What a year. More than 140 Los Angeles-sired albums passed through the Buzz Bands LA headphones this year, not counting EPs, mixtapes and singles. Judging from the detritus at my desk – handwritten lists, stacks of CDs, press releases – and my unopened emails, there were a lot more out there. It came in all […]
Tuesday’s schedule: ‣ Shiny Toy Guns play a sold-out show at the Echoplex behind their new album “III” (out this week), the quartet’s first new material since 2008 and a collection that marks the return of Carah Faye Charnow to the band. MNDR and Of Verona open the show; that’s STG’s new video for “Fading […]
Incoming: Bob Dylan, Kaki King, Mika, Jason Lytle, Shiny Toy Guns, Beth Orton, Toadies, Taking Back Sunday, Joss Stone, Calexico, the Darkness, RZA, Motion City Soundtrack, Two Door Cinema Club, Matt & Kim, Tiger Army, Matthew Dear, Flying Lotus, Z-Trip, Jane’s Addiction, the Presets, Macklemore Above: Northern Irish rock band Two Door Cinema Club play […]
Shiny Toy Guns have come full circle. The synth-rock quartet, which took off after Oklahoma songwriters/producers Jeremy Dawson and Chad Petree recruited singer Carah Faye Charnow out of high school in Newbury Park, was one of the first big MySpace sensations, their single “Le Disko” eventually becoming omnipresent on rock radio after Indie 103.1 championed […]
Top 5 ways to rock away your Memorial Day Weekend hangover: ‣ DJ Jeremy Dawson of Shiny Toy Guns, along with live sets from San Diegans White Apple Tree and Buddy Akai, play a benefit show at the Echo for the Yes on Proposition 15. The event was put together by California Common Cause – […]
Set times have been announced for this weekend’s Sunset Strip Music Festival, a three-day affair highlighted by Saturday’s party on Sunset Boulevard. The street will be closed on Saturday between Doheny Drive and San Vicente Boulevard to accommodate two outdoors stages – with music going on inside the Roxy and the Key Club, there will […]
[Random observations on a Tuesday afternoon …] Ozzy Osbourne, who will be honored Sept. 10 at the House of Blues as the kickoff to the Sunset Strip Music Festival, has been added to the bill to perform the final set on the festival’s outdoor stage on Sunset Boulevard on Saturday, Sept. 12. Korn, Pepper, Kottonmouth […]
The Black Lips, Lucero, No Age [pictured], Lightning Bolt and the Thermals will be among the acts playing Sean Carlson’s FYF Fest (formerly known as the F Yeah Fest), scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5, at Los Angeles Historic State Park in downtown. The lineup, announced today, includes locals such as Darker My Love, Dios, Avi […]
[Birthday cheers go out Sunday to Donovan, and I hope this abbreviated rundown isn’t too late to inform your weekend plans:] Tonight, updated: Here’s where it gets loud – Spectrum, who will be joined by members MGMT, plays Club Underground at the Echo tonight, along with the Entrance Band and Abe Vigoda. … Grand Duchy, […]
I was a sucker for Yellowcard’s 2003 breakout album, “Ocean Avenue,” and when they followed it up in ’05 with “Lights and Sounds” I figured them for long-running success. Maybe their next album, “Paper Walls,” didn’t advance their teen-angst aesthetic enough, or maybe the kids found a newer model, but the band is now on […]
