Incoming: Chinatown Moon Festival, Lobsterfest, Fenech-Soler, Soft Swells, Lou Barlow, Linus Young, Fathers & Suns, Gary Calamar, Barcelona, Miles Tackett, Decorator, the Entrance Band, Charlotte OC, YG, Swans, Waters, Wartime Recitals, Boyz II Men, EFG, Sturgill Simpson, Band of Heathens, Lily Kershaw, Marc Anthony, Linkin Park, Earth, Goldroom, Sean Hayes, Slow Magic, Too Short, Katey […]
With an full-length in 2012 and an EP in ’13 under the name Soft Swells, Tim Williams found more expansive territory for his music that on his three “singer-songwriter” albums. His growth spurt must’ve felt good – Soft Swells’ relentlessly upbeat songs are the ocean breeze to cynicism’s summer heat. And, as it turns out, Williams […]
Saturday evening might have offered concert overload for music fans, but that didn’t keep the crowds away from 2013’s final Chinatown Summer Nights. An eclectic lineup of seven bands held forth the LA Weekly Live Music Stage, capped by the dance-friendly electro-pop of Hot As Sun and the rhythmically sophisticated indie-rock of Incan Abraham. The […]
The last time we referenced “Soft Swells” and “summer” was last August, when the L.A. quartet released its undeniable single “Summer Song.” Songwriter Tim Williams and gang again play to their strength in the video for “Lifeboats,” a song off the band’s mood-elevating 2012 debut that gets a new life on Soft Swells’ new “Lifeboats” […]
Psych-rock quartet Incan Abraham and dreamy synth-poppers Hot As Sun [pictured] head up the lineup for the Aug. 17 installment of Chinatown Summer Nights, the monthly party that brings live music, KCRW DJs and cultural activities galore to downtown L.A. For the final Summer Nights of 2013, the LA Weekly Live Music Stage expands from […]
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 […]
Tarfest returned to the La Brea Tarpits Park on Saturday, with Blondfire, So Many Wizards, the Makepeace Brothers, the Steelwells, Helena and Soft Swells soundtracking an afternoon and evening that included live art, sculpture, food and family fun – including a monstrous outbreak of hula-hooping. The spectacular sunset behind the Makepeace Brothers’ set kinda put […]
A massive Saturday, day and night: ‣ It’s a free day in the park at the La Brea Tar Pits, where the annual Tarfest offers a musical lineup of Blondfire, So Many Wizards, Soft Swells, Helena, the Makepeace Brothers and the Steelwells, as well as live painting, sculpture and family activities. ‣ Mexican singer-songwriter and […]
The 10th annual Tarfest – the music and arts festival on the Miracle Mile – officially kicks off tonight with an exhibition curated by Holly Harrison of LACMA, but for music fans the treats come Saturday when a free, all-ages outdoor festival goes off in the park adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits. The […]
Rising electro-pop outfit Blondfire will be joined by Soft Swells, Helena, So Many Wizards, the Steelwells and the Makepeace Brothers at this year’s Tarfest, the annual celebration of music and art on the Miracle Mile. The free outdoor concert on Saturday, Sept. 22 at the La Brea Tar Pits Park (5801 Wilshire Blvd.) kicks off […]
