Orange County-bred quintet Young the Giant soared onto the SoCal indie-rock landscape in 2008, back when they were called the Jakes. Their new, slightly obtuse moniker aside, the Giants are young – Sameer Gadhia, Jacob Tilley, Eric Cannata, Payam Doostzadeh and Francois Comtois are all 21 or younger – but their songs brim with grown-up […]
[Happy birthday, Geddy Lee … and here’s what’s up on our happy Thursday:] Top 4 shows to not-so-surreptitiously tweet from: ‣ Brooklyn’s Here We Go Magic, whose thicket of hypnotic beats, dizzying synths and spry melodies coalesce nicely on their sophomore album “Pigeons,” visits the Troubadour (with Beach Fossils opening). That’s HWGM’s video for “Collector,” […]
Top 3 reasons to go out tonight (after watching “Paul McCartney: In Performance at the White House” on KCET at 8): ‣ Laura Marling, the U.K. folk singer who’s nominated for a Mercury Music Prize for her sterling sophomore album “I Speak Because I Can,” plays the El Rey Theatre. That’s her video for “Rambling […]
With too much music for the incredible shrinking record industry to nurture, artists are increasingly turning to fan-funded strategies to help get their work manufactured and marketed.. Add disco-funk quartet Casxio, indie-rockers the Deadly Syndrome [that’s their new Aurelien Levitan-directed video for “Armrest,” above”] and singer-songwriter Bleu to the list of artists trying to finance […]
[Re-posting this because some gremlins seem to have invaded the original – sorry.] Top 3 reasons tonight is like Friday: ‣ Local dance-punks Funeral Party (album coming in early ’11; background here), on tour with Danish rockers New Politics, play the Viper Room. And if New Politics singer David Boyd has half the moves he […]
[It’s a ridiculously busy weekend, but I would be remiss not to wish Rob Dickinson a happy birthday today. Now for the rest of this morning’s presentation:] Five shows I want to see tonight alone: ‣ Rage Against the Machine (in a battle of the bands with Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band) rages […]
[Delta Spirit’s sophomore album “History From Below” is one of the strongest releases by a SoCal band in 2010, combining tender folk balladry with urgent anthems such as “Bushwick Blues” (performed live, above, at the IFC Crossroads House at SXSW in Austin). Two weeks ago, I did a story on the Long Beach-based band for […]
Last month, Fol Chen debuted the video for “In Ruins,” which was shot by director Chris Wilcha (“This American Life”) in Iceland. Today the L.A. art-pop collective springs a new video for another track off their sophomore album “Part II: The New December” – “The Holograms.” It’s a riveting, noirish piece directed by Keith Musil […]
[Birthday greetings today to the legendary Kim Fowley …] Top 5 reasons tonight to go forth and conquer: ‣ Does anybody else think the Dead Weather’s video for “Blue Blood Blues” is not up to the usual Jack White/Third Man Records artistic standards? Oh, and White’s little quartet plays the Hollywood Palladium tonight. ‣ Gonna […]
[Birthday salute today to Chris Cornell. Meanwhile, tonight …] My top 3 ways to avoid Justin Bieber at Staples: ‣ Seattle’s Grand Archives visit the Echo. Their sophomore album “Keep in Mind Frankenstein” has some gorgeous moments. Download: “Oslo Native” ‣ It’s Night 2 of the New Pornographers, the Dodos and Imaad Wasif at the […]
