Posts Tagged ‘Los Angeles’

MIYA FOLICK – ” Deadbody “

Posted: March 30, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Last autumn Los Angeles-based musician Miya Folick released a new EP, Give It To Me, which was lauded asamong the best EPs Of 2017. Today, Folick has followed that up with a brand-new song called “Deadbody” which was co-written by her and Justin Raisen. It’s a skeletal track that builds to a towering chorus where Folick gets to show off her capacious voice: “Over my dead body,” she sings, booming drums behind her. It’s a wall of pure power. Here’s what she had to say about the song:

I wrote ‘Deadbody’ after reading article after article about people’s exploitation by people and power structures, and then talking to my friends about our own heavy experiences. I felt defeated by the weight and pervasiveness of the system we are fighting. I needed something to sing that felt hopeful but fierce. I wanted to growl and be demanding and defiant. ‘Deadbody’ was meant for me and you to sing together, to make us feel empowered, strong, and exhilarated by our own resilience.

Deadbody came from a place of frustration. I needed something to sing that felt hopeful but fierce. I wanted to growl and be demanding and defiant. I wanted something clear and stark. I made Deadbody for you and me to sing together, to remind us of our power, our strength, and our resilience. I want you to sing it loud and hold it in your heart. I made it for you

Thank you so much to my producer team @justinraisen @yves_above_so_below @lukeniccoli and to @terriblerecords for making this with me. And thanks to Waverly Mandel for the beautiful artwork.

STARCRAWLER – ” Ants / Used To Know “

Posted: March 21, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Starcrawler: Tim Franco, left, Henri Cash, Arrow de Wilde and Austin Smith

Hailing from Los Angeles, Starcrawler formed two years ago when lead vocalist Arrow de Wilde first met drummer Austin Smith. Shortly thereafter, guitarist Henri Cash and bassist Tim Franco joined the band. The group is known for their squalling riffs, thundering beats and incendiary performances, fronted by de Wilde’s otherworldly magnetism. The band have captivated audiences throughout their performances at this year’s music festivals.

This past May, 18-year-old Arrow de Wilde graduated from L.A.’s Grand Arts High School—but it wasn’t easy getting there. Leading up to her final days as a high schooler, de Wilde’s band, Starcrawler, was getting busier and busier: playing shows alongside groups like Ho99o9 and The Lemon Twigs, being featured by publications after their amazing live shows, and spending late nights in the studio with their producer, Ryan Adams.

Starcrawler’s debut single “Ants” b/w “Used To Know” is out now on Rough Trade Records on 7″ vinyl.

The WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND – ” Part One “

Posted: March 18, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band were an American psychedelic rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965.Their first album for Reprise was the best of the groups career, in large part because it was the most song-oriented. The group created music that possessed an eerie, and at times sinister, atmosphere, and contained material that was bluntly political, childlike, and bizarre. It was still plenty weird, almost to the point of stylistic schizophrenia, but when you got down to it, much of the record was comprised of fairly catchy songs in the neighborhood of two and three minutes long.

At times they sounded like reasonably normal, fairly talented Byrds-like folk-rockers with tracks like “Transparent Day,” P.F. Sloan “Here Where You Belong” and others, a Kinks-like garage band (“If You Want This Love” and at others, a fey Baroque pop outfit (the orchestrated “Will You Walk With Me”). There was an undercurrent of unsettling weirdness and even paranoia, though, in some cuts with otherwise pleasing tunes, like “Shifting Sands,” with its sizzling distorted guitars; “I Won t Hurt You,” with its heartbeat bass and disconnected vocals and “Leiyla,” where a standard teen garage rocker suddenly gets invaded by spoken dialog that seems to have been lifted from a vampire B-movie.

The cover of Frank Zappa’s “Help, I’m a Rock” flung them into freakier pastures, emulated convincingly on the group original “1906,” an apt soundtrack to a bummer acid trip with its constant spoken refrain, “I don’t feel well.”

