Former Locust Records recording artist and local lad Rich Kay steps away from his Chicago art-house label and sound to independently release this debut Garland!
Absolutely stunning vocals over loud rock, shoegaze guitar shimmer alongside of fragile, tear-stained, doe-eyed, electronic-y ballads.
"I arrived in time to catch a gorgeous set from Meiko, a waitress at Hotel Café and from what I heard last night, my pick for their next big success story."
—Josh Jackson, Editor, Paste Magazine
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Ray describes his style as “a little bit of Hip Hop, a little bit Latin, a little bit Soul and a whole lotta love.” Rivera pulls together his music and live experiences to create fluid sound that combines bilingual hip-hop lyrics with salsa and cumbia rhythms.
The Pity Party consists of 2 beating hearts & 5 musical parts, pushing the limit of what 2 people can accomplish live, redefining what it means to be heavy & pop, political & personal, accessible & remote. Beat-driven, angular, discordant, catchy, extreme, polite.
The duo’s effect is impressive, raw and quite a spectacle. - LA WEEKLY
Organic beats and imaginative lyrics make this freshman release from LA's Charley Buckets worth a listen on headphones. Avant hip hop balanced with some tongue in cheek booty jams.
BEWARE OF SAFETY--It Is Curtains "…while the music is loud, noisy, and aggressive, the band really shines in the post-trauma aftermath, showcasing a more sophisticated side that really speaks towards the band's natural talent and understanding of its art." - Jordan Volz, The Silent Ballet.
Appearing June 6th, 2007 - The Pehrspace with Joy Wants Eternity (Seattle) and The Lights From Here (LA).
At the heart of this independent feature film, inspired by the ‘60s & ‘70s era spaghetti western movies, is the psychedelic sound of the band, Spindrift. This veteran music ensemble (featuring members of Brian Jonestown Massacre & The Warlocks) channels the spirit of Ennio Morricone to take the listener on a cosmic journey through the desert as a preacher-turned-gunslinger sets out for vengeance.
BRENTLY HEILBRON--Phantom Love Parade
Recorded live on the Comedy Central Stage--this CD is a thought provoking and hilarious romp covering subjects such as the new era of show biz animals, hobo philosophers and animatronic entertainers--ending in an all-out battle royale with the melon-smashing ghost of comedy past.
REDCAR--Can't Be Stopped
Lead by musical temptress Heather Reid, with Jon Skibic on lead guitar and Ryan MacMillan on drums, REDCAR takes the best from indie rock's current sound and adds a flavor all its own--melodic, passionate and just hard hitting enough to make you come back for more.
THRESHHOLD--Sum Blues
"It's a call to progress but it's respect for the past, it's sadness and celebration, reflection and vivacity. Best of all, it's got a lot of rhythm and a whole lot of soul..." --All Music Guide
LION FEVER--Who Hears, Who Tells
A psychedelic quarantine of deep spirit witchy blues, Lion Fever shouts "AWAKE!" in rock 'n' roll's ear and smiles as the future re-invents itself in brown acid love and the dark brow of those left knowing.
DEAD ROCK WEST--
Honey and Salt
Dead Rock West have packed a career's worth of potential hit songs onto a single disc...Honey and Salt Spans the history of rock, from Elvis to post-grunge..." Amplifier
Borrowing from the best of L.A.'s psychedelic past, their sound is equal parts Love and the Beachwood Sparks. "The Sluggish, melancholy tones of the urban landscape misxed with organic textures and lighthearted, Kinks-heavy pop." LA Alternative Press
KRISTY KRUGER—Songs From A Dead Man's Couch "Imagine a female Tom Waits, produced by Daniel Lanois." Winner of the 2007 Independent Music Award for Best American Album of the Year! Selected as one of the top five DIY releases of 2006 by the editors of Performing Songwriter Magazine!
PEDESTRIAN--Ghostly Life Pedestrian--a band and art project from Los Angeles--is lyrical, poetic, chaotic, dirty, beautiful, loud, and dynamic. Ghostly Life is inspired by art, politics, love, hate, life, loneliness, chaos and good Scotch. It'll make you feel better when you are down.
