I first met Seattle-based artist Kris Orlowski at the New Music Seminar back in February. We bonded instantly over the perilous state of the music industry and a shared affinity for sarcasm, and when I later visited his website I was amazed to find that I liked his music as much as the actual man
photo by Maria Mochnacz Smoke Fairies is one of those bands whose name is simply perfect to describe their sound: dark, beautiful, and mysterious. But don’t for a second think that the feminine name translates to”typical girl band”: London duo Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies sparked a school friendship in the late 90′s over a
photo by Victoria Holt I submitted some questions for the Seattle-based duo Thousands last week, and when I got guitarist/vocalist Kristian Garrard‘s responses I wanted to immediately write back with more questions for him and his counterpart Luke Bergman (The name wasn’t meant to be ironic? You’ve played on both a beach and in a
photo by Melanie Elbaz French sextet The Bewitched Hands is a busy bunch. In addition to playing both CMJ and South by Southwest here in the US, they have plans to play several festivals in Europe over the summer. They recently worked with French electronic producer Yuksek on their debut full-length album Bird and Drums, which
Moving Units This Friday, Los Angeles-based Moving Units and Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts will perform as part of the continuing “First Fridays” series of musical performances at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Moving Units is a dramatic, glamorous synthrock band fresh from Coachella and a recent venture with TOMS shoes , while Crystal
This Saturday, April 30th, indulge your inner indie girl with Oh Darling‘s record release party at The Satellite in Los Angeles. The album is called Brave New Sound and I was instantly hooked by the first two tracks “Prettiest Thing” and “Gonna Be Yours” (featured in video below). Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as
If you’re in LA and searching for a safe musical haven away from the madness of Comic Con in Anaheim, go see Superhumanoids tomorrow night at The Echo! They’ll be playing with the enjoyably rocking but hard-to-pin-down Royal Bangs and the equally trippy Therapies Son, and tickets are only $8 in advance. Superhumanoids are no
Last week I reviewed The Goldberg Sisters‘ eponymous debut album, the recent musical venture of actor and filmmaker Adam Goldberg (for the full BestNewBands.com review please click here). The album was well-produced, creative, and accurately delivered on the project’s Facebook page promise to “put a wiggle in your step and a Prozac in your coffee”.
There’s a lot to like about Save the Clocktower‘s album Carousel. The Chicago trio’s sophomore album was released at the end of February 2011, but it’s worth a belated review because the album is fantastic. The musicianship is solid, but that’s far from the most interesting aspect of this record. For starters, the melodies and
Too strapped for cash to go to Coachella? No worries! Brokechella is the next best thing for all you penny-pinching music junkies who want to get your festival on (myself included). It’s happening this Saturday, April 16th at The Airliner in downtown Los Angeles, and doors open at 8:00pm. The festival features three different stages