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L.A. WITCH – ” Drive Your Car “

Posted: March 16, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Though the band hails from Los Angeles, they do not partake in any sort of witchcraft. Yet their ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound does suggest a kind of magic. On their eponymous debut album, L.A. Witch’s reverb-drenched guitar jangle and sultry vocals conjure the analog sound of a collector’s prized 45 from some short-lived footnote cult band. The melodies forgo the bubblegum pop for a druggy haze that straddles the line between seedy glory and ominous balladry; the production can’t afford Phil Spector’s wall-of-sound, but the instruments’ simple beauty provides an economic grace that renders studio trickery unnecessary; the lyrics seem more descendent of Johnny Cash’s first-person morality tales than the vacuous empty gestures of pre-fab pop bands.

This isn’t music for the masses; it’s music for miscreants, burnouts, down-and-out dreamers, and obsessive historians. Album opener Kill My Baby Tonight is the perfect introduction to the band’s marriage of ‘60s girls-in-the-garage charm and David Lynch’s surreal exposés of Southern California’s underbelly. Sade Sanchez’s black velvet vocals disguise the malicious intent of this murder ballad, with the thumping pulse of bassist Irita Pai, the slow-burn build of drummer Ellie English, and Sanchez’s desert guitar twang helping beguile the listener into becoming a willing accomplice to the narrator’s crimes. Brian follows the opening track with a similarly graceful, if not somewhat ominous, slow-mo take on a well-worn jukebox 7”. It’s a vibe that permeates the entire album, from the early psychedelic hue of 13th Floor Elevators on tracks like You Love Nothing, through the motorik beat and fuzzed-out licks of Drive Your Car, to the grittier permutation of Mazzy Star’s sleepy beauty on Baby In Blue Jeans.

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STARCRAWLER – ” Live At SXSW Pledge House “

Posted: March 16, 2018 in MUSIC
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Starcrawler!! Need we say anymore?? , Got a feelin these LA punks are going to feel right at home in the Pit!

Starcrawler are a Los Angeles rock band who formed two years ago when lead vocalist Arrow de Wilde first met drummer Austin Smith. Shortly thereafter, she found guitarist Henri Cash at her Echo Park high school and LA native Tim Franco (bass). They play with squalling riffs and thundering beats, and their incendiary performances, fronted by de Wilde’s otherworldly magnetism, recalls nothing as much as a youthful amalgam of the Cramps, the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs, and Alice Cooper.

They released their debut single “Ants” in 2017 and London DJ Matt Wilkinson quickly discovered the track and played it on his Beats One show, after which the track made its way to Zane Lowe and Sir Elton John, both of which spun the track repeatedly. The band made several trips to the UK and Europe over the remainder of the year and opened for bands such as the Foo Fighters and Black Lips in the USA. Starcrawler  released their debut album on January 19th, 2018 recorded with Ryan Adams in his Pax AM studio in Hollywood. It features their present single “I Love LA” and is out everywhere on Rough Trade / Beggars.

Spend 13 minutes with Starcrawler and you will NEVER BE THE SAME.

The young punks of Starcrawler have been lighting up L.A. with their famously fun and ferocious live shows, and now they’re catching ears across the country with their self-titled debut album, produced by Ryan Adams.

Songs performed Love’s Gone Again, I Love LA ,Used to Know, Ants

KILO TANGO – ” It Was All A Dream “

Posted: March 12, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Kilo Tango is the Jane to your Daria, that stylishly cynical best friend that always has your back and who’s way cooler than your actual older sister. A Florida native now residing in Los Angeles, it’s no wonder lead singer Katie Mitchell has truly mastered the sandy, glimmering garage pop sound so fitting for both seaside landscapes.

