On last year’s “Plains of Id” EP, the Ross Sea Party embraced the modern folk-rock aesthetic of songs built on big melodies, agitated rhythms and gang harmonies. As the L.A. quintet of singer-guitarist Brady Erickson, guitarist Mark Tillman, multi-instrumentalist Will VanderWyden, drummer Michael Baumer and keyboardist/glockenspiel player Jacquelyn Thropay embark on their next release, they’re […]
Your Sunday slate: ‣ Indie-rock quartet LA Font ought to be in a chipper mood tonight – the foursome’s recent Kickstarter campaign to fund the making of a full-length album met its goal this past week. LA Font headlines the Bootleg Bar tonight, on a bill with the Ross Sea Party and Minneapolis indie-rockers Rogue […]
Your Saturday touts: ‣ Milo Greene finally return to their hometown as their North American tour with alternative folk duo Civil Wars lands them at the Wiltern tonight. [Check out those harmonies in Civil Wars’ video for “Barton Hollow” above.] ‣ Philadelphia’s folk rockers Good Old War (consisting of members from former prog-rock band Days […]
Final Monday of the month, here goes: ‣ Tapes ’n Tapes, the Minneapolis quartet who early this year released their third and best album, “Outside,” visit the Satellite to do a makeup show for the scotched Sunset Junction. It’s also the final night of Stone Darling residency, and while the show isn’t free (it’s a […]
Here are Monday’s mighty touts: ‣ Bardot brings two unique female artists to L.A. as part of their It’s A School Night series. Although Rickie Lee Jones is a legend in her own right for writing songs that cover every bit of the music spectrum, U.K.’s young Mercury Prize-nominated and pop-dubstep queen Katy B may […]
This week goes from 0 to 60 in about 5 shows: ‣ British songstress Adele, who postponed L.A. dates in June because of a bout of laryngitis, brings the songs from her Top 10 album “21” to the Greek Theatre, a show rescheduled from June 6. That’s her video for “Rolling in the Deep,” above. […]
Hard to go wrong at any of the free residencies tonight. To recap: ‣ Expansive Americana with Robert Francis at the Bootleg Theater, where Blair, Papa and Cave Country support. Francis’ new material impressed last week, and the singer-songwriter was joined by his sister Juliette Commagere (pictured) for a couple of songs. ‣ Tuneful indie-rock […]
[Happy August – where is this summer going? – and happy birthday to Dhani Harrison. Good shows tonight? We’ve got a few …] Monday madness: ‣ Singer-songwriter Robert Francis, largely out of the L.A. eye (but big in Europe) since releasing “Before Nightfall” in 2009, is back with a new batch of songs and this […]
Had the Trashcan Sinatras emerged in the middle of this decade instead of the mid-’80s, I suspect they’d be festival-playing, Pitchfork-approved indie-pop heroes. As it is, the Scottish sextet has had an up-and-down ride – three brilliant albums in the ’90s (and some MTV buzz) followed by record-label woes that caused the band to declare […]
