Andy Hermann

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Wake Owl, Mimicking Birds

Andy Hermann
It's no wonder the music of Wake Owl's Colyn Cameron has an earthy quality to it: He studied organic agriculture before turning to music. His debut album, The Private World of Paradise, offers a bumper crop of rich, reverb-laden folk-rock, given extra pop gloss by producer Richard Swift (The Shins,......
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KIIS-FM's Wango Tango

Andy Hermann
KIIS-FM stopped short of calling superstar Dutch DJ Tiësto the headliner of its 16th annual Wango Tango festival - he's merely "closing the show." However the venerable Top 40 station wants to spin it, clearly it has chosen to turn the otherwise safer-than-safe pop festival into an EDM dance party......
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Avalon: A Sonic Overhaul and a Look Back

Andy Hermann
From a private balcony two stories above the stage, owner John Lyons watches as his Avalon nightclub fills with Friday-night partiers. An opening DJ duo, Riggi and Piros, is working the crowd with a mix of EDM hits and rock mash-ups. Riffs from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the White Stripes......
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Pantha du Prince

Andy Hermann
If a rave broke out at a Buddhist monastery, the soundtrack probably would resemble the music of Germany's Hendrik Weber, aka Pantha du Prince. Weber's ambient, abstract approach to techno favors the soothing tones of bells and chimes over the more overtly electronic textures of his peers. As heard on......
Gerald Casale (left) and Mark Mothersbaugh; Credit: Chelsea Lauren

Gerald Casale of DEVO Is Making Wine Now

Andy Hermann
On the terrace of a historic Richard Neutra house in the hills overlooking West Hollywood, a bearded bartender in a black felt fedora uncorks another bottle of rosé and pours a glass for a guest. "You'll get ripe peach and lychee on the nose," he says. "Pairs well with pizza,......
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Maya Jane Coles

Andy Hermann
Local dance-music label Culprit celebrates its fifth anniversary with the return of the popular Culprit Sessions on the Downtown Standard rooftop, still the sexiest place in the city to sip a cocktail and savor some deep house grooves. This weekend's guest headliner is rising U.K. star Maya Jane Coles, a......
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White Hinterland

Andy Hermann
White Hinterland's Casey Dienel has a soaring, soulful voice tailor-made for today's overwrought pop, but she's not interested in being the next Beyoncé, or even the next Ellie Goulding. On her latest album, Baby, she digs deep into tricky territory somewhere between the piano confessionals of Fiona Apple and the......
Credit: Timothy Norris

Tosca – The El Rey – 3/3/14

Andy Hermann
Tosca The El Rey 3/3/14 The word "bass" means many things to fans of electronic music. These days, it tends to connote either the outer reaches of Low End Theory's experimental scene or the wobbling, whipsawing drops of Skrillex-style dubstep. It's a blunt instrument, not a tool of seduction. So......
Eleni Mandell; Credit: Laura Heffington

Single Motherhood Works For Eleni Mandell

Andy Hermann
Eleni Mandell is on a straight stretch of interstate somewhere in Iowa, racing against the clock. The Los Feliz-based singer-songwriter has a show in Portland, Oregon in less than 48 hours, but a snowstorm after her last gig in Chicago slowed her progress. There's a good chance she'll have to......
Credit: Randy Barach

These '80s Horror Punks Are Back From the Dead

Andy Hermann
You never know what might happen at a Haunted Garage show. Even if you're in the band. At a recent gig at the California Institute of Abnormalarts--the band's first in five years--a giant rabbit with red eyes and demonic teeth bum-rushed the stage. Guitarist Erik Erath wasn't sure if it......