"Charged with heavy electric guitars that send you into the stratosphere and a rhythm section that will shake your foundation as it rams you back down to earth! A thunderous and ball bustin' debut! --All Access Magazine
THE SNAKEHANDLERS—'Country Rock is Neither' "A mix of rock energy, punk attitude and country songwriting. Raw and energetic but with all the touchstones of classic country music. Their cover of the Flying Burrito Brother's apocalyptic classic, "Sin City" captures the feel of old an new blended nearly perfectly."
JAKE LA BOTZ--Graveyard Jones
Jake La Botz is a creator of dark poetry and haunting song, the kind of music that goes in your bones and rides you for days, a sound and vision only those who've been to the bottom and clawed their way back up can generate. His midnight gifts evoke Hank Williams and Skip James as much as Tom Waits and Dylan." --Jerry Stahl, Author of permanent midnight
RANDY WEEKS —'Sugarfinger' With the release of Sugarfinger, Weeks has created what is now three albums whose musical and lyrical richness marks them as modern classics.
COURTNEY JAYE —'Til it Bleeds A collection of five songs that highlight Jaye's inspiring blend of sweet, soulful, island influenced acoustic rock and rhythms. This free spirited songstress with an organic, silky smooth, multi-range voice has continued to develop her unique and personal style.
QUINCY COLEMAN —Come Closer "The melodies are pop but the arrangements--with organs and horns bursting out of nowhere-elevate the tunes far above the ordnary."--Billboard
"(Quincy has)...all the goods, a beautiful voice, such swet emotion and tenderness...very talented."--Dolly Parton
Nectarphonic forges a sounds from the heavens above and the earth below, as if The Cacteau Twins fronted Pink Floyd at a seedy downtown club. Liberally spiced with brutal dynamics or howling feedback, their music is ultimately an offering of beautiful sweetness.
"The Clean Prophets capture exactly the glitter-free glamour belonging somewhere between a glossy Louis Vuitton ad and your grandpa's attic. It's dark, sludgy psychedelia!" --L.A. Alternative
The Parallelograms make woozy, warm electronic pop for a surreal world with boy/girl vocals and catchy melodies enshrouded by a dreamy guitar haze and noisy analouge bloopery.
"Terrell first conceived this phantasmagoria as an album, and his eclectic, heart-pounding numbers advance the pulpy plot while retaining their individual value. Heartland rockers and adventurous theatergoers alike should be enraptured." --L.A. Times
"Rose's Pawn Shop brings something new (and quite lacking) to the current musicla scene—originality. A mix of genres that results in a wonderful treat fro the ears." —Kill Your FM Magazine
Best described as a grass roots collective of progressive musicians and engineers, blending herbal rhythms, atmospheric environments and definitive soul. Their original pieces showcase versatility, depth and definition of an emergence in sound, simply labeled, Electro-reggae-blues.
After a well-received debut album and critically acclaimed follow-up E.P., the band Irving now realizes its full potential. An album of inspired variety and stirring depth, Death in the Garden casts Irving among the strongest rock bands performing today.
SMART BLACK PEOPLE —Directed By Nelson George
A companion piece to his 2004 book, Post-Soul Nation, Nelson George's documentary Smart Black Peoplereunites some of the subjects of a generation-defining photograph toocument the impact of the "New Black Aesthetic" that arose in the 1980s in arts, criticism and entrepreneurship."—Village Voice
The Letter Openers are purveyors of high-energy sexy freak rock. The Letter Opener's monstrous new album, their debut full-length, All The Time Right Now, produced by Chad Bamford (Weezer, Spiritualized) is where hot meals bothered!
Lead bassist/vocalist Evie Evil is backed by Gene Trautmann (Queens of the Stone Age) on the new E.P.! "Evil Beaver's music transforms a room from moody minimalism to lusty furor." ÷L.A. Weekly
Dirty Little Secret is pure energy. With the manipulation of everything between sound and noise, Dirty Little Secret forges dark and sexy vibrations. Standing out like an analog beacon in a digital sea, Dirty Little Sectret blurs the lines between hi and low-fi.
Krister Axel has a unique singing style, described by fans as Bill Withers meets Jamiroquai while others describe him as a sort of young Elvis Costello. A sefl-taught musician, Krister claims the legendary Chris Whitley as the greatest influence on his writing.
