We last spotted Brazilian singer-songerwriter Rodrigo Amarante in the thankfully short-lived “supergroup” Little Joy. Now, at age 37, Amarante, née Rodrigo Amarante de Castro Neves, just released his solo debut “Cavalo,” a substantial work of rhythmic and melodic genius. Integrating the global influences his past endeavors (including Los Hermanos and Orquestra Imperial), Amarante has crafted […]
Moke Hill, the songwriting collaboration between Detroit natives Ben Berry and Drew Phillips, has followed up February’s debut EP with a new single. The duo, abetted in the studio by Chris Reynolds, Tim Hutton and Dash Hutton, have found a sweet spot with their earnest, straight-ahead pop-Americana, and “Future” ponders with the future without going […]
Pop provocateur Andy Clockwise, who has dropped the given name is now just going by Clockwise, continues to make music that goes anywhere and everywhere. The title track of his forthcoming EP “Dancing World” posits that you can stay home and read poetry and mope or join all the lovelies at the club and find […]
If it’s Friday, it must be time for me to infiltrate your Internet. Join me at 11 a.m. Pacific time for this week’s Buzz Bands LA Show on The Independent FM – the two-hours of local music will kick off with a bunch of bands playing Saturday’s Make Music Pasadena. Then I’ll segue into some […]
Young L.A. quartet Bad Suns made a splash last spring by dropping a stone-cold radio hit that people who don’t listen to the radio could love, “Cardiac Arrest.” Everything the foursome of Christo Bowman, Miles Morris, Gavin Bennett and Ray Libby has done since – including becoming a live force and releasing their debut EP […]
What a Friday you have in store: ‣ This year’s First Fridays series at the Natural History Museum winds up with a special night – an indoor/outdoor celebration with four bands rather than the usual two: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, De Lux, Tobacco and Painted Palms. ‣ The 11th annual Ink-N-Iron Festival at the Queen Mary […]
Garage-rockers the Futures League came on the radar last year with self-titled EP full of crisp guitars, sunny melodies and carefree attitude. That EP has now been taken down from Bandcamp and retooled as a new EP, appropriately (considering its tone) titled “Don’t Be a Drag.” The new release, out next week, features three songs […]
Wild Awake is the new band helmed by Brijesh Pandya, the drummer for funk/jazz/R&B revivalists Air Life, among other bands. The EP Pandya has made with mates Sherman Pascoe, Antonio Dangond and Blake Estrada couldn’t be farther from Air Life’s sleek ’80s stylings, and it belies Pandya’s background in jazz studies at Cal State Northridge. […]
When Avi Buffalo’s self-titled debut came out four long springs ago, Avi Zahner-Isenberg was hailed as a teen prodigy, which was probably true, although it turned out he wasn’t ready for all the hailing. In the time since, the singer-guitarist has gone through an experimental period, a difficult period, a growing-up period and a creative […]
Singer-guitarist Xander Smith has been busy. He’s been continent-hopping with his neo-shoegaze band Run Run Run and working on his second solo album, “Outside” – which includes contributions from New Order’s Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Phil Cunningham. The fan-funded “Ouside,” due July 15, features Smith in straight-ahead singer-songwriter form, recalling the troubadours of the […]
