There is a lot of music in and around Los Angeles. No, really. The Buzz Bands LA staff just completed a darned-near-comprehensive glossary of local music we covered in 2011, and I invite you to check it out. It amounts to about one local band per day. And there is probably more music buried in […]
Owing to the long holiday weekend, the Buzz Bands LA show on Moheak Radio will have the day off. I’ll be back next Friday with the first week of “Popular With Me, 2011: Buzz Bands LA’s Favorite Local Songs of the Year.” Today we’ll have a show from the archives, streaming for you at 11 […]
More than 220 shows later, my 2010 draws to a close. I was fortunate to have witnessed some exhilarating live performances the past 12 months. My top 10: 1. Fitz & the Tantrums and the Heavy, July 15 at the Hammer Museum Yes, some selfish interests were at work on this night, owing to the […]
[My overall Top 20 albums in a year informed by a mountain of good music and an avalanche of trying times, based purely on how much they resonated with me. I was lucky this year to have seen all but 4 of these artists live. With my 4-word reviews:] 1. Arcade Fire, “The Suburbs.” Sonically […]
The favorite 40 local albums of 2010 as rendered by a listener who tries be open to sounds from every niche in our fair region, who tries not be swayed by hype, and who makes no apologies for liking his meat and potatoes. 1. Local Natives, “Gorilla Manor” (Frenchkiss) This was more of a 2009 […]
The countdown of Buzz Bands LA’s favorite local songs of the 2010 winds up today on MoheakRadio. My weekly show kicks off at 3 p.m., and I’ll be playing the final 33 songs in the countdown. Listen in, won’t you? [Note: This show will be rebroadcast on Moheak at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 28.] (PS–Commenters […]
Here’s my twist on a best-of-the-Noughties list: It’s 3 a.m. on a recent chilly evening and I’m on my couch, away from my record collection and my iTunes, with a notepad in my lap. I’ve assigned myself to come up with 50 songs from 2000 to ’09 that I love – at least the ones […]
I have only to glance at Stereogum’s post on the most anticipated albums of 2010 to be assured that next year will be better than 2009, when my most-visited album was the Stone Roses’ reissue. [Heartfelt thanks again to the person who gifted me that; you know who you are.] That said, ’09 had some […]
The headline says “favorite,” not “best,” and I will not pretend to have allowed much in the way of objectivity to meddle with this list. Not in 2009, a difficult year, one that perhaps above any other I consumed music with my heart, not my head. It was a trying year, and probably for many […]
It’s the Buzz Bands LA Playlist 2009 – the recap. Today marked the first of my three shows on Indie 103.1 counting down my favorite local tracks of the year. Thanks to Indie for the invite, thanks to all the bands who reached out to me for sending their music. Next Wednesday will be Part […]
