[Just got back into town from the desert, and darn if it doesn’t feel like the desert here …] Quickly: The buzziest show of the evening is the Whip’s unlikely slot at the Henry Clay People’s residency at Spaceland. Not exactly a good fit, bill-wise, but the Manchester, U.K., foursome [pictured] are as good as […]
[Random news items from my inbox …] Friends are rallying en masse in support of Peter Case, the L.A. icon who underwent emergency open-heart surgery on Jan. 15. A fund, Hidden Love, has been set up to help defray the medical expenses of the former Plimsouls frontman, 55, who had no health insurance and is […]
[Happy 30th birthday to Norah Jones …] Nico Stai’s residency at Spaceland this month has been a high-energy affair, owing first to his quartet’s squeezing every ounce of juice out of his ’90s-vintage pop-rock, and second, to a lineup of buzzy opening bands that got things tingling. Tonight’s Flaunt Magazine-stamped finale (which follows Stai’s taping […]
[It was 45 years ago today … that the Beatles played their first American concert, in Washington D.C.] Orenda Fink [pictured] was just in town in late November, for a one-off reunion show with Maria Taylor as Azure Ray. Now she’s back (playing Bordello, with Whispertown 2000 and others) and has some new material in […]
[Hide the live chickens, Alice Cooper is celebrating a birthday today …] Matt & Kim’s latest album, “Grand” (released in January on Fader), is pretty lightweight stuff, but the duo [pictured] can charm an earflap beanie off a hipster and they always draw well in L.A. With the Mae Shi on the bill, the sold-out […]
Aushua singer-guitarist Nathan Gammill still has trouble hearing out of his left ear, and his world might still seem a little topsy-turvy, but the frontman of the promising Orange County four-piece is soldiering on as the memories recede of the severe beating he sustained at the hands of two men outside a bar in Orange […]
Their name is barely known outside of a few small clubs, but already Local Natives are telling us all the places they’ve been – and, in doing so, all the places they intend to go. The L.A. quintet makes music that crackles with frenetic beats, agile melodies and cascading harmonies, tightly assembled in songs that […]
[Shakira blows out birthday candles today as we careen into a new month …] How packed is the Viper Room going to be tonight? Indie darlings DeVotchKa swoop into the Sunset Strip club for a sold-out show. … I reckon the Smell will be crowded too – NYC’s Gang Gang Dance (who are playing Coachella […]
[Blowing out birthday candles today: the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne. Now that’d be some party …] Norwegian punk songstress Ida Maria [that’s her video for “Oh My God,” above] turned more than a few heads at Spaceland on Monday night, and I heard a several people saying they were adjusting their plans to catch the […]
Welcome to the Buzz Bands’ first podcast. I’m calling it The Buzzsicle, and it’s an hourlong taste of tunes cool, sweet and sticky. Vol. 1 is a compilation of 16 songs culled from recent EP, single and sampler releases by L.A. bands. My intent here is not necessarily to assemble only music I’m head-over-heels for, […]