Mike Semple has created a sound marrying two cities—Los Angeles and his childhood home of Tuscon. A melting of the countrified influence of the desert and the rock and roll expanse of Los Angeles. Think Psychocandy meets The Days of Wine and Roses and a bit of Wilco.
[$9.98 CD]
MICKEY AVALON ÷Mickey Avalon
A.K.A. Mr. Right spitting with the disafeccted flow of Son Doobie on the nod, taunts and teases with his tawdry sex raps. Staying 'on beat with he works the concrete,' his tales of L.A.'s high & low life are boosted by sick synths and thumping drums.
Listen to a Song
Website
[$9.98
CD]
MICKEY
AVALON —Mickey Avalon
A.K.A. Mr. Right spitting with the disafeccted flow of Son Doobie
on the nod, taunts and teases with his tawdry sex raps. Staying
'on beat with he works the concrete,' his tales of L.A.'s high &
low life are boosted by sick synths and thumping drums.
SAWS is a cracked-groove-celestial-takeoff to the nether-regions
of the Musical Saw. Rick Potts, Rick Frystak, Chris Guttmacher and
Brian A. Rosser do their business with electronic processing, hinged-neck
guitar, space melody bass squalky sunths and crackling snare and
cymbal. SAWS mark their territory with a sound unlike any other
progressive music waveforms.
"The Regulars write songs about small furry animals and drag
queens. Refreshing, quirky, alternative rock that is witty, honest
and fun from this up and coming band of 15 year olds!
As heard on Indie 103.1 FM! Dreamy, low-fi rock that hints at Americana
and drifts into darker Leonard Cohenish territory with sparse back-up
vocals and melodic hooks. Rich in atmosphere and reverb soused landscapes.
Features collaborations with Joseph Arthur and special guests Slippy
and Juliette Lewis!
"They display an ability to layer diverse sounds that bring to
mind Yo La Tengo's ambitious yet loos-limbed approach to music..sure
the hell beats a knockoff of the indie band du jour."—Amplifier
Magzine
"Monster's Are Waiting's dark and sexy rock energetically careens
between candy-coated vocals of innocent awakening and moody melodies
of detached experience."
THIRD
GRADE TEACHER- Reveals the Secrets of the Universe
"This band —which sounds like Woodpussy, the Pandoras, L7
and the Breeders all rolled into one—has the rare ability to
make a roomful of people stand still and listen." - LA Weekly
Groove-oriented alternative rock with sophisticated, emotionally driven
vocal melodies. Described as "Pink Floyd meets Funkadelic"
or "Radiohead meets Queens of the Stone Age," their music
varies from heavy aggressive to mellow and psychedelic.
PHILLIP ROEBUCK - Inertia
(One-man Band Recordings I & II)
"A true American troubadour for the modern age, using archaic methods, beautifully judged vocals, an acerbic lyrical wit and an utterly frenzied strumming action." - Collective-zine
EYESIGHT PROJECT - Eyesight Project EP
A lush, laid-back, dub-infused journey through deep bass, easy horns, and echoey, ragga vocals (Jah Faith, Twelve Tribes of Israel), delivered in a perfect blend of loops and lazy moods. This melange of electro-dub features sounds of the Caribbean and Latin America mixed with a perfect amount of jazz and downtempo electronica, India rhythms and other international flavo
TOTALLY
RADD - Shark Attack Day Camp
Thirteen tracks of 8-bit electro-futura dance-pop performed with key-tar,
beat-rods, and electric mcrocomputer bloop-bloop. "Best new artist
noninee (LA Weekly Music Awards 2005)
ADAM
BIANCHI - The Vallejo Demos
"Taking a lonesome roadtrip down Route 66 to get over your long
lost love? Pop in this melancholy acoustic-ish album. Fit for the
Sea Change and Garden State crowd." - Christy
(Amoebite)
Jay Nash combines acoustic and electric guitars with a resounding
voice to create a sound that has been compared to Bruce Springsteen,
Eddie Vedder and Dave Matthews. A combination of rock, folk, country
and pop - Nash can make audiences rock out with his powerful guitar
or hold them at rapt attention with his starkly truthful lyrics.
