[What a weekend ahead. Festivals, great big shows, great small shows, George Michael’s birthday … There’s a lot to mention here, so follow along.] Two festivals that have plenty of you buzzing: ‣ Electric Daisy Carnival, today and Saturday at Exposition Park and the L.A. Coliseum. [Set times here.] ‣ Vans Warped Tour, today at […]
When I talked to Alex Ebert before Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros began their worldwide crusade, he allowed as how there were some Ima Robot songs in the archives, some material recorded while the dance-punks were in label limbo after 2006’s “Monuments to the Masses,” their sophomore album for Virgin Records. Now Ima Robot […]
Top 4 reasons my dog will miss me tonight: ‣ Fitz & the Tantrums wind up their Spaceland residency; it’s the last chance to catch them before their July 15 appearance at the Hammer Museum as part of the Also I Like to Rock series. ‣ Speaking of soul men, Eli “Paperboy” Reed plays the […]
This slice of mayhem and merriment comes via the Henry Clay People, who’ve been known to play local shows as the Ronald Reagan People, the Santa Claus People and maybe a few other persons you had too many beers to remember. Uber-fan Fieron Santos shows surprising footspeed as the star of this single from THCP’s […]
[Tip of the cap to Jason Mraz on his birthday …] Top 5 reasons to delay angsting over that “Twilight” premiere: ‣ Did I mention Tuesday how much I liked Stars’ new album “The Five Ghosts?” There’s not a flavor-of-the-moment whiff to the Canadian indie-poppers’ fifth album – just exuberant, well-executed boy-girl pop that has […]
In April, we dutifully dispensed “In Ruins,” the teaser track from “Part II: The New December,” the forthcoming sophomore album by L.A. art-poppers Fol Chen. Cool, percussive stuff with vaguely melancholy overtones. Well, the song’s nothing compared to the video. Director Chris Wilcha (“This American Life”) ventured to Iceland to film near Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano […]
[Brandon Flowers, 29 years old today. In an amazing coincidence, “Crossfire,” the first single from his forthcoming solo album, was released to iTunes today.] Top 3 ways to mark your official start of summer: ‣ London quartet Athlete (latest album “Black Swan,”) brings its lovely Britpop to the Troubadour. ‣ The lineup for tonight’s Week […]
[Sources say that Stephen Chen of the Airborne Toxic Event celebrates a birthday today. Meanwhile, Buzz Bands stumbles toward a busy weekend, completely in the mood for this DIY video from Sea of Bees’ Julie Baenziger for her songs “Gnomes”:] Top 5 reasons to solstice your summer a bit early this weekend: ‣ It’s a […]
Stereogum, which premiered the video for the new Pains of Being Pure at Heart single, “Say No to Love,” described it as “just your average sunny twee-pop afternoon.” Couldn’t have said it better. It brightened mine, and maybe it will yours too. The single is out on Slumberland.
The newly-free-to-share-their-videos-any-way-they-want quartet OK Go has released another smile-inducing clip, this one for their song “End Love.” It’s a morning, noon and night lakeside romp in Echo Park – the press release nicely describes it as “dancing with time” – that features a frenzy of friends and a goose named Bill. (You can also get […]
