When we caught Matt Kivel at Echo Park Rising last month, it was obvious that he has a sense of humor. Perhaps that’s why he asked his new acquaintance Ben Elie, someone who had no experience directing music videos, to direct his clip for “End of Adventure.” The whimsical result is an endearing collection of special effects […]
If the name doesn’t give you liftoff, maybe Sex Helicopter’s music will. The Los Angeles quintet – singer-guitarist singer-guitarist Jeremy McLennan, along with Cary Singer, John Rockwell, Marcus Högsta and Mac Sinise – engage in a lot of decade-hopping on their first EP, “Great”, now available as a free download. They’re strongest when they plumb the bent […]
Your Thursday evening options: ‣ It’s another big Thursday night at the Santa Monica Pier – power-pop quartet and video wizards OK Go and L.A. garage-rockers Allah-Las team up at this week’s free Twilight Concert Series. ‣ Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green brings his City & Colour (last spotted in SoCal playing Coachella in April)Â to the […]
Francisco the Man‘s video for their latest single “Progress,” is proof that things don’t always happen at the pace you need them to happen. The MacGregor Greenlee-directed clip quick-cuts to people doing day-to-day things at an ostensibly frenetic pace, contrasting with slower moments where there is room is for breathing and reflection. It’s a four-minute reminder that every […]
L.A.-based trio Distant Cousins have been making bank placing their songs in film, TV shows and advertisements, which is not bad for an effort that began as a side project featuring three songwriters who’d done pretty well in their own right, Ami Kozak, Dov Rosenblatt and Duvid Swirsky. They came on the radar a year […]
If you were one of the lucky ones to catch the Unicorns open for Arcade Fire at the Forum last month, then the joy of hearing songs from the Montreal-based band’s albums “Unicorns Are People Too” and the critically lauded “Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?” must have been a surreal blast from […]
Y’know those emails you dash off at the height of emotion only to think twice and trash them before clicking send? Or those tweets you start at 1 a.m. and thinking better of posting? Los Angeles singer-songwriter Meiko says her new album “Dear You” is full of them – “love letters, pissed-off letters, breakup letters,” […]
Have a wacky Wednesday: ‣ All hail … Stiff Little Fingers? The Irish punk-rock torchbearers (they were on the vanguard back in ’77) play the El Rey Theatre behind “No Going Back,” their first album in 10 years. ‣ English singer-songwriter David Gray visits the Greek Theatre behind his latest album “Mutineers,” his 10th full-length. […]
Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Graham Harrington exudes the plaintive melancholy of a man going it alone – which he rather likes, he explains here. Under the moniker Mirror Days, Harrington has revealed a flair for lush, ambient dream-pop on his 2012 EP “Hearts & Heading Home” and last December’s self-titled full-length. Not unlike the bedroom shoegazers […]
The bass-propelled synth-pop of Los Angeles duo Magic Bronson exists somewhere between stoner backyard party jam and hip-hop rave-up. It’s as stupefyingly uncategorizable as it is intoxicating – bassist Matthew Lieberman laying down big grooves for 6-foot-6 singer Michael Nicastro’s vocals, which range from slacker-cool to bravado-soaked, while synth textures and reverb create a sort […]