“Isn’t There More,” Morgan Nagler asks rhetorically on the closing track to Whispertown’s new EP “Parallel” (out this week via Acony Records). Of course there is, there always is, and sometimes you have to dig deeper to find it. Whether dispensing woozy Americana or the piquant synth-pop of “Open the Other Eye,” Nagler and her […]
The vivid orchestral brushstrokes on Little Red Lung’s self-titled EP (released this week) are like a watercolor in motion one moment, and an Edvard Munch come to life the next. At the center of the quartet’s serpentine arrangements – augmented by cello, violin, euphonium, trombone, vibes and other percussion – is singer-keyboardist Zoe-Ruth Erwin, an […]
Philadelphia trio Good Old War seems to have struck a chord with its third album “Come Back As Rain,” which is charting well after its release earlier this month. Theirs is an easy-breezy take on folk music, with Keith Goodwin, Dan Schwartz and Tim Arnold punctuating saccharine melodies with acoustic plucking and buoyant harmonies. They […]
It’s a wicked-good Wednesday: ‣ New Zealand’s the Naked and Famous headline the Wiltern, supported by Now, Now [see yesterday’s post] and Vacationer. That’s the Naked and Famous’ video for “No Way,” above. ‣ NYC’s Yellow Ostrich visits the Bootleg Theater behind its sophomore album “Strange Land” on a night that will also feature the […]
It’s no big shock running into a Los Angeles musician at the Austin airport after South by Southwest closes down its week of festivities. It was a surprise on Monday, however, to see one hard at work. There, seated on the floor minding his laptop, was So Many Wizards frontman Nima Kazerouni, and he wasn’t […]
Many things have happened since the release of Now, Now‘s 2008 debut “Cars.” The Minneapolis-based band is no longer fresh out of high school, and they’ve dropped the “Every Children” from their name. They’ve also signed to Chris Walla’s label Trans- Records and ended up working with producer Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, An Horse, […]
Tuesday things: ‣ Sharon Van Etten and the War on Drugs visit the Avalon Hollywood in a double bill of two artists with gorgeous (and critically praised) albums. Van Etten’s third album “Tramp” came out earlier this year to almost universal acclaim; the War on Drugs is still riding a wave of attention for August’s […]
Not that we are looking forward to M83’s return to southern California too much, but when photographer (and long time Buzz Bands LA ally) Kristy Sparow hailed us from Paris and offered to share images of Anthony Gonzalez and crew from the band’s show at La Cigale in the French capital, we gratefully accepted. M83 […]
South by Southwest 2012 offered an orgiastic selection of music, too bounteous for any one person to digest. Buzz Bands LA contributing photographer Scott Dudelson made the rounds all week and hit some of the festival’s buzziest artists – from everyone’s darlings, Alabama Shakes (top photo) to swoon-worthy songstresses (Fiona Apple and Norah Jones) to […]
The Buzz Bands LA crew is still in Austin due to a late flight out, but the excellent post-SXSW shows in L.A. start tonight: ‣ The Temper Trap‘s first post-SXSW show happens at the El Rey Theatre tonight as they continue to tour in support of their forthcoming self-titled album (out June 5 on Glassnote […]