Jason Drake has a sense of humor, even if Kevin Spacey doesn’t. Drake, the L.A.-via-Brooklyn electro guru and onetime partner in the Definitive Jux label, had planned to release his new album as Cassettes Won’t Listen with the title “Kevinspacey.” The actor ordered him to cease and desist. So the new album is titled “EVINSPACEY” […]
There’s always been the strong beat of a human heart behind the machines the churn out the indie-pop of Letting Up Despite Great Faults. Even if, as with the Los Angeles quintet’s new “Paper Crush” EP, that heart is broken. Songwriter Mike Lee’s newest batch of songs was informed by the end of a romance, […]
For most of a decade, Stefanie Drootin has had one foot in her native Los Angeles and the other in Omaha’s indie scene. She’s been a member of the Tim Kasher (Cursive) project the Good Life, and performed with Bright Eyes, She & Him and Azure Ray, among others. Her latest collaboration with singer-guitarist Chris […]
The adrenaline-fueled folk-rock of L.A. quintet Escalator Hill draws as much influence from the big indie collectives of this era as the past’s purveyors of Americana. The band’s debut collection of sepia-toned meditations and clattering celebrations, “Poplar Avenue,” was produced by David Newton (The Little Ones, the Henry Clay People, among others) and will be […]
With his band Louis XIV in the deep freeze after three albums and thousands of miles of touring, singer-guitarist Jason Hill needed a change. The San Diegan moved to L.A., bought a house in Laurel Canyon, built a recording studio he calls “Ulysses” and retreated to “a life of staying at home and making records,” […]
Your Tuesday show shortlist: ‣ Tenlons Fort plays its first L.A. show in more than a year tonight when Jack Gibson (pictured in spring 2010 at the Silverlake Jubilee) and friends headline Buzz Bands LA’s SecondTuesday songwriter night at Lot 1 Cafe in Echo Park. The Sweet Hurt, CMG & We Are the Night and […]
The roster of 4AD is dotted with artists who’ve carved out some kind of legacy, so imagine our surprise in June when the label announced the addition of Inc. – the project of twins Daniel and Andrew Aged that until recently was doing business as Teen Inc. The Ageds have collaborated with Nite Jewel and […]
The underwater scenes in director Ted Newsome’s spectacular video for Warpaint’s signature song, “Warpaint,” make a perfect fit for the tune’s otherworldy textures. Or, as drummer Stella Mogzama told NPR when the video was premiered on Thursday: “It was an opportunity to create a fantastical world where oxygen, time and style were simply not an […]
It’s fitting for News of the Fire to have a band name which derives from Lemony Snicket’s “Series of Unfortunate Events.” Even though Dan Fromhart, Nico Bergmann, Nick Tellier and Black LeCroy have had to overcome a plethora of obstacles, they’ve managed to release an impressive debut EP, “Motions and Hints.” The foursome, whose members […]
In an era scores of indie artists are making music so pretty it hurts, LA Font is managing to churn out tunes so hurtful they’re pretty. Everything about the Los Angeles quartet’s new single “Sharks” has sharp edges – the stinging licks from diminutive guitarist Jon Perry, the stinging rebukes from frontman Danny Bobbe (who […]