Surf rock siren and Kilo Tango frontwoman Katie Mitchell’s music is atmospherically a day at Malibu circa 1960s. Her knack for capturing Americana-centric heartbreak feelings wax and wane from dreamy boy-meets-girl romanticism to kick him to the curb. This track combines Mitchell’s specialties and tells the story of a brooding bad boy she knows is no good.

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Written by Katie Mitchell
Vocals/Rhythm Guitar: Katie Mitchell
Lead Guitar: Nick Chacon
Bass: Zachary Mouton

SHAMIR – ” Resolution “

Posted: March 11, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Shamir has released a surprise 8-track album called Resolution. A heavy, guitar-leaning effort, the album follows Shamir’s recent “double A-side” single “Room,” which is now also available on his Bandcamp. Last year, Shamir released his album Revelations on Father Daughter Records after a dispute with XL Records.

He also shared his new previously-announced 7″ EP called Room. The latter features the title track on the A-side and “Caballero” on the B-side. Listen to both projects below. Resolution marks the singer’s third album in two years, following last November’s Revelations and last April’s Hope (which was also surprise released). Shamir and Mac DeMarco are set to release a joint 7″ vinyl for Record Store Day 2018(April 21st), featuring their respective covers of Beat Happening songs.  Its pointedly political and personal. The opener, “I Can’t Breathe,” paints a chilling picture of police brutality and the lack of consequences perpetrators often face with heavy allusion to Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. “Panic” and “Dead Inside” deals frankly with anxiety and depression, and Shamir made sure mental health has been at the forefront of conversations about his new music.

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Since self-releasing Hope on SoundCloud in April 2017, Shamir has improved as a songwriter across each project, tackling heavy topics both personal and social with deftness and grace. The guitar tone and production on Resolution are gritty and textural, a perfect juxtaposition for his feathery falsetto, making it a fascinating record both thematically and sonically.

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Shamir has returned from whence he came, with two new songs that celebrate this one of a kind artist’s love of country music. Out now on Father/Daughter Records both as a limited 7” vinyl and digital release, Room features the first two new tracks from Shamir since the DIY darling’s critically acclaimed November 2017 album Revelations. The two songs onRoom are produced by Big Taste, the Los Angeles based songwriter, producer, and vocalist who has worked with Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, and Adam Lambert.

The A-side is the twang tinged title track, which has the accidental popstar self-harmonizing in an upbeat ode to the stillness & confusion depression can bring. It’ll move both your heart and your hips wildly in unison. The B-side is the galloping “Caballero” with a guitar riff that runs like a wild stallion off into the sunset. Shamir kicks-up desert dust with relatable lyrics like “Cuz I don’t wanna be in like with you because it turns to love and all lovers do is fall out of love, cuz everything ends and you’re stuck having to begin again.”

Released March 9th, 2018  Shamir , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ELLA VOS – ” In Your Corner / White Noise “

Posted: March 11, 2018 in MUSIC
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A break-out artist, the vocalist and songwriter’s latest single “You Don’t Know About Me” tackles the weighty issue of pro-life versus pro-choice.  Not someone who has been overtly political for most of her life, having her child in the current climate has naturally brought these issues to the fore for her.

Vos had been singing back-up vocals, or on tour playing keyboards for bands on the LA scene for several years. Her vocals are also featured on “Rolling Dice” a glitchy track by Australian producer, Just A Gent. Though she harbored ambitions to be a front woman, she never found the opportunity or courage prior to falling pregnant.

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White Noise,” a song about Los Angeles native Ella Vos’s  It’s pronounced “ehya vos” meaning She/You in Spanish. I liked this idea of a kind of relationship name: ‘she’ meaning woman or me, and ‘you’; meaning everyone else. It evolved into a stage name, and I decided to just own it. I struggle with Postpartum depression, so it may not be the most chart-friendly of themes but it has struck a chord. The pairing of her gauzy vocals with sparse electronics was released late last year. Since then, it has had 14 million streams.

