Fidlar is showing up on various lists of bands to watch for 2012, including the NME. LA Weekly has them as #1 on their Top Local Bands To Be Huge in 2012. They’ve been smoking it at various live shows, including a sleepless run at CMJ 2011 in New York. They recently came to hang on my Moheak “Go Deep” show tracked at Wavaflow in Los Feliz. More on the live set and interview here or check it out below. – Bruce
Check out Bruce’s “Go Deep” show on Fridays 1-3 pm Pacific, 4-6 pm Eastern, 9-11pm GMT. Also listen to past shows at Bruce’s blog and follow Bruce on Twitter.
“Rad Scared” is previewed from Bats Pajamas forthcoming sophomore full-length expected later this year. Their Steve Albini recorded self-titled debut caused a stir and the Toronto based collective continue to bring the noise with this effort.
Vancouver natives, Panther & The Supafly just dropped their debut EP, Nkazi. “Diamond in the Africa Rough” is a sick fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and pop. This track is driven, inspirational, and poised for greatness. Give these guys a spin.
Panther & The Supafly – Diamond In The Africa RoughPanther & The Supafly – Chronicles
Once again, Team Me offers up an appetizing track. Accompanied by a stunning, and eye-catching video, “Show Me” displays the diverse pop writing ability of the Scandinavian six piece. “Show Me” is from their album To The Treetops! The album is set to be released, March 5th. Keep doing work in Oslo!
Here’s a stellar piece from new London-based artist, EMiL. This song has a killer chorus hook and a beautiful string arrangement throughout. It’s the kind of song that gives you that feeling like you’re on fire and every spot is your “sweet spot” on the basketball court. This track brings the heat all day. EMiL is set to officially release “Deadwood” on March 25. I am counting down the days.
Whoa… what have we here? Beyond a beautiful and promiscuously toned video, oozes the gospel tinted blues and shoegaze of Oslo, Norway exports Phone Joan. Soak yourself in the vulnerable timbre of their dynamic new single “Damned” and be sure to pick up a copy of Phone Joan’s sophomore LP +47 91799466 due March 14th.
Lucy Rose let loose on this festive take on the Chris Rae classic “Driving Home for Christmas.” It’s sure to put you in the holiday mood. And for perfect reading while you’re listening, B3SCI recently had the chance to catch up with the budding songstress to talk about her musical wish-lists as well as gathered some insight on her writing, the evolution of the Lucy Rose sound and what the future might hold. Lucy had a big 2011 and no doubt is positioned to have a major 2012. So preview “Driving Home for Christmas” and get a little piece of the mind from the artist herself below… ’tis the season!
Q: Do you ever dream of plugging in an electric guitar and wreaking absolute havoc?
A: Oh definitely…. but not sure I’d be able to pull it off! I’ve tried a couple of times but think at the moment I’ll be sticking to sitting down with an acoustic guitar.
Q: I’ve read you’re all about the drums, and that you began writing with a piano, how deep does your multi-instrumental and writing pallet range?
A: I used to play drums in the school orchestra and the kit is 100% the most fun instrument to play, but I find writing much easier on the guitar. Instruments like the piano that I learnt to play I find more difficult to write with, unlike the guitar because I self taught myself I have no idea what I’m playing and therefore find it more exciting.
Q: What do you hope to pick up one day?
A: The dream would be to be able to play the trumpet but in reality I’m pretty sure it would be impossible.
Q: Were you at all surprised by the success that has come from some of your songs like “Middle of the Bed” and “Scar”? How do you feel they represent you as an independent artist now and moving forward?
A: Of course, I expected nothing to come of them, I was just at a stage I really wanted them to be available for people to buy because I’d been writing and gigging for so long. I like to think they represent me well, and the fact we self released them both made people’s support so much more important. Moving forward I have no idea what will happen, but hope that word of mouth will continue.
Q: Is there anything in particular that you feel you learned or gained as an artist by self-releasing your own material and do you see a record label’s role in the future of Lucy Rose?
A: I’ve learnt that it’s possible… that record labels are important but not an necessity to make your music available and for people to hear about you. I worry that too many bands and artists starting out are aiming for a record deal and not enjoying building up a fan base organically. It’s so hard to know what will happen in the future, I’d like to work with a label, but I’m a little stubborn.
Q: You’ve mentioned that as you began creating music, you took some time in finding and developing your sound. What were some early visions of your sound and how do you ‘dispose’ of those ideas? Are there any new visions for your sound that you are eager to explore?
A: It’s so difficult at the beginning to find the right sound and work out what is the best route to go down. My songs could go in many directions, I didn’t know what I wanted it to sound like but knew exactly how I didn’t want it to, so kept narrowing down the options until my vision became very clear and I could create the music I wanted. I hope my sound from album to album will develop and change, this excites me a lot.
