MTV Buzzworthy Blog › Brett Dennen

Are you getting tired of all the music headlines going to new Brooklyn bands? I bet you the players in Los Angeles' thriving scene are way over it. Why's everybody always talking about Brooklyn when the West Coast boasts a dream team of new talent, turning out a steady stream of polished, moody rock?

Although the rap game gets L.A. plenty of love, lackadaisical, harmony-laden smog-pop hasn't had a true moment since The Beach Boys and The Mamas And Papas ruled the late '60s. But that has been changing, slowly but surely, thanks to the radio dominance of a new class of sun-bleached bands.

Get acquainted with the new L.A. sound in the video playlist below, featuring laid back, perma-tan jams from Jenny Lewis, Earlimart, Silversun Pickups, Pete Yorn, Beck, The Watson Twins, Cold War Kids, The Mars Volta, Incubus, Brett Dennen and many more. It's mellow. Whatever.

Tags Beck, Brett Dennen, Cold War Kids, Earlimart, Incubus, Jenny Lewis, Pete Yorn, Silversun Pickups, The Beach Boys, The Mamas And Papas, The Mars Volta, The Watson Twins

The coffeehouse meets the beach in the easygoing music of boho California-free-spirit Angel Taylor. The closest I can come to classifying her summery sonic melting pot is "the female Jack Johnson," but even that falls woefully short. Her bouncy blend of sleepy reggae, upbeat soul and acoustic pop evokes everything from Third Eye Blind to Sheryl Crow to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," without actually sounding like any of them. Who do you think she sounds like?

Angel's debut album, Love Travels, got a boost from iTunes, when they named her "Make Me Believe" their single of the week. And it's a fitting match. The breezy go-to track would be right at home in an iPod commercial. The song's success won her opening slots on tour with Adele, Brett Dennen, Brandi Carlile and Gavin DeGraw, among others. Are you impressed yet?

To seal the deal, fall into "Make Me Believe" or any of Angel Taylor's other delicately-plucked perfume daydreams, and keep an eye out for this gently rising talent.

Tags Adele, Angel Taylor, Brandi Carlile, Brett Dennen, Gavin DeGraw, Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, The Buzz On, Third Eye Blind

Tons of shaggy kids and embarrassing old people are trucking their smelly hair and vans out to Hampton Coliseum in Virginia to hock veggie burritos and huff patchouli at the Phish reunion this weekend. Are you going? If mellow Cali crooner Brett Dennen weren't all tied up touring the Midwest with Little Ones, he'd probably be all over it. His hippieness -- a sweet-smiling babyface with a pile of hair like a Conan Halloween wig -- has done duets with such Bonnaroo regulars and jam-circuit giants as Jack Johnson, Femi Kuti, Lucinda Williams and even Mike Gordon of Phish. How, Brett Dennen? HOW?!

Well, I guess because he's really good. Back in '04, he dropped a groovy little sparkler called "Desert Sunrise," and that basically took over the Los Angeles airwaves. Since then he's released three albums, none of which has made him a millionaire, but all of which have won him a very dedicated following. Give his aforementioned Femi Kuti duet, "Make You Crazy" a whirl below, and join the cult of Brett! Mandy Moore did. (OMG. Shoes.)

Tags Bonnaroo, Brett Dennen, Femi Kuti, Jack Johnson, Little Ones, Lucinda Williams, Mandy Moore, Phish, The Buzz On