File this under spreading the music – and doing something socially conscious. The first song from Los Angeles sextet Castledoor’s forthcoming album “Shouting at Mountains” is available for free download. The track, “Hidden Treasure” can be downloaded at the Biggest Label Ever, an upstart social networking/social activism/music website. The Biggest Label Ever, along with CauseCast, […]
It’s been too long since I posted a podcast, so this is Step 1 in catching up. This fourth edition of the Buzzsicle features songs from 17 L.A. artists whose names I heard in the aftermath of last month’s South by Southwest Music Festival. In my Austin wanderings, I mostly avoided L.A. bands, figuring I […]
Sometimes Andrew Lynch seems like he’s everywhere. And maybe he is. The multi-instrumentalist has played alongside, or worked in the studio with, Afternoons, the Amateurs, the Black Pine, Castledoor, Earlimart, the Poor Excuses and Radars to the Sky, to name a handful. The Alaska native’s solo work merits attention too, for its occasionally playful and […]
[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 […]
[I’m extending my hand; you’re unclenching your fist; maybe now we can raise a glass to the real new year:] The Walkmen [pictured], whose tour de force “You & Me” was one of the best albums of 2008, have had a whirlwind two days – they kicked off a West Coast tour with a visit […]
[Second of two parts] The past few years, in the halcyon days when I toiled for the local newspaper, I wrote an annual L.A. music review, handicapping the bands I thought might, for one reason or another, have the stuff to break out of the local scene. Following are my Bands to Watch 2009 [and […]
[From the clipboard of an Interweb sieve:] ‣ This almost qualifies as a brazen theft: An upright bass belonging to Mike Ibarra of the local music collective Killsonic was stolen from his van in downtown L.A. about 2 a.m. Nov. 16. There’s a benefit to help replace the instrument at 8 p.m. Saturday at Edgar […]
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, […]
