los angeles

Seaspin: Reverser [mp3]

Ron Trembath
April 20, 2010April 13, 2010

seaspin

Seaspin is an L.A. based shoe gaze group with a very impressive style that invokes the spirit of both The Stone Roses and The Cranberries in a single 4 minutes. Frontwoman Jennifer Goodridge has a set of pipes that can make your ears bleed with delight. The title track from their latest release, Reverser EP, is as dreamy as it is passionate about something obviously very personal to Goodridge and her crew. This is a tale of love and loss set over dark and heavy barbiturate guitar licks and extremely haunting lyrical mass murder. This is the sort of group you may find yourself using to drain away the misery, while just as easily using them to garner inspiration and high hopes of a better tomorrow. Read More »Seaspin: Reverser [mp3]

Letting Up Despite Great Faults: Our Younger Noise [Video]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 5, 2010February 11, 2022

The debut self-titled LP by Letting Up Despite Great Faults reminded me a lot of the early stuff by The… Read More »Letting Up Despite Great Faults: Our Younger Noise [Video]

Hannis Brown: Oh Ah Ee [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 1, 2010March 31, 2010

When a press release includes the classic RIYL (i.e. read if you like), it’s often a hint of what’s to come. However, there are times when all you can do is put a dumbfounded look on your face and give it a good listen. Hannis Brown is one such artist. This Los Angeles-based composer boasts a RIYL that includes Tortoise, Dirty Projectors, and Charles Mingus. Amidst that company, you know you’re in for something weird. The question that arises is: Will it live up to the mish-mash combination of eclectic artists? The answer, in the case of Hannis Brown, is somewhat. Read More »Hannis Brown: Oh Ah Ee [Album Review]

Pepper Rabbit [Feature]

Andy Fenstermaker
February 22, 2010February 20, 2010

LA’s Pepper Rabbit has two EPs under their belt, both released in 2009. The more recent of the two, Shakes, is more a single with three songs, and it includes the mysterious “Red Wine”. With an emphasis on piano and a snare drum, Pepper Rabbit mixes in sleepy, ethereal vocals. Add an atmospheric, spacey warble behind the vocals and minimal instrumentation and the effect is something of which you’d be familiar, had you imbibed two or three glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a pleasant drowsy feeling, not quite to the point of slurring but definitely a little fuzzy in the head. Read More »Pepper Rabbit [Feature]

Ariana Delawari [Feature]

Andy Fenstermaker
February 9, 2010February 8, 2010

Ariana Delawari‘s psychedelic folk is epic. Her voluble wail is filled with power and vibrato that’s rarely matched. The only voice that comes close to possessing the strength of Delawari’s is perhaps that of Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond). There’s a lot of passion behind “San Francisco” that keeps the song unquestionably fresh, and it’s a sound that populates her debut LP, Lion of Panjshir. Read More »Ariana Delawari [Feature]

Letting Up Despite Great Faults: Letting Up Despite Great Faults [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
December 2, 2009February 11, 2022

The name Letting Up Despite Great Faults stems from Blonde Redhead’s “Loved Despite Great Faults” off Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons. They often gets comparisons to The Postal Service, but I just don’t see it. Sure, it’s electronic pop at its best (a bit of a similarity) and there are occasionally some Tamborello-esque beats, but Letting Up Despite Great Faults isn’t nearly as clean nor does it possess those cut-and-dry vocals signature to Gibbard. The primary similarity is the band’s ability to create dreamy electronic indie pop tunes with a romantic edge. It’s a similarity in theme at best.