Two U.K. greats from the ’90s – Mark Gardener of Ride (pictured) and Adam Franklin of Swervedriver – highlight the lineup for the fifth Clean Air Clear Stars Festival at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace on Sept. 23 and 24. Franklin will be performing with his band Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody at the […]
One more cycle of 365 days and it will roughly be seven years since the Parson Red Heads first moved from Portland, Ore., to City of Angels. Of course, we were sad to see them go when they decided to return to their original hometown last year, but the folk group, which centered around husband […]
For songwriter/producer Jesse Nolan, it’s not a matter of finding soul in the machine – it’s eliciting soul from the machine. The songs from Nolan’s new project Caught a Ghost offer a rump-shaking hybrid of electronica, Stax horns and R&B crooning. Think Fitz & the Tantrums transported to the Holodeck. Nolan, who made some very […]
Tonight’s touts: ‣ Richard Buckner [pictured], his first album in five years, “Our Blood,” out this month, kicks off a co-headlining tour with David Kilgour tonight at the Bootleg Theater. [See our recent post on Kilgour; visit Pitchfork for a download of the Buckner song “Traitor.”] The Buckner/Kilgour bill is an early show; later, locals […]
Jonathan Bates describes his new direction as Big Black Delta as “stream of consciousness, in every possible way.” “There’s a certain element of, ‘Hey, I sneezed on the wall and it looks like a painting,’” says Bates, the former Mellowdrone frontman who has gone on to play with M83 and White Sea (the solo project […]
Heard on the street, jotted in my notebook: ‣ Word on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake is that L.A.-based Evan Voytas, whose fuzzy pop is equal parts synth, soul and space, will be releasing an EP in October on Dovecote Records, home to Hooray for Earth and Wise Blood, among others. Voytas recently returned from […]
Talk about heavy messages. Shadow Shadow Shade’s life-affirming anthem “Say Yes” has been paired up with mini-documentary by O’Shea Read on an immigrant worker named Alonso Alejo Lopez. Flowers. ||| Live: Shadow Shadow Shade plays Saturday, Aug. 27, at Sunset Junction, and Saturday, Sept. 17, at Lobsterfest.
This week goes from 0 to 60 in about 5 shows: ‣ British songstress Adele, who postponed L.A. dates in June because of a bout of laryngitis, brings the songs from her Top 10 album “21” to the Greek Theatre, a show rescheduled from June 6. That’s her video for “Rolling in the Deep,” above. […]
It’s time for that weekend nightcap. Set your FM dial to 88.5 KCSN (or your browser to KCSN.org) for this week’s installment of the L.A. Buzz Bands show, live at midnight from a Cal State campus near you. I have new music from Vanaprasta, Youngblood Hawke, Family of the Year, Caught a Ghost, Bodies of […]
Sunday fun: ‣ Roots Roadhouse returns for a second year to the Echo and Echoplex, bringing a batch of great Americana and country artists to the upstairs and downstairs stages (along with some acoustic performances on the patio). This year, the event is highlighted by the Sadies (pictured), who will be joined by Jesse Sykes, […]
