Here’s an encouraging note for the bands around town who try and try and try some more: Leslie & the Badgers’ self-released album “Roomful of Smoke” (which we loved when it came out last year) has been picked up by Nashville-based label Thirty Tiger (home to Elizabeth Cook, Justin Townes Earle, Jim Lauderdale and Those […]
When I talked to Alex Ebert before Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros began their worldwide crusade, he allowed as how there were some Ima Robot songs in the archives, some material recorded while the dance-punks were in label limbo after 2006’s “Monuments to the Masses,” their sophomore album for Virgin Records. Now Ima Robot […]
The “new” video for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ hit “Home,” produced by Ryan Gall, is kind of a highlights reel – a “Home” movie that uses some of the images from the original, “official” video for “Home.” Cheating? Maybe, but it makes for a pretty nice warm-and-fuzzy from a band who’s going to […]
Who: Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros at the Outdoor Theatre In 3 or Fewer Words: Festival-sized folk. I’ll Remember This Forever Because: Alex Ebert has suddenly become a Devendra-like figure. From the moment Ebert took the stage (and knocked a mic stand into the pit, bloodying a photographer’s head), he owned the overflow crowd […]
G is for Goldenvoice. G is for all the grousing I heard about the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival lineup when it was announced three months ago (all but silenced now). G is for all the grumbling about the festival’s new policy to not sell one-day passes (still hearing that). And G is for […]
I have only to glance at Stereogum’s post on the most anticipated albums of 2010 to be assured that next year will be better than 2009, when my most-visited album was the Stone Roses’ reissue. [Heartfelt thanks again to the person who gifted me that; you know who you are.] That said, ’09 had some […]
[Corrected] This will warm your cackles – it’s a video of women in the northern Ugandan village of Gulu singing “Home” as a way of thanking Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. The women were the beneficiaries of proceeds from the L.A. group’s album-release show July 14 for “Up from Below.” Through the Gulu Widows […]
This remarkable video for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ “Kisses Over Babylon,” which features heavy hitters such as David Strathairn and Dermot Mulroney, is the second segment in a project called “SALVO!” – a 12-part feature-length movie musical. Go here for background on Part 2. After the jump, revisit the first installment, “Desert Song”:
Local Natives, the local quintet whose harmony-laden indie-pop put smiles on faces all over L.A. in 2009, are signing to Frenchkiss Records. Official announcement is expected later today. Frenchkiss, the NYC-based indie founded by Les Savy Fav’s Syd Butler, has released music from the likes of the Hold Steady, Passion Pit, the Dodos, the Antlers, […]
“Relax,” Alex Ebert told the crowd Tuesday night at the El Rey Theatre. “Just relax.” A simple enough entreaty. The barefoot and bare-chested Ebert and his 12-member ensemble, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, were playing hippie hymns fit for a 1960s love-in, but the capacity crowd was demanding and edgy, almost fit for Chicago […]
