So much new music these days is reminiscent of the golden age of shoegaze that my heart fairly skips a beat when one of the golden-agers actually turn up. So it was a moment ago, when the new single from Bailterspace (sometimes rendered Bailter Space) popped into my email. The New Zealand/New York rockers rose […]
[Covers: Sometimes the songs don’t remain the same …] Harlan, “Dirty Laundry”– Few artists inhabit the late 1970s and early ’80s with such proficiency and zeal as Harlan, whose debut EP (and recent live shows, including the Echo residency, above) revealed him as a shredder/soul man who plays it so close to the vest you […]
x x x x x x x x x x Ah, the sweet fruits of collaboration. Ken Oak and Ed Gorski (as Oak and Gorski) make “cello rock,” a strain of pop that features Oak’s big stringed instrument. Nicholas Ruth is the former guitarist/backup singer in Malbec (and now a composer, songwriter and producer) whom […]
Tuesday’s things: ‣ Buzz Bands LA’s Second Tuesday songwriter night goes off at Lot 1 Cafe tonight with Tenlons Fort, Olentangy John, Xander Smith and Frank Lenz. The music starts early, at 9, and a $5 donation is requested. Details. ‣ Nite Jewel [pictured] headlines the Echo – her album “One Second of Love” came […]
[New tunes from three artists rolling in to L.A this week…] The Tallest Man On Earth, “1904” – We get a glimpse of Kristian Matsson’s new material on the forthcoming “There’s No Leaving Now,” out Tuesday on Dead Oceans. Although the Swedish singer played up the bare-bones acoustic vibe as his strengths over the years, […]
John Atzberger sounds like man caught between times and places. As Olentangy John, he embraces the timeless simplicity and unvarnished earnestness of many of his co-conspirators in Los Angeles’ “new folk” movement while meting out shadowy songs with a postmodern conscience. He’s from Ohio, channels Appalachia and calls L.A. home (although he’s moving soon), a […]
If you don’t feel like wrangling the crowds and have the cash to make yourself a Very Important Person, Make Music Pasadena is offering six VIP passes for Saturday’s festival, which features Grimes, Grouplove, Cults, Dengue Fever, Dam-Funk, Milo Greene and more. The passes get you backstage access, and the first two confirmed get Epiphone […]
Frank Lenz and the Buzz Bands LA record collection go way back. The O.C.-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has lent his talents over the years to myriads bands, including Starflyer 59, the Lassie Foundation, Pedro the Lion, Richard Swift and the Weepies. He has spent years being one of those background geniuses who make everybody around them better, […]