Who: Bat for Lashes in the Mojave Tent In 3 or Fewer Words: Unlike the rest. Memorable Because: Bat For Lashes is a rare bird. In fact, Natasha Khan walked onto stage in a rainbow-colored outfit (which included a cape that gave her “wings”) with energy so electric she could have burst into flames like a phoenix. […]
Shut out of Coachella? Don’t want to deal with the desert? So in love with your favorite artist that you want to tack on another show besides the festival? Goldenvoice has lined up a bunch of luminaries playing the festival (April 12-14 and 19-21 in Indio) to perform at other southern California venues. The dizzying […]
There were albums I loved, albums I liked, albums I appreciated and albums I avoided in 2012. Because of my regional focus, I spent an inordinate amount of time with music from Los Angeles artists. And strangely for me, a lot of the hyped bands failed to resonate; stuck in traffic, I’d rather have played […]
Words and lyrics are nice, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand ideas. If you’re surprised by the NSFW cover art for “The Haunted Man” (out Oct. 23 on Capitol), the forthcoming album from Natasha Khan – aka Bat For Lashes – you shouldn’t be. Khan has never been one to do anything dull […]
Eastern Conference Champions have no record label, no manager, no publicist and no lawyer. But on Wednesday the woefully under-appreciated [well, not everywhere] Los Angeles trio landed one of the 15 songs on the soundtrack to “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” – putting them in the company of the likes of Muse, Metric, the Dead Weather, […]
I’ve been to a lot of residency Mondays at Spaceland over the years, and tonight’s lineup, front to back, rivals any I’ve seen. Residents Local Natives could probably pack the place themselves, but they have two other great SoCal bands on board – the Henry Clay People and Aushua. Not to mention: Fun., who are […]
The nominees for the U.K.’s Mercury Music Prize were announced this week, and if about half the shortlisted artists aren’t already familiar to Los Angeles audiences, more will be soon. In fact, the latest (and greatest, if you believe NME’s breathless accounts) synth-pop sensation, La Roux, play to a sold-out Troubadour tonight, with four other […]
[Apologies – this installment of Tonight in L.A. was delayed by the, ahem, aftereffects of Last Night in L.A. …] It’s no secret how much Art Brut is admired around Buzz Bands HQ; we’ve even been known to affect corny English accents and say “brilliant” as we witness Eddie Argos’ shout-sung self-flagellations. The British quintet […]
[Today Buzz Bands welcomes Ted Jameson, who will be contributing occasional album reviews.] Bat for Lashes, “Two Suns” (Astralwerks, April 7) – After releasing a critically acclaimed debut album, “Fur and Gold” (2007), Natasha Khan returns with a strong second effort that is conceptually ambitious while remaining highly listenable. In an era where the album […]
