After releasing their debut “CRMNL HYGNE” in 2013, the boisterous L.A. trio Criminal Hygiene have been splitting their time between playful shenanigans and working hard on a new EP. Despite losing original bassist James Watson since, Michael Fiore and Sean Erickson have chugged along and grabbed new member Michael Hiller on the way. Yielding new […]
L.A.-by-way-of-Utah trio the Moth & the Flame packed a lot of sophistication into its 2013 EP, titled “&” and produced by Joey Waronker. The magnetic bass line of the initial single “Sorry” sucked listeners in to the band’s musical web of intrigue. “Winsome,” with its tricky time signature, gets a dream-sequence-like video treatment from director […]
L.A. trio Run Things may look and sound familiar. At least the vocals will bring you back if you were a fan of L.A. bands Anglos and Risers. Yes, Josh Thorpe and a couple of his old bandmates have risen from the ashes and have not only formed a new band, but they’ve taken their new […]
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 […]
The music Alloysious Massaquoi, ‘G’ Hastings and Kayus Bankole create as the Edinburgh trio Young Fathers reflects their sum of their Liberian, Nigerian and Scottish heritage and diverse melting pot of influences. After releasing the EPs “Tape One†in 2011 and “Tape Two†in 2013, they have just put out their debut album “Dead†via […]
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, […]
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, aka Mirah, is back, and this time she’s got a new label and a record all on her own. Although the 2011 Merril Garbus-produced collaboration album she did with Thao Nguyen was nothing less than excellent, there’s something powerful about the Brooklyn singer all by her lonesome. Balancing fragility and strength, […]
