Words by Brendan I like The Happy Hollows so much that the opening guitar/bass riff to "Faces" is my ringtone. Seriously, call me. We'll talk about this rockin' trio and their snappy tunes and their wild videos. What, you don't have my number? Guess you better keep reading ... The Happy Hollows / Faces The Happy Hollows / Big Bad Wolf The Happy Hollows / Meteors I really can't even [...]
"Paint a Rocket" is the new song from Pisces , the experimental folk-pop explorations of Happy Hollows frontwoman Sarah Negahdari. A shredder in her indie-rock trio, Negahdari takes on a whole new persona as Pisces. Both in her initial video "Voodoo" [ see our post from October ] and in "Paint a Rocket," Pisces takes a spacious, dreamy approach to folk — suggesting '60s greats Sandy Denny and Annie Haslam, though not quite in that vocal pantheon. The new song's choral-bordering-on-baroque backdrop bears of the fingerprints of Dios' Joel Morales, who produced the EP that is coming out in [...]
It was nearly nine o'clock of a bleary Eastside Thursday night and the atmosphere at the Bootleg bar was quite literally chill. Some kind of wacky vaudeville yucked it up in the box theater in back and performers –including one lady in a costume seemingly made of nothing but bike tire inner tubes – wove through the flinchless, slow-blinking crowd on one errand or another. Last night was mine and Romana's first joint L.A. caper after nearly a year of reviewing live music for SF Weekly online, so walking into a room full of shivering hipsters made for [...]
Thursday things: ► Black Star, the groundbreaking duo of Mos Def and Talib Kweli, do a makeup gig at Club Nokia for an L.A. date originally scheduled in October. ► The first night of the annual Invisible Children benefit concerts at the Troubadour features Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Matt Pryor (the Get Up Kids), Aaron Gillespie (the Almost), Aaron Weiss (mewithoutYou), Ryan O'Neal (Sleeping At Last). ► John C. Reilly celebrates the release of two singles (one with Becky Stark, one with Tom Brosseau) on Jack White's Third Man Records by [...]
As guitarist and songwriter for the U.K. quartet the Mighty Lemon Drops (1985-92), David Newton fashioned buoyant melodies out of spry chord progressions and jangling riffs for a band largely remembered for being part of the C86 movement . He married an American girl and settled in southern California in 1995, setting aside songwriting and performing (save some sideman gigs) in favor of producing — out of Newton's garage studio in Burbank came music from the likes of the Little Ones, the Soft Pack, the Henry Clay People, Eddie Argos' project Everybody Was In The French Resistance ... Now, [...]
Before I get all giddy about tonight's LA Buzz Bands show on KCSN (88.5 FM) — and I am giddy — some thank-yous are in order. First, thanks to everybody who contributed to KCSN's "Pump the Power" pledge drive ( you can still donate here ). And second, tip of the cap to Mark Sovel, aka Mr. Shovel , who filled for me last week while I was vacationing ( you can stream his show here ). Now, about tonight: There was quite a rush of new music that came my [...]
Those who've witnessed Sarah Negahdari perform outside her role as frontwoman / pixie shredder of the L.A. indie-rock trio the Happy Hollows know that her imagination can run wild, and rope listeners into accompanying her to a far-off place. "Negahdariland," it's been called, and it seems to be the birthplace of her solo work, which she's undertaking as Pisces. The music falls more in the experimental pop vein, and the video for her first single "Voodoo," starring Negahdari and Heather Pollock and filmed by her Hollows bandmate Charlie Mahoney, purrs with intrigue. A Pisces EP is on the [...]
Once again, I'm embracing some serious dad rock. Monday 10/3/11 [Pick of the Night] Emmylou Haris @ Largo ($60) - Can't think of her without thinking of Gram Parsons. [Recommended] Dum Dum Girls / Crocodiles / Colleen Green @ Troubadour ($15) [Recommended] Toro y Moi / Unknown Mortal Orchestra / Bass Drum of Death @ El Rey ($22) [Recommended] Jane's Addiction @ John Anson Ford (Sold Out) [Recommended] Peter Bjorn and John / Emperor X @ The Smell (Sold Out) [...]
These mixes were posted in January and February 2010, the winter of our discontent. Seriously, the blog was on life support during this time. We're through that storm now. 2010 was such a great year for music, and these early mixes show why. Many of the tracks were available in late 2009, but appeared on 2010 releases. Tracks are from late October through late November 2009 Gapless mix ripped at 256k VBR. Download all tracks in one zip file [...]