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FLAT WORMS – ” Pearl “

Posted: March 9, 2018 in MUSIC
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West Coast garage punks Flat Worms are somewhat of a supergroup, consisting of drummer Justin Sullivan (Kevin Morby, The Babies), Will Ivy (Dream Boys, Wet Illustrated, Bridez) taking on guitar and vocals with Tim Hellman on bass (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps). The Los.Angeles trio have combined to become an explosive mix greater than the sum of their parts who fuse outer realms psyche exploration with blazing hot punk rock which has listeners enthralled, with many citing their eponymously titled debut as their album of the year for 2017.

Taking a stripped down no gimmicks approach whist in the studio, Flat Worms take no prisoners as they blast through every song with every intention of annihilating their listenership through brutal pneumatic bursts of primal energy which can only be caught by press record on the tape and letting go.

The band became eagerly tipped after announcing their arrival with the ‘Red Hot Sand’ EP in April of 2016. However, it was the release of their self-titled LP in October which has really seen the boys reveal their potential. Unfettered razor-sharp riffs, lacerating distortion layered and overdriven till white hot and whipped around ever accelerating drums; Flat Worms have created a record which takes all the power of their music and somehow captures it on a 12” which feels dangerous to even play.

We are very excited to catch these guys live and experience the ferocity for ourselves, which is lucky because Flat Worms have just announced a couple of unmissable intimate shows which promise to be lit powder kegs of energy and excitement. From the self titled LP “Flat Worms” on Castle Face Records.

  • 04/07 Flat Worms – The Soup Kitchen, Manchester
  • 07/07 Flat Worms – The Bodega, Nottingham

The ELECTRIC PRUNES – ” I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) ” Released November 1966

Posted: March 5, 2018 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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The Electric Prunes came together in Southern California during 1966 and soon became regarded as one of the seminal US psychedelic groups, thanks to the hit singles ‘I Had Too Much (To Dream Last Night)’ and ‘Get Me To The World On Time’.

Through their various incarnations, the Prunes recorded five albums for the Reprise label between 1967 and 1969 with legendary producer Dave Hassinger helping to create their unique and distinctive psychedelic sound.

Under the direction of composer and arranger David Axelrod, the Prunes helped pioneer the Religious Rock genre with the “Mass In F Minor” and “Release Of An Oath” LPs. This collection brings together their entire output for the very first time, including stereo and mono versions of their first three albums.

As the opening track on the compilation NUGGETS, “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)” introduced many to garage rock; a few years before that seminal compilation, it helped introduce The Electric Prunes as the title track to their debut album The title is a pun on having “too much (alcohol) to drink”: its lyrics describe how the singer has woken from dreaming about an ex-lover. The 1967 Reprise collection also included the Seattle-to-Los Angeles transplants’ other Top 40 hit, “Get Me To The World On Time,” along with material by pro songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancy Mantz that showed the quintet were game for ballads (“Onie”) and novelties (“Tunerville Trolley”) as well as tough rockers. A half-century on, I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) still remains electrifying to this day.

At the time, the Electric Prunes comprised singer James Lowe, lead guitarist Ken Williams, rhythm guitarist James “Weasel” Spagnola, bassist Mark Tulin, and drummer Preston Ritter. The oscillating, reversed guitar which opens the song originated from the rehearsals at Leon Russell’s house, where Williams recorded with a 1958 Gibson Les Paul guitar with a Bigsby vibrato unit. According to Lowe,

“We were recording on a four-track, and just flipping the tape over and re-recording when we got to the end. Dave cued up a tape and didn’t hit ‘record,’ and the playback in the studio was way up: ear-shattering vibrating jet guitar. Ken had been shaking his Bigsby wiggle stick with some fuzztone and tremolo at the end of the tape. Forward it was cool. Backward it was amazing. I ran into the control room and said, ‘What was that?’ They didn’t have the monitors on so they hadn’t heard it.

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