If I had to guess, I’d say Sunset Junction is going to happen this year. I know its status still seems to be a subject of debate in some circles, but suffice to say things will be worked out in time for the big charity street fair Aug. 22-23. Can’t get anyone to clue me […]
[One day left till Coachella, and my schedule sheet looks like a 4-year-old practiced drawing circles, lines and arrows on it. So many tough decisions this year …] Tonight isn’t any easier. My Bloody Valentine shakes the chandeliers at the El Rey Theatre, and the Black Keys have a pre-Coachella show at the Glass House […]
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 […]
Oliver the Penguin is not so much a band, or an album. It’s a persona – a character that sprung from the minds of musician-about-town Tommy Walter and singer-songwriter-composer Rie Sinclair. If the duo has their way, Oliver the Penguin won’t just be an album that they plan to release in March, it will be […]
[Happy birthday, Mac Davis — I hope you’re keeping it in the fairway …] The Ettes’ female-fronted garage rock, first unleashed on L.A. ears about four years ago, is hardly better than on its September release “Look at Life Again Soon” – urgent, low-fi, gnarly and making you wonder who’d win if the Ramones arm-wrestled […]
To mark the two-month anniversary of the new Buzz Bands, I’ve created a compilation CD from 18 of the songs this site has offered for download. Almost all of the tunes have been exclusive to this blog, and most of them are from SoCal artists. There’ll be more like this in the future [watch for […]
I generally don’t get too excited about EP releases — they’re more snapshots of band’s work or a trial balloon rather than an artistic statement — but today’s inaugural release, “The Color by Number EP,” by L.A. duo Glacier Hiking merits some special attention, at least for the backstory. Glacier Hiking is the brainchild of […]
