In the world of music, there is usually good news and news you could care less about. Sometimes there is bad news, like someone dying, but that's pretty rare. So yeah, good or neutral. Swayzak coming out with a new album, well, that would fall under the "good" category (at least for Press McGee). The word on the street is the album is a little different than the tech/electro/disco we're used to hearing from the UK-based group made up of...
At the risk of sounding pun infected, Spaceland has always been fairly alienating in my opinion. It’s a weird combination of things—expensive drinks and the smoky back bar come to mind—but the main one has to be the shiny blue and silver backdrop that screams “you must watch me, for I am a rock band.” Considering the size of the venue (small-to-medium sized) and the relative “size” of the acts (see previous parenthetical notation), it lacks the expected intimacy that...
I am getting too old for this—this idea of shows starting after 10 p.m. As I wait in line at Bottom of the Hill behind couples of underage San Francisco hipsters in faded designer skinny jeans and $10 thrift store sweaters, I can’t help but worry that I won’t be home before 2 a.m. Is good music still worth missing out on so many hours of precious sleep? Of course it is. The Friday night lineup starts with Kira Kira,...
Sean Tillmann is sitting outside his Los Angeles apartment as we talk. “Hold on,” he says as he begins to talk to someone nearby, “Excuse me, What? I can’t hear you… Sorry, No… I’m doing an interview right now.” He shifts back to our conversation, “Sorry about that, someone was trying to buy a cigarette from me.” Such is the life of the music industry’s Bruce Wayne. Sure, Sean’s musical career is nothing to sneeze at, but he lives in...
For a split second there I wasn’t so sure what was going to happen. A sold-out Sunday night show in Hollywood seemed to be an unlikely thing, as the world (yes, L.A. included) had been swept by the Tonys: the musical variety, the tear-drop shot from King James kind, and the revered/reviled did-he-or-did-he-not-get-whacked assortment. A triple bill of make-you-sweat hip-hop, make-you-think hip-hop and Euro trash meets discothèque rock were all poised to overshadow all. Judging by the hundreds that piled...
While our on-air banter may leave something to be desired, you can't deny the quality of the new music every week on Ground Control Radio. We'll have more special guests in the upcoming weeks, but for now, be sure to check out Little Radio every Tuesday night from 8-10pm your soon-to-be favorite new music, like this week's selections from Spoon, the White Stripes, The New Pornographers, Chromeo, Foreign Born and more. Missed it? Listen to the podcast here. 1. The...
The night had been hotly anticipated for months. Years, in fact. As Spaceland started to fill up, the crowd was turning out to be quite a mixed bunch. In one corner you have the Geek Chic girl with glasses that could see the future, the V.P. of the Indie Gazette, strategically placed bro dudes, and, of course, drag queens. Picture the cover of Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In, only the chicks aren’t quite as hot. Much speculation went...
As much as I want to write something clever for this piece of delicious press, it's posing to be quite troublesome to actually compete with it. So, read below if you're into Daft Punk and stuff… Daft Punk's Electroma is an odyssey of two robots (played by Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich) who journey across a mythic American landscape of haunting, surreal beauty on a quest to become human. Their symbolic quest, which takes them from endless two lane highways...
Our fourth installment of Lunarcast features the Los Angeles rock band Amateurs. This break-the-rules quartet began working together behind guitarist/vocalist Keith Waggoner and drummer Stephen Garver as they honed in on what would eventually become the blueprint for their ultimate sound. After moving down to L.A., they added violinist Shannon De Jong and guitarist/vocalist Anthony Puglisi to round out the band’s set-in-stone lineup. The band began writing their debut full-length Speak Easy throughout 2006, entering the studio in...
Lately the Los Angeles Philharmonic has been making the move from hip replacement to placement in hipster vocabularies. Last year it was Belle & Sebastian teaming up with the orchestra, July sees them joining forces with the Decemberists, and now it's been announced that weepy troubadour Conner Oberst will get the chance to perform with an impeccably tailored backing band when Bright Eyes takes the stage at the Hollywood Bowl on September 29th. Bright Eye's Nate Walcott will be providing...