A manic Monday, starting with four fine free residencies: ‣ Voxhaul Broadcast, the release of their debut album and a follow-up EP in 2011’s rear-view mirror, roar into 2012 with some new songs and the Satellite residency. Opening night features support from Eastern Conference Champions, sibling duo Blondfire and the Little Richard tribute band Big […]
In 2011, I saw more than 500 bands perform live over 265-plus days of show-going, and still I feel as if I missed a lot. Plenty of what I did see remains etched in my memory, though, from festival adventures big and small (SXSW, Coachella and FYF to the Silverlake Jubilee, the substitute Sunset Junction […]
Deepest appreciation to all Buzz Bands LA readers and supporters for making 2011 a banner year. Here’s hoping your holidays are safe and happy: Download and enjoy BBLA’s “45 Minutes of Xmas,” a mixtape of holiday tunes that include some new compositions, some originals that have been favorites of mine for several years and a […]
[It’s Buzz Bands LA staff writer Seraphina L’s turn to share a year-end list …] By Seraphina Lotkhamnga Choosing one’s favorite albums of the year is always a daunting task, and it’s even worse when you have to whittle your list down to 25. Here are my thoughts on 2011 albums (local and non-local), and […]
An abundance of excellent music came my way from the SoCal community in 2011. My favorite 20 albums follow, with some special mentions/recommendations beyond that. It was an especially rich year for folk-rock and singer-songwriter albums, not so much for hard rock. Most of the nouveau electro and experimental releases left me cold. I didn’t […]
Here’s the final installment of Buzz Bands LA’s favorite local albums of the year. Later today, I’ll post them in order, from No. 1 to 20, with some special mentions.
Thursday things: ‣ Black Star, the groundbreaking duo of Mos Def and Talib Kweli, do a makeup gig at Club Nokia for an L.A. date originally scheduled in October. ‣ The first night of the annual Invisible Children benefit concerts at the Troubadour features Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Matt Pryor (the Get Up Kids), Aaron Gillespie […]
It’s a fantabulous Friday: ‣ Back in April, Eastern Conference Champions (that Joshua Ostrander, pictured) released one of our favorite albums of the year, “Speak-Ahh.” The trio warms up for a trip overseas with a date at the Satellite, supported by Duniven and Warships. ‣ Surfer Blood, with a new EP “Tarot Classic” on the […]
“Bull in the Wild,” the three-minute banger off Eastern Conference Champions’ scintillating new album “Speak-Ahh,” sprints along on an ascending bass line while Josh Ostrander spits out lyrics like a drunken beat poet. It’s exhilarating, moreso if you catch some of the imagery in Ostrander’s seemingly stream-of-consciousness wordplay. “I’m in the corner / watching the […]
By Shannon Cosgrove People in ripped rock shirts and leather jackets, along with a guy in a KISS outfit, were greeted by reggae music, dreadlocks and puffs of smoke at the entrance of the Sunset Strip Music Festival on Saturday. “Welcome to the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll!” a 98.7 DJ shouted to nonchalant passers-by […]
