Part of the joy that comes with being a music writer is the joy of discovering the best new bands and musicians. It happens when you least expect it. That’s how I was introduced to Jake Bugg. While the 19-year-old troubadour has been making headlines in his native England. Until recently, he was barely noticed
Last weekend’s edition of Coachella featured everything you could hope for in a festival. There was heat, wind, dust and oh yeah, some great music as well. Between the babes and the bros, everyone seemed to have a good time taking in the sights and sounds of the desert. As weekend two is upon us,
One of the more unlikely people to be playing a headlining slot at Coachella, albeit on a small stage on Friday night, is Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt. But that doesn’t mean that anyone who has been following the rapper’s colorful career should be in the least bit surprised. Born Thebe Neruda Kgositsile in Los Angeles,
As anyone in any walk of life will attest, sometimes it pays to have luck on your side. Just ask Australian rockers The Rubens how a few serendipitous moments have catapulted their careers. Raised on the sounds of Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, Tracy Chapman and Led Zeppelin as well as old soul, hip hop and
With spring in the air (at least here in Southern California), the sun is shining bright, temperatures are finally hitting acceptable levels and beach season is not too far away. As they’ve been tearing up the Sirius XM Alt Nation charts the past few months with their luscious brand of alternative-meets-new wave-meets-sunny, California pop, there
Many will spend this week sifting through the rubble that was South-by-Southwest to see who survived and who was left behind, perhaps losing themselves in a similar way that Alan Garner lost himself in Vegas during the first Hangover. As every insider type heads back to their locales and each band continues with their tour,
An EP release can either be an appetizer of what’s to come in the near future or a collection of songs that do not fit with the rest of what they’re doing. In the case of The Airborne Toxic Event, the former holds true. We saw them about a month ago when they filmed their
As has been well publicized for anyone who has tuned into any music or entertainment website the past few days, this week is SXSW down in Austin. While it seems like every single band in the world has stormed the Texas capital, well, believe it or not, some haven’t. Some actually have the power and
Monday nights at The Satellite in Silver Lake have long been a bastion for newer and up-and-coming bands to showcase their talents. These free month-long residencies (throughout the city for that matter) allow for musicians to hone their craft and build their fanbase in the most organic of ways: via word of mouth. This past
For one reason or another, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are two of the most polarizing figures in music (especially hip-hop) today. One reason may be because Macklemore doesn’t have the typical cred and qualities that go along with being a rapper would usually entail. He’s white, from Seattle (not exactly known as a hotbed for