Q: Where does your writing process typically begin? Is there a time of day that you like to write?
A: It normally begins at home, maybe in front of the TV, when my mind can finally turn off. Normally the chords come first and the lyrics and melody come together after. I takes me a while to work out what a song is about but all of them mean a lot to me.
Q: Rumor has it that you like numbers, do you believe in hit song science, or the idea that songs and melodies can pragmatically be constructed and arranged to become hits?
A: I love numbers but I don’t believe there is a formula for a hit song.
LA music lovers and scene aficionados get psyched for New Year’s Eve at The Satellite! One night, two years, watch The Henry Clay People, RACES, LA Font and more perform on the legendary stage. B3SCI is gonna help you celebrate 2011 and ring in the New Year by giving away a pair of tickets to this party of parties. Just drop us a line here and ask for the pair of passes. Our winner will be picked at random and contacted on Wednesday, the 28th.
Bear Driver have just let loose on this new video for “Let the Cold,” the adjoining track on their forthcoming double AA single expected early 2012 via Adventure Club Records. Get a free download of the A-side “Never Never” at their soundcloud and get into some proper fuzzy guitar pop below.
If you were to stumble upon “One Fast Move Or I’m Gone” while surfing your local radio dial, you’d likely ask yourself – who’s that? In fact you may even have several educated guesses. The AAA ready track hits a sweet spot for modern rock and British guitar pop fans. The Danish collective have recently released their Rick Parker produced (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Dandy Warhols, Von Bondies) debut LP, Infrared Daylight, and after having toured with Crocodiles and Crystal Antlers in 2011, are no doubt posturing themselves for an equally awesome 2012. Peep “One Fast Move Or I’m Gone” by Black Light White Light below as well as an intense music video starring some random Danish sheep dog.
Black Light White Light – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone
If you’re in need of beating a lingering music hangover, Ty Segall’s “My Sunshine” should fix you right up. Ty’s gritty and unfiltered tone is most impressive and it almost sounds like he’s boiling nails somewhere in his vocal pallet. This is my favorite track from Ty, it’s off of his 2010 album, Melted. Ty has also released music in 2011. Below is a nice cover of The Vibrators, “Baby Baby.”
Re:Mix Labs kicked off a week’s worth of events at 401 S Main in Downtown LA on Tuesday night. This, the final stop for Re:Mix, which started at CMJ in NYC and made pit stops in Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas, of the Hyundai Veloster-sponsored multimedia event (from vintage arcade games and 3D movies streaming out from the trunks of cars to huge name artists in a small room spinning on the 1’s and 2’s).
Tuesday’s ANTENNA sponsored Grand Opening Reception featured an open bar and a variety of ensembled sets from Yeasayer, College, and Them Jeans to name a few. KCRW darlings Caught A Ghost’s new school mix of indie rock and soul found a pocket for the forthcoming event’s anticipatory atmosphere.
The Re:Generation event went down in a very special way on Wednesday night, with DJ Premier, Erykah Badu, The Crystal Method and more spinning brief DJ sets before Skrillex took the stage. With about 250 VIPS in attendance, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to glimpse the record collections of some of the most respected names in the industry. But the main draw was Mr. Skrillex, arguably the most popular (and divisive) DJ on these seven continents circa late-2011.
The legendary DJ Premier hosted sets between performers, hyping up the crowd of industry tastemakers busy making use of the open bar and interactive displays of elaborate art, fashion items and more intertwined through pimped-out Hyundai pocket rockets. The NY based producer brought the beats and set the tone for the evening as well as the forthcoming Richard Bishop directed and Grammy sponsored documentary (due February 2012) starring collaborations from the evening’s performers and many more other iconic artists from all eras. But Primo definitely got the party started, “how many people know about James Brown?!”
Erykah Badu opened with some Staple Singers, then played a little Stevie Wonder, followed by “Ain’t No Woman Like The One I Got,” a track worthy to rep, anytime, anyplace, despite unabated popularity. It was like Erykah had downloaded my hard drive into her laptop for the set, as heater followed heater followed heater. We were 5 feet away from Erykah Badu!
What would The Crystal Method have thought of Skrillex back in 1997? In the same way that an album like Vegas utilized an instrument like the Clavia Nord Lead 3 to create something avant garde, Skrillex uses the whole of electronic music technology to create a new genre unto itself. The Sonny Moore moniker proved a sight to be seen as well as an artist worthy of all the hype. As a dub-wake of mediocrity follows on his coattails it will be fascinating to see where he chooses to take electronic music next.
Skrillex Remixes Avicii “Levels” at RE:GENERATION Launch Party
Thursday night hosted the infamous artwalk on the streets LA. More great shows and events coming through Sunday this week. Be sure to stop by 401 S Main in Downtown LA for all the action.
