I have spilled endless amounts of (proverbial) ink decrying my deep and passionate love for Murder By Death, and already have some (literal) ink planned to just hammer that love home. It’s crazy to think that I have been listening to this band for 15 years. To commemorate their TWENTIETH year of being an active, touring band, Murder by Death have embarked on a 20th anniversary tour, which promises to hear some deep cuts from their stellar oeuvre. When I first discovered them I was a freshmen in highschool, working my summer job at a holistic pet food store. We didn’t get many customers, so t ..read more

I’m not sure where Jason Isbell lives. If pressed, I’d venture to guess that he and Amanda Shires reside below the Mason-Dixon, in some Southeastern state, in a music-filled home that is hugged by a wraparound porch. But once they took the stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Isbell and Shires interacted as if it was their living room. Pitched as “An Acoustic Evening with Jason Isbell,” the billing lied. Emanating Springsteen/Scialfa vibes, Isbell played all but one of nineteen songs with Shires. They first emerged from the wings holding hands. And that is how they entered and exited all nig ..read more

I’m not sure where Jason Isbell lives. If pressed, I’d venture to guess that he and Amanda Shires reside below the Mason-Dixon, in some Southeastern state, in a music-filled home that is hugged by a wraparound porch. But once they took the stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Isbell and Shires interacted as if it was their living room. Pitched as “An Acoustic Evening with Jason Isbell,” the billing lied. Emanating Springsteen/Scialfa vibes, Isbell played all but one of nineteen songs with Shires. They first emerged from the wings holding hands. And that is how they entered and exited all nig ..read more

On February 8th, The Teragram Ballroom will be hosting the third in an annual tribute celebration honoring a legendary musician. This year’s honoree is none other than blues/soul great Ray Charles, who’s songs will be played by a cavalcade of incredible musicians. An incredible group of artists will come together to perform the wide ranging catalog of Charles, supported by an LA based rhythm section that goes by “Family Company,” a string section, horn section, and background singers. “This core group of musicians previously sold out both The Troubadour and Peppermint Club, with tributes to D ..read more

Post-screamo heroes La Dispute have made a career of their idiosyncratic post-hardcore/spoken word yarn-spinning. Their utterly unique delivery inspired pretenders on their inception and had them outlast every pretender to their sound. They stopped by again in LA, touring off of their recentl-released fourth LP, Panorama. LA post-hardcore stalwarts and good friends Touche Amore opened the show (I cannot wait until LP5 ..read more

Lingua Ignota’s Caligula is almost certainly my AOTY 2019. The LA-based artist recently headlined Zeubulon for a sold-out show that felt like cracking into an anxiety-soaked psychotic break from reality mixed with grind/doom one-woman-show. The experience was just as transcendent as the album itself ..read more

Hiatus Kaiyote came and sold out the Novo a good while back. Due to some computer issues, I am only getting around to uploading my photos right now. But suffice it to say that their forthcoming LP is deserving of all the hype. Anna Wise opened the show with an intricate act from a seated position just stage right. What seemed like improvisational riffing was woven with throbbing polyrhythms as lights danced around Ms. Wise. But everyone was clearly waiting for the Melbourne-based headliners. It’s been way too long since the auzzie neo-soul titans had been stateside, in large part due to healt ..read more

Not many shows happen at the Palace Theater. It’s a blink if you miss it venue, tucked in and among the theaters and jewelry shops on Broadway, and an appropriate setting for a gem of a show Thursday night, Angel Olsen with Vagabon. By its end, it was an enchanting three-hour journey, where each artist mesmerized with her own witchy powers. Vagabon anointed the evening with a refined nine-song performance. Despite her shy disposition (and a tendency to remain tethered to the area immediately behind her microphone), the Cameroonian-born Laetitia Tamko melded the organic and the electronic to co ..read more

Not many shows happen at the Palace Theater. It’s a blink if you miss it venue, tucked in and among the theaters and jewelry shops on Broadway, and an appropriate setting for a gem of a show Thursday night, Angel Olsen with Vagabon. By its end, it was an enchanting three-hour journey, where each artist mesmerized with her own witchy powers. Vagabon anointed the evening with a refined nine-song performance. Despite her shy disposition (and a tendency to remain tethered to the area immediately behind her microphone), the Cameroonian-born Laetitia Tamko melded the organic and the electronic to co ..read more

Two of post-hardcores brightest stars of the last decade plus have undeniably been friends La Dispute and Touche Amore. The two main pillars of the briefly (and self-deprecatingly) titled “last great wave” have embarked on a co-headlining tour that will be coming through LA and stopping at the Belasco Theatre this Friday the 13th. La Dispute are touring hot off their recently-released record Panorama, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Touche Amore have some new songs in the pipe for their forthcoming full length to follow their incredible fourth album, Stage Four. Both of these bands are absolut ..read more