If the late Amy Winehouse had been influenced by Wanda Jackson and rockabilly instead of soul and jazz, she might have turned out to be a fast-moving rock ‘n’ roller along the lines of Australia’s Lanie Lane (pronounced “Lanny”). Her smokey yet sassy sound has earned her tour spots with artists such as Justin Townes […]
The press release says the Black Box Revelation’s forthcoming “Shiver of Joy” EP is the duo’s first U.S. release, which means this 2007 nugget on the Buzz Bands LA shelves titled “Set Your Head on Fire” must be a happy accident. Whatever. That’s when singer-guitarist Jan Paternoster and drummer Dries Van Dijck first stirred my […]
As frontman of the late Oliver Future, Noah Lit helped forge indie rock for sophisticates, a mission that suffered mainly for lack of sophisticates. The Austin ex-pat, along with his brother and ex-Oliver Future bandmate Joshua, isn’t dumbing it down any with his new project Noah and the Megafauna. On their debut album “Anthems for […]
Underground pop provocateur Emperor X sure does make it interesting. The high school science teacher-turned-lo-fi explorer, born Chad Matheny, has become known for his pop-up shows and turning the discovery of his music into a geocaching adventure as much as his catchy, mind-bending folk narratives. His latest album, “Western Teleport,” is out Tuesday on Bar/None […]
Jonathan Wilson titled his new album “Gentle Spirit,” but you suspect it’s only because “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” was already taken. Wilson, the North Carolina-bred singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and keeper of the Laurel Canyon flame, has birthed a 78-minute opus that takes deep, long breaths, its lush orchestration and serpentine arrangements rewarding patient […]
Like Fool’s Gold and Vampire Weekend, the new L.A. trio Gothic Tropic finds inspiration in world beats and exuberant guitars. The brainchild of Cecilia Della Peruti, who for the past two years has played with Rumspringa, Gothic Tropic takes a playful, lo-fi approach to the psych-pop on its four-song “Awesome Problems” EP, with guitar lines […]
[Covers that have recently come across our radar…] Tokyo Police Club, “Kim & Jessie” ft. Jamie Jackson (of Hot As Sun) (M83 cover) – Tokyo Police Club recently partnered up with Polaroid for a project titled “10 Songs, 10 hours, 10 days, 10 years” where they cover a single from the last 10 years in […]
The Polyamorous Affair’s sultry, subversive electro was made for dark places. And the Berlin-based duo of Eddie Chacon and Sissy Sainte-Marie, who not so long ago called L.A. home, go there in the video for “Fantasy,” which transfers the notion of appetite to someplace a little bit grisly. The single comes from 2010’s synth-laden “Strange […]
Hot As Sun’s blissed-out music exists only in small quantities so far – their four-song EP released last November – but the electro-popgazers anchored by Jamie Jackson and Deborah Stoll have more songs in the works. And their recent trip to New York to perform amid glitter and go-go dancers at artist Peter Tunney’s gallery […]
Some may know Marchelle Bradanini as the “Pony” half of international DJ duo Pony vs. Tiger (with the other half being Natasha “Tiger” Noramly), who spins everything from Hot Chip to Os Mutantes to Orange Juice. However, Bradanini’s solo moniker Pony Boy zooms in on a sound that she considers “junkyard country music.” With smokey […]
