The fractured folk music on Amanda Jo Williams’ forthcoming album “Mary’s Big Feet” is much like L.A. audiences has seen her live – unpredictable and unvarnished, with scratchy guitar supporting her girlish voice, vocal acrobatics and from-the-mouths-of-babes moments. She recorded the album (due April 26 on the NocturnalSol label) herself in GarageBand, so it represents […]
Singer-songwriter-composer Christopher Pappas crafts songs with such exceedingly tender moments you’d think he possesses some sort manual on the tenuousness of the human condition. Reared in New Hampshire and recently relocated to Los Angeles from Boston (where he fronted Northeast favorites the Everyday Visuals), Pappas launched his new project Miracle Parade as a series of […]
Sometimes opposites attract, and when it comes to the L.A. band Coyol, the vocals of members Céleigh Chapman and John Isaac Watters couldn’t differ more. However, songwriting is where the two have come together for strong funk-influenced folk-rock. With Watter’s avant-garde vibrato and Chapman’s bright raspy tone, the juxtaposition only gives this duo more charisma […]
Stone Darling have indeed become quite the darlings in L.A., thanks to their whispery, soul-laden harmonies. They’re the latest group of ladies to make reverb-drenched tunes to soundtrack California’s sunny days. However, Liv Marsico, Lindsay Dawn, Mikki Itzigsohn and Paige Stark take the simple yet sparkling Spector formula and spin pop with folk undertones for […]
If not because of their music – a winning combination of back-porch Americana and classic pop – then Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan have become one of Los Angeles’ most dynamic duos on pure charisma. The twosome has become a Hotel Cafe favorite with its poignant blend of musical storytelling built from the simplest of […]
‣ Electro-rockers Ima Robot, techno-dance performance artists We Are the World (pictured) and Geotic, the side project of Baths’ Will Wiesenfeld, are among the first batch of artists confirmed to play the Silverlake Jubilee on May 21-22. The neighborhood fest, staged by the Los Angeles Arts and Athletics Alliance and benefiting a host or worthy […]
Jesse Kivel may have branched off to work on Kisses with his girlfriend Zinzi Edmundson, but that doesn’t mean he has neglected his duties in indie outfit, Princeton. The L.A. band, which also includes twin brother Matt, Ben Usen and David Ktiz, has returned with the single “To the Alps,” and it’s much more keyboard-oriented […]
Young songwriter J. Irvin Dally, who followed up last fall’s excellent “Despistado” EP with the “Sun Room” single earlier this year, will play Buzz Bands LA’s SecondTuesday songwriter night at Lot 1 Cafe on Tuesday, April 12. Dally will be joined by two bands currently sharing the same members – Soft Pipes and Miracle Parade. […]
If Paulie Pesh’s orchestral pop songs don’t make you smile, maybe your face is broken. The L.A. singer-songwriter, whose “Shining Stars” EP displayed the classic pop sensibilities of a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, returns this week with the “Post Mortem” EP, produced by Chris Schlarb. The new tracks orbit in the […]
One thing about wiseguys: Their barbs often wield the sharp needle of truth. So it is with L.A. singer-songwriter Jim Bianco, who’s built a small legend out of rendering the basest human foibles – particularly his own – in song. His third album, “Loudmouth” (out Tuesday), is a pop-blues-jazz cocktail that’s at turns bawdy and […]
