There’s more to the buoyant electro-pop of Pacific Air than just “Float,” the song that put brothers Ryan Lawhon and Taylor Lawhon on the map back when they were going by the name KO KO. The new single, “Lose My Mind,” is another dose of rainbow-tinted California pop that’ll be included on Pacific Air’s forthcoming […]
The South by Southwest Music Festival begins Tuesday in Austin, and Buzz Bands LA will be there, comfortable walking shoes and earplugs at the ready. Besides our own “Dear Austin, Love L.A.” day party on Wednesday, we’ll be looking in on dozens of bands and posting daily reports. The contingent of southern California bands playing […]
Your Friday show picks: ‣ Swedish House Mafia’s farewell extravaganza, “Masquerade Motel,” goes off at L.A. State Historic Park downtown. It’s the first of two nights and features Alesso, An21 & Max Vangelli, Clockwork, Otto Knows, Zedd and more. ‣ As of last night, there were still a few tickets left for Aimee Mann and […]
The opening night of Harper Simon’s free Monday night residency at the Satellite this month lacked nothing for variety and star quality. First, there was the headliner, the son of Paul Simon, doing songs off his forthcoming album “Division Street” (due March 26) and fronting an all-star band that included Rock and Roll Hall of […]
When we first spotted Chris Bowman, it was 2006 and he was playing in band called Blackout. He was playing a scuzzy power-pop original titled “I Don’t Want to Grow Up,” which seemed perfect. After all, he was 11. Fast-forward to 2013, and Bowman and pals Miles Kottak, Gavin Bennett and Ray Libby – still […]
Vanessa Long debuted her Cillie Barnes persona in late 2011 – part provocateur, part seductress, part girl next door, she unveiled songs like “Hey Hi” and “Indian Hill” that were crazy-like-a-fox spins on folk-pop and hip-hop. Long, a founding member of Family of the Year and that good woman who was hard to find on […]
There’s probably a lot of symbolism we’re not getting in Beach House new video for “Wishes.” Either that, or director Eric Wareheim is riffing on things we might read as big metaphors. Whatever. The video is an fantasy halftime show at the sporting event featuring actor Ray Wise looking oh-so-reverent amid acrobats and dancers, playing […]
[Reposting this from yesterday because of problems with the Soundcloud stream:] Flaamingos’ shadowy take on ’80s/’90s Euro-gaze conjures up dancing with an apparition in the fog – the fleeting beauty of it resides somewhere in the layers, somewhere in the dark. The L.A. band is the new venture of Jerry Narrows (vocals, drum programming) and […]
Thursday’s things: ‣ Frank Turner does his second L.A. night, this one at the Hotel Cafe (where Noah Gundersen, Wake Owl, Andy Shauf and Said the Whale also perform). Above is the video for Turner’s new single “Recovery,” off his forthcoming album “Tape Deck Heart” (due April 23). ‣ Youngblood Hawke does a sold-out show […]
As a follow-up to last year’s album “What Kind of World,” singer-songwriter Brendan Benson has embarked on a single-per-month project that he plans to wrap with a vinyl release later this year. Benson’s January effort, “Swimming,” is one of 28 songs on a free SXSW sampler assembled by HGTV and Paste and available through Noisetrade. […]