The music of Big Star lives on and on, the legendary Memphis quartet’s albums having over the past decade received belated recognition as classics and their influences ringing loud and clear in the work of next-generation guitar bands. With the huge “Big Star Third” performance coming Saturday [see below for more], it’s important to note […]
One good idea spawned another Saturday evening at South by Southwest. Last spring’s Railroad Revival Tour – the train journey that carried Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show from Oakland to New Orleans and stopped for six shows along the way – was documented by director Emmett […]
Leonard Jackson last crossed our radar in 2008 as singer-guitarist for the Ethan Allen-produced, Mark Needham-mixed, Killers-influenced rock quartet the Forward. Directions changed, and Jackson eventually found himself plying his songwriting skills composing for film and TV. Now Imperial Mammoth – his new project with singer-harpist-keyboardist (and his bride-to-be) Laura Jane Scott – has arrived […]
Story and photos by Matt Draper In 1983, after his fanzine and club night had culminated, a Scot named Alan McGee formed an imprint he called Creation to release records from like-minded friends. “73 in 83”, a single from art-rock band The Legend! became the label’s first release after McGee secured a £1,000 loan. Though […]
If you’re of a certain generation – like, if you ran to your 45rpm of “Without You” every time a girl rejected you in high school – it’s impossible not to get choked up a few times during the documentary “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?” Writer-director John Scheinfeld’s film […]
Indie mockumentary “The Scenesters” seems to have all the makings of a Buzz Bands favorite – lots of music by familiar people (the Airborne Toxic Event, the Cribs, Le Switch, the Franks are among those populating the soundtrack), plenty of laughs, a little mystery and some dead hipsters. Yes, it’s only a ceremonial burning of […]
The Good Listeners have made three albums of good listening, but the Los Angeles duo – Clark Stiles and Nathan Khyber – have always been as much about the process as the product. Their debut “Ojai” was written and recorded, one song per day, at a small house in that town; their second album “Crane […]
By David Kronke You can make a documentary about anything these days, but the making of Iggy Pop’s “Raw Power,” one of those albums whose abysmal initial sales are belied by the broad extent of its influence, kind of merits the attention. “Search and Destroy: Iggy & The Stooges’ ”˜Raw Power’” premiered Monday night at […]
By Richard Cromelin When I interviewed Jack White in Nashville in 2007, the White Stripes had just shut it down, canceling their big “Icky Thump” tour because drummer Meg White was struggling with severe anxiety. Jack had filled the void by overbooking himself with more projects than he could handle. It wasn’t bad planning, or […]
[Buzz Bands LA today welcomes a contribution from Richard Cromelin, former pop music writer for the Los Angeles Times, who weighs in on the new “All Tomorrow’s Parties” documentary:] By Richard Cromelin Los Angeles fringe-rock followers might be forgiven if they have mixed feelings about “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” a documentary DVD marking the 10th anniversary […]
