Here’s to the time-honored bromide that the best things in life are free. In April, while everybody was busy paying attention to Coachella, psych-poppers Strange Babes released their self-titled album for the mere cost of a click, quietly and without the fanfare it deserved. In fact, it’s still available for free, just by clicking here. […]
SPURS is the latest incarnation of the music of well-traveled singer-songwriter Adam Arcuragi, whose work includes the sterling 2012 release “Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It” and two albums and an EP before that. He’s referred to his music as “death gospel,” and indeed his vivid, often mournful creations hover somewhere between aching […]
Nightmare Boy is the nom de tune of Barrie-James O’Neill, a Scotsman who forsook Glasgow for L.A. about a year ago and whose debut EP, “Hate,” which came out in March, is drawing comparisons to the likes of Elliott Smith. Such parallels are not to be taken lightly, but it is apt here: O’Neill’s mostly […]
Riothorse Royale, the mind- and vocal-melding of singer-songwriters Madi Diaz and Emily Greene, debuted early this year with the hypnotic single “Rabbit Hole,” a song whose allure drew from its metronomic pace and idyllic harmonies. Since then, the duo have released a full EP, “The Guest House,” whose five songs are available for free download […]
The first single from fledgling L.A. quartet Swerve recalls the heyday of Britpop, with alternately sharp/punky and pretty/chiming guitars setting the stage for frontman Gregory Mahdesian’s slightly menacing vocals. It’s the first song from an EP that Mahdesian, who previously played in the rock trio the Simple Pleasures, has in the works. Live, the singer-guitarist […]
The Bird and the Bee’s sophisti-pop imagines a world where meticulous application of eyeliner is favored over face paint, designer cocktails trump designer hallucinogenics and “retro” is something of a class distinction. The duo — singer Inara George and multi-instrumentalist/all-star producer Greg Kurstin — haven’t released any original music since 2009’s “Ray Guns Are Not […]
Director Rebecca Thomas found the perfect protagonist for the music video for The Moth & The Flame’s “Young & Unafraid” — 58-year-old Neal Unger, something of a hero for coming to skateboarding late in life and embracing it as if he were, well, young and unafraid. A funny thing happened en route to the video […]
The arty, airy new EP from L.A.-based Quigley comes sprinkled with a fairy dust and a little existential angst, emblematic, its creator says, to there being “no end to what one person and their laptop can create.” Titled “Initium,” it fits in the kaleidoscopic world inhabited by artists such as Imogen Heap, Ellie Goulding and […]
Leading up to the release of his next project, La Habra’s Wes Period has already dropped a pair of smooth new tracks this year. “Lilac Rose” was crafted by frequent collaborator Colin Baylen, chopping up soul samples over a boom-bap beat, while Wes trades verses with Houston’s Fat Tony about respective playful seductions, rapping with […]
L.A. quartet Parade of Lights felt as if they were standing atop the medal stand a little over a year ago, when their single “Golden” was splashed all over television during NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics, as well as infiltrating ESPN’s Super Bowl promos and “The Voice.” The band — singer-guitarist Ryan Daly, drummer Anthony […]
