As Florence + the Machine offers a clip to accompany “Shake It Out,” the first official single off her sophomore album “Ceremonials,” those Kate Bush comparisons (Stevie Nicks gets mentioned too) don’t seem much of a stretch. Whether Florence Welch dislikes this label the media has slapped on her style, there’s no denying that this […]
Underground pop provocateur Emperor X sure does make it interesting. The high school science teacher-turned-lo-fi explorer, born Chad Matheny, has become known for his pop-up shows and turning the discovery of his music into a geocaching adventure as much as his catchy, mind-bending folk narratives. His latest album, “Western Teleport,” is out Tuesday on Bar/None […]
Top shows to get your week started right: ‣ With their first album in eight years “The Great Escape Artist” on the way Oct. 18, Jane’s Addiction does the first of two nights at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. That’s the band’s video for “End to the Lies,” above. ‣ Dum Dum Girls headline the […]
It’s the first Sunday in October, my favorite month of the year, and to celebrate I have a bountiful harvest of new music at the ready for tonight’s L.A. Buzz Bands Show on KCSN (88.5 FM). You’ll hear fresh tunes from the likes of Hot As Sun, Holloys, Little Red Lung, the Sea of Cortez […]
Your Sunday selections: ‣ San Diego-based Steve Poltz, the wildly entertaining singer-songwriter-satirist who rose from coffeehouse phenom to collaborate with Jewel and become known for sing-alongs, headlines this month’s edition of the Sunday Night Jones at the Satellite. The evening also features Billy Harvey, the hosts Daniel Ahearn & the Jones and a post-headliner songwriter […]
Picks for a super Saturday: ‣ The 13th annual Eagle Rock Music Festival goes off along Colorado Boulevard, highlighted by the Low End Theory Stage and its group of beat-scene all-stars (Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer, Nosaj Thing, Tokimonsta, Nobody and more) but also featuring some great indie artists, including Health, Rooney, Shadow Shadow Shade, Mia […]
What a crazy, mixed-up week it’s been. Today’s Buzz Bands LA show on Moheak Radio will be programmed accordingly, if you please. I’ll have new music from Incan Abraham, Holloys, Emperor X, the New Division, Gothic Tropic, Sea of Cortez and Fonda, along with some jams from Jonathan Wilson, Hanni El Khatib and Taylor Locke. […]
Jonathan Wilson titled his new album “Gentle Spirit,” but you suspect it’s only because “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” was already taken. Wilson, the North Carolina-bred singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and keeper of the Laurel Canyon flame, has birthed a 78-minute opus that takes deep, long breaths, its lush orchestration and serpentine arrangements rewarding patient […]
Like Fool’s Gold and Vampire Weekend, the new L.A. trio Gothic Tropic finds inspiration in world beats and exuberant guitars. The brainchild of Cecilia Della Peruti, who for the past two years has played with Rumspringa, Gothic Tropic takes a playful, lo-fi approach to the psych-pop on its four-song “Awesome Problems” EP, with guitar lines […]
Friday fun: ‣ Tinariwen visits the El Rey Theatre as part of the Ooh LA L.A. Festival, abetted by TV on the Radio. The Malian band recorded their new album “Tassili” (which came out in August) in the Algerian desert with contributions from TVOTR’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone (as well as Nels Cline and […]