Indie psych-rock, influenced by such bands as Love and Rockets, the
Church, Primal Scream and Spiritualized. This 5 song release contains
songs from the forthcoming full length album Fire in the Sky.
An eclectic collection of live recordings from "who is"
and "who will be" in the singer songwriter world including
favorites like Gary Jules and Alexi Murdoch. From talented local
songwriters to national touring acts opting for a more intimate
setting, the Hotel Cafe, has quickly blossomed into not only one
of the best rooms to play in L.A., but also a kind of all-purpose
clubhouse for a newly burgeoning community of songwriters.
Vol. 2 in the Hotel Cafe live music series wil be available
at Amoeba this Fall!
Combining the phat, analog pop of Air's Moon Safari and the
moodiness of Low-era Bowie, this little EP scores big with a huge
sound and great songs. Best local debut of the year." - KSCR
Los Angeles
Inspired by the four canonical Brians of rock music [Eno, Jones, Wilson,
and Adams], this thrash foursome combines guitar scoldings with blues
metal fuzz riffs, demonicaly precise drums and psychedelic piano melodies
into a sound reminiscent of the noise that came out of the den, when
dad stole your pot, and listened to his old records, while watching
major league baseball.
"Music for hopeful romantics. These sweet melodies and honest lyrics from this local singer-songwriter just might steal your heart." - Laurie W. (Amoebite)
Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Shawn Amos' third and most personal album yet, Thank You Shir-lee May (A Love Story), is a
tribute to and exploration of the life od his late mother, singer Shirlee Ellis Amos (known professionally as Shirl-ee May). The songs serve as a series of musical photos, home movies, and mini-documentaries that add up to a celebration of a life lived fully but underscored by the profound sadness of her death.
Patria Jacobs - Poison of the Sea With a flamboyant twang achieved through uncalculated southern eavesdropping and California coastal wallowing, this CD is an eclectic collection of pop, dirgy ballads and country flavored songs from the former Rubyfish singer &
songwriter. Features performances by members of Negro Problem, Wondermints, I See Hawks in LA, 10 cent and legendary jazz harpist, Corky Hale."
EL TEN ELEVEN Instrumental post rock by a bassist and a drummer. Armed with only bass, drums and looping pedals, El Ten Eleven creates surprising music that calls to mind Tortoise, Radiohead and Sigur Ros. "Odd, atmospheric Tortoise-style post rock from LA duo playing only treated bass and drums. Moody, nutritious!" - Amoeba Music Hollywood "Music We Like"
AM - AM “AM takes equal parts of classic Americana, folk-rock and pop, and melts them down into something entirely his own, and does it with two things money can’t buy: imagination and taste.” – LA Weekly
“AM sounds like a mixture of Paul Simon and David Bowie.” - Gary Jules
The Sharp Ease –Going Modern Dishing it out fast in short, sweet blasts – this high energy, female-fronted, art-punk band is cooking up funky, raucous, punk rock ‘n’ roll – or “downtown alley dumpster rock” as they like to call it. Taking on Le Tigre, The Gossip, The Vibration, even the Pixies, The Sharp Ease deliver fuzzed-out, pop songs that are simply irresistible.
Sy Smith –The Syberspace Social This born storyteller and Temple Bar fave takes the spotlight on The Syberspace Social, exploring the realms of soul, jazz fusion and funk! CD feature production from Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Lucy Pearl, A Tribe Called Quest), James Poyser (Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Common) and Nicolay (Foreign Exchange).
Soda and His Million Piece Band – Self-Titled Moved by the pure love of folk, blues, and punk – Soda and His Million Piece Band assimilate the American music lexicon and bend it into new and wonderful shapes with accordions, horns, guitars, traps, bass, mandolin, and more. 10 vignettes of Americana. “Like Tom Waits having a hoe-down with Nick Cave.” – Joel Huggins
Helen Stellar – I’m Naut What I Seem Helen Stellar’s dreamy, detached, post-Verve style pop is a mixture of ethereal vocals, atmospheric guitars, expressive basslines and death-from-above percussion. An expansive, mystical sound – heavy on delay and effects – fans of BRMC, Dandy Warhols, Slowdive, and Spiritualized will eat this up.
