No sooner had we reported Francisco the Man’s big “Progress” – there was finally a full-length album imminent – than the L.A. indie-rock quartet made even bigger progress. The band has been picked up by the Fat Possum label, and FTM’s album “Loose Ends,” originally scheduled to come out later this month, will come out Oct. […]
Get over the hump this way: ‣ Avant-rock giants Swans, touring behind their widely (and deservingly) praised double-album “To Be Kind,” do the first of two nights at the Roxy Theatre. Longtime provocatrice Carla Bozulich (Geraldine Fibbers, Evangelista), who also released a new album earlier this year (“Boy”) opens. Above, the Pamela Maddaleno-directed video for […]
L.A. conceptual pop duo of Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, aka YACHT, follow up their 2011 album “Shangri-La” with the punny track “Where Does This Disco?” which they say “is about love and compact discs.” That’s not the only news they have though. Since the release of previous single “Plastic Soul,” they’ve signed to Downtown Records, collaborated with […]
“I’m in Love” is the first new music in three years from Fool’s Gold, and if you’re in love with everything that makes the Los Angeles quintet one of the most distinctive bands on the bandscape, you’ll fall for this. With singer Luke Top dispensing his finest croon, Fool’s Gold’s rhythm section of Salvador Placencia […]
“I can’t see a way out,” Dan Smith sings over plinking synths in his first single as T.O.L.D., an acknowledgement that the devil will get his due, no matter how fast and far you run. The 24-year-old Englishman, very recently relocated to Los Angeles, doesn’t sound quite as dire as his musical acronym – T.O.L.D. […]
There are cookie-cutter female pop stars and then there are those like Kathleen Hanna and Beth Ditto who cut against the grain. Add Toronto’s Elizabeth Lowell – who does business simply as Lowell – to that list of empowering artists. Lowell’s EP “I Killed Sara V” helped her grab touring spots with Flume, Grimes and […]
Tuesday’s calendar: ‣ Barcelona, the Seattle trio who kicked off the year by releasing a three-part EP series titles “The Melodrama” – “Love Me” in January, “Love You” in February and “Know Love” in March – visit the Troubadour, supported by the Young Wild and Verre. Above, Barcelona’s video for “Cure.” ‣ Young funk-rock sextet […]
There’s plenty of falsetto in R&B and pop music these days, but the pure and poignant vocal styling is rarely paired with hard rock or shoegaze anymore. Cymbals Eat Guitars, the NYC quartet who just released the gorgeous “LOSE” in August, takes those floating vocals and drapes them over an ocean of reverb, psychedelic guitars […]
London singer-songwriter Jack Garratt has garnered buzz with his bearded brew of standout alternative R&B. His EP “Remnants†was released in July and shows off his sophisticated and meticulous style of soul-meets-indie-meets-ghostly synth. Vocally, Garratt is emotive and strong with a fierce falsetto and seductive growling depth. Songs “Worry†and “Water†are haunting with ambient […]
Disco chanteuse (and colorful blur when dancing in her flapper twosies on stage) Gavin Turek offers a new and free track to jump-start your week. Melt the Monday woes with “Pride,” a track produced by fellow Angeleno and electronic artist Mystery Skulls (aka Luis Dubuc). Turek, whose notable talents also include channeling her wild energy […]