Von Tango” EP, released last fall, is as white-knuckle fearless as any heavy music that’s come out of L.A. in recent memory, and in director Katie Rose, the trio of Cori Elliott, Matt Tunney and Chris Infusino […]
Singer-songwriter Jordan Beckett is a craftsman whose folk-pop has a filmic quality, a trait that has served the Portland, Ore., native well. Beckett, doing business under the name Bootstraps, got his break when actor/director Sam Jaeger asked him to write songs for the 2011 movie “Take Me Home;” besides the half-dozen tunes in that film, […]
Generally, remixes get us as excited as the mouthful of grounds you get with that last gulp of morning coffee – especially if the knob-twiddlers get their hands on a song that’s a modern indie classic. Like LA Font’s “Diving Man,” the title track to the local quartet’s guitar-tastic 2013 album. The forthcoming “Diving Man […]
Midwest-bred, Los Angeles-based artist Lawrence Rothman cites influences including Charles Bukowski, Cindy Sherman, house and R&B, which when taking in his work, really permeate through both his sound and his visuals. So far, he has only released the “Montauk Fling,” featuring the B-sides “Fatal Attraction” and “#1 All Time Low,” a seductive track brooding with […]
Haven’t seen Together Pangea live yet? Then their video for the appropriately titled “Offer” may entice you. Slightly NSFW but mostly chock-full of drunk dudes falling over and kids making out, it’s a video the band made with their friends for their friends. Basically, it’s the perfect opportunity to vicariously live the life of a […]
This L.A.-based duo makes noise enough for four. Singer-guitarist Brian Rich and drummer Douglas Jewell slather on the menace with a heavy march of drum rolls and champagne cymbals to fill every bit of auditory space. Self-described as “gothic cantina,” the Echo and the Sound combine an aggressive mentality with blues-rock rhythms for a thick […]
