Carina Round is a woman of many voices, full of vigor and empowerment one moment, tender and vulnerable the next, and a bit art-damaged at others. All speak in varying tones on “Tigermending,” the U.K.-bred, Los Angeles.-based songstress’s first album in five years. Compared to PJ Harvey in her early days on Interscope, Round has […]
Folk singer-songwriter Simone White has always had a keen sense of storytelling. Her folk/country-tinged 2007 debut, “I Am the Man” and 2009’s quiet offering “Yakiimo” gently pierced listeners with a soft synthesis of intimacy and intelligence. But come May 7, the White will no longer be defined by only her wispy vocals, when “Silver Silver” […]
The gauzy psychedelia on L.A. trio Derde Verde’s 2011 mini-album “Moon/Mirror” comes from a lot of different places – talking in time-stamps, those would be the genteel ’60s, the experimental ’80s and the shoegazey ’90s. For the sweet single “Go to Sleep,” video director by Yelena Zhelezov (who’s also done work with Julia Holter and […]
Your wonderful Wednesday: ‣ It’s a night of crackling modern power-pop at the El Rey Theatre – Ben Kweller headlines behind his new album “Go Fly a Kite,” supported by Kentucky’s Sleeper Agent, fresh out of Coachella and getting some ink from the Times, and NYC’s the Dig, whose sophomore album “Midnight Flowers” is on […]
You’d better tread carefully when you cover Sam Cooke, and L.A. electro-soul collective Caught a Ghost have tackled Cooke’s 54-year-old gem “You Send Me” with proper reverence here. The brainchild of principals Jesse Nolan and Stephen Edelstein, the nine-piece band has been short on formal releases, but bit by bit (and video by video), Caught […]
Here’s the great thing about OFF!: everything. Keith Morris means it, always has. The Black Flag founder is 56 going on 17 going on 56. His cohorts Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Mario Rubalcaba (of Hot Snakes), and Steven McDonald (of Redd Kross) are ace, always have been. They’ll blow your hair back live, even if […]
LA Font certainly don’t have an aversion to out-of-the-box concepts, and in their new video for “Sharks,” it’s obvious they don’t have anything against McDonald’s. They may have slightly altered the famous golden arches, but going to six different locations of the Big Mac franchise to film the clip is an entirely different level of […]
Exitmusic, the husband-wife duo Devon Church and Aleksa Palladino, don’t shy away from playing with that line between haunting and ethereal. It can always be heard in the exponential build-ups in their songs and it can be felt, if not seen, in their visual accompaniments. Teaming up with director Will Joines again, Exitmusic follows up […]
The debut EP from L.A. quartet the Child, released on Manimal Vinyl, is fashionably arty – and probably a bit heavier on the fashion than actual art. The brainchild of singer-guitarist-keyboardist Holly Marilyn, along with singer-keyboardist Lauren White, bassist Peter White and drummer Norm Block, the Child deals in moody, percussive avant-pop. The synth-heavy, melodic […]
Wednesday’s shows – are we spoiled, or what? ‣ Tonight is about all things Miike Snow. The Swedish/American indie-pop mind-meld of Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg and Andrew Wyatt is riding high after the late-March release of their second album, the eclectic “Happy to You,” and their set Saturday night at Coachella was bonkers. They do […]
