Fitz’ & the Tantrums’ “Breakin’ the Chains of Love” might be the best 1960s song made 40 years late. Next week, that song [downloadable here], along with “Winds of Change” , will get a proper release on Fitz’s debut EP, “Songs for a Break-Up, Vol. 1.” Already out on iTunes, it’s garagey soul that’s the […]
[A pair of new videos from Los Angeles artists:] Crash Kings make the kind of Linda Perry-approved (her Custard Records released their debut), Zach Braff-endorsed (he blogged about them) blues-rock that might be palatable to classic rock mavens and audacious enough for the indie crowd. How the Los Angeles trio makes it, though, is special: […]
[I’m posting these more for the quality of the songs than the videos. Enjoy:] “This Sweet Love” is one of the stellar tracks off Londoner James Yuill’s debut “Turning Down Water for Air,” as well as his new “This Sweet Love” EP. The video is the work of Alex Emslie. Yuill’s shows in L.A. earlier […]
Billy Corgan has been holed up in L.A. in recent months, writing new Smashing Pumpkins material, and at the Sky Saxon Tribute on Friday night at the Echoplex, he sprung one on the audience. Fronting a one-night-only band called Spirits in the Sky, which featured members of Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Electric Prunes (as […]
The songs of Miss Derringer are filled with tears, and blood, and an unhealthy dose of weaponry and various sharp objects. The Los Angeles quintet, not unlike the visual art of its frontwoman Liz McGrath, roots around in a sort of Gothic-tinged Americana while applying a whimsical veneer to its tales of felonies, misdemeanors and […]
Since its release early this year, the self-titled debut from Go West Young Man [review here] has stuck to me like summer sweat. It’s old-school pop-rock with energetic, new-school twists, and I’ve recommended it to many who think the current indie landscape tends toward the tuneless. Here is Arvel Chappell’s video for the “The Covinas,” […]
[One in a series on new music hitting the local scene …] I confess that all Ingenue had to do to get my attention was boldface the influences. Singer-songwriter Lauren Dolan professes a love for the Boston power pop scene (check); “The Lolita EP” was produced by Letters to Cleo’s Michael Eisenstein (check) and features […]
Fuzz fetishists, here is your next objet d’amour. Dum Dum Girls, whose blissed-out garage pop will get shelved with your Raveonettes, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ronettes, Flatmates, Vivian Girls and maybe Talulah Gosh, have been signed to Sub Pop, which will release their debut in early 2010. Who are Dum Dum Girls? Various lovingly penned […]
[Good morning … See the promo box in the first sidebar at right to win Ed Harcourt tickets for tonight …] Ed Harcourt, the Londoner who just released the gorgeous EP “Russian Roulette” [see last week’s post], plays an intimate show at downtown’s Bordello. … John Vanderslice [pictured], getting some of the best reviews of […]
[Some of the lots and lots of things that have come to my attention …] Coming soon to the Beck.com website will be a section called Record Club – which will feature mp3s of songs from studio sessions during which Beck and his pals will re-record an entire album in a single day, sans rehearsal. […]
