Considering their resumés, it is no surprise that Alex Lilly and Bram Inscore – collaborating as Touché – have transcended garden-variety electro on their first album “It’s Fate.” Inscore has played with the likes of Beck, Thurston Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg and, most recently, Twin Shadow (his solo album shouldn’t have been overlooked, either). And Lilly, […]
Wild Nothing – the moniker under which Virginia-based dream-popper Jack Tatum records – announced the new “Empty Estate” EP this week as a follow-up to last year’s highly-regarded sophomore release “Nocturne.” It’s exciting news for those who just caught either of his recent Coachella sets, and the first single “A Dancing Shell” might come as […]
Yellow Red Sparks’ self-titled debut, which came out in January, is not what you’d call dark. In fact, it’s kind of a ray of sunshine in an arena populated by floppy-hatted faux folkies – an album built on meticulous songcraft and orchestration that make music’s well-worn melancholic-to-hopeful mood swings seem fresh. Director Claire Marie Vogel […]
When Luke Messimer first resurfaced as Northern Youth after the demise of Mississippi Man, we were smitten by the open-hearted, full-throated folk he displayed on such songs as “She’s in the Wild.” Messimer has been hard at work on a self-titled full-length debut, and it’ll see the light of day on June 18. “Hide You […]
On it’s 2011 full-length “Moon/Mirror,” L.A. trio Derde Verde displayed an idiosyncratic mix of influences characterized by warm textures, shape-shifting rhythms and oddly compelling song structures. The restrained, almost inscrutable indie rock made by Jon Schwarz, Dylan McKenzie and Matthias Wagner adds another chapter with their “Let Me Be a Light” EP, which for all […]
The Reflections, the L.A.-based duo comprised of Darian Zahedi and Jon Safley (who you may recognize as the drummer for Bleached), first beckoned us with their summery dream-pop in “Summer Days.” Since then, the Reflections have established their ability to straddle the line between romantic haze and the roar of anthemic Brit-rock. Their new single […]
The Jubilee Music & Arts Festival last week announced the lineup for its two-day event June 7-8 in downtown L.A., and since we’re still in a festival kind of mood, we thought it’d be cool to give you a sample of the wares. So enjoy the 32-track mixtape we’ve compiled, above. Tickets are $50 for […]
Gliss’ new album “Langsom Dans” is like the gift that keeps on giving – the more time you spend with it, with deeper you realize it is. The song “Blur” is a woozy, love-drunk meditation bathed in reverb and longing, and Dutch photographer and director Claudia Crobatia brings it to life with crisp, bright colors […]
By Julia Betley “I don’t want to be a star, but a stone on the shore” James Blake sang as he opened his performance at KCRW’s Berkeley Street Sessions with the title track of his sophomore release “Overgrown.” It didn’t take long at intimate showcase at Bob Clearmountain’s Apogee Studio in Santa Monica for Blake […]
They call it “riotgaze,” the marriage of fuzz-bombing shoegazers and the feral intensity of the riot-grrrl movement. As hybrids go, TULIPS have created a happy one, if their early singles “Hotspur” and “Wait” are any indication. The L.A. trio of Angie Bloom, Taleen Kali and Trav Barnes, who worked on their demos with Medicine’s Brad […]