[So it's "Mötley Crüe Day" in West Hollywood today as the Sunset Strip Music Festival begins in earnest tonight with a tribute to the hard rockers at the House of Blues. Don't know whether to bring an autograph book to the red carpet or a taser.] It's a too-many-damn-shows Thursday. Top recommendations: ► L.A. roots-rock legend Dave Alvin has a new album out — it's called "Eleven Eleven," and the 55-year-old shredder brings his band Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones [...]
More than one participant — and even the attendees felt like participants — at Saturday night's Tribute to the Movies likened the affair to an Irish wake. There were songs and drinks and tears and photos and video projections, and all of it was very good, if not cathartic. The Movies , beloved Silver Lakers whose uncompromising music ("post-punk on a new wave bender," I wrote once) won plenty of fans and probably should have won more, are gone now, their mercurial lead singer Timothy James now ensconced on the other coast. But their irony-laden tunes lived on through [...]
[Birthday greetings go out today to Portishead's Geoff Barrow ...] Tonight's top 3 ways to get an earful: ► The Satellite (f/k/a Spaceland) will be decked out in black light and ready for an alien invasion to welcome the L.A. debut of Epic Ruins , the stoner rock project of L.A.-based drummer Jordan Richardson and his friends from Texas [see last week's item ]. They will be joined by the Happy Hollows and Computer Jay . ► Vintage rock 'n' [...]
Whether it's the melody or lyrics, the catchiness or repeatability, the party starter or the emotive heart tugger, a song has to make a connection with you. It has to stop your mind whirling and say -- rather, demand -- "Stop and listen!". Of the hundreds of tracks we posted (and hundreds more we listened to) this year, these were the ones we most connected with. The ones that made us stop and listen every time. A quick note on the rules we followed. Basically, like last year, nearly everything released in the year - whether from a [...]
Warpaint Play Two Sold Out Shows at the Troubadour (photo: Lauren Dukoff) Where did the year go? Solid week of shows and lots of holiday celebrations... Monday 12/6/10 [Pick of the Night] The Greenhornes / Hacienda @ Troubadour ($15) – I always liked the Greenhornes, but haven't heard the new record. This is their first full length in eight years. Maybe Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler got [...]
Jordan Richardson calls Epic Ruins "an art project whose medium is rock band." The Los Angeles-based drummer — the former skins man for indie rockers Oliver Future who went on to join Ben Harper & Relentless7 — could also have described his collaboration with Fort Worth, Texas, pals Steve Seward, Sam Anderson and Jeff Dazey as some of the heaviest stoner jams to come around since black lights were all the rage and Zep was on repeat. ||| Download: "Child and Cobra" [...]
Tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year and before you finish your gift buying list, check out our most recommended albums of 2010. We broke it down in two easily digestible portions with #16-30 today and the top 15 tomorrow. If you happened to miss the first part of this series, the buyer's beware guide, the list of albums to avoid are here . Before you begin, let us quickly give you a snapshot of the selection process used here. As our customary practice, we evaluate album [...]
Shadow Shadow Shade Play a Thursday Night Residency in February The Satellite quietly started selling tickets for the first of its shows today (there's a transition period where Spaceland Productions is still booking a lot of the nights through January and some all the way into March). Check out The Satellite's venue page at Ticketfly for details. Among the notable shows: 12/3 (the first show listed with "The Satellite Presents") - Lower Heaven / Exploding Flowers / Jason Simon 12/9 [...]
This week we posted some 'scary' good tunes like "Ghosttown" (First Aid Kit), "Radioactive" and "Pyro" (Kings of Leon), "Sixteen Shades of Black and Blue" (Fujayi & Miyagi), and "Sun Demon" (Stereolab) as a 'dead-on' giveway we were posting our annual Halloween mix. Yep, there's some 'killer' indie music here and played loud enough it's sure to make your ears bleed. So, find a favorite haunt, invite your best ghouls and goons, and get 'ur freak on. Happy Halloween! - Ed Blinking Pigs - [...]
The Happy Hollows I woke up this morning and decided to see what was new on the Daytrotter site , and stumbled upon a set from The Happy Hollows . The Happy Hollows are a buzzy sounding indie rock band that feature the barre chord guitar playing and ear piercing vocals of Sarah Negahdari backed by the tight rhythm section of Charles Mahoney (bass) and Chris Hernandez (drums). The track, Faces , was on Blogophilia 14 , but I have to admit not hearing much else beyond the EP, [...]
Draw Us Lines
Buzz Bands
L.A. RECORD
You Set the Scene
The Dadada
Relentless Noisemaker
Wake Up and Smell The Music
![Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/l2f6UbMnlq4_130.jpg)
Music Singles Chart #95
Whitney! ♥
FREENESS: Robot Orchestra – Beat The Odds (Germany)
The Twilight Sad cover The Smiths
