Moments Stolen sees the Bay Area-based outfit firmly cementing a sound that reflects the foggy, jagged and dystopian landscape that inspired their name with their sound frequently skirting the fringe of noise and melody, melancholy and nostalgia, tragedy and hope.
Rooted around an arrangement of angular reverb-soaked guitars, a motorik-like groove punctuated by relentless four-on-the-floor, a propulsive bass line and an anthemic hook, paired with an earnest, yearning vocal, Stolen Moments‘ latest single “Holoscene” is a danceable bit of post-punk that channels Murmur-era R.E.M., Boy and War-era U2 and others.
As the San Francisco-based outfit explains, “Holoscene” was written during the darkest days of the pandemic, when it seemed like going out to support local bands, artists and DJs and going out with your friends would be too dangerous to do. And as a result, the song captures the fear of losing something so deeply human and necessary permanently, while being a desperate shout to the world that we can’t let that die. It’s too important for us as humans.
Rialto, CA-based soul outfit Brainstory — siblings Kevin (vocals, guitar) and Tony Martin (bass) and Eric Hagstrom (drums) — can trace their origins to the shared common denominator of jazz: With no real music scene in California’s Inland Empire, Kevin Martin and Eric Hagstrom both landed in music school, where they met. Tony Martin, however, relocated to San Francisco, where he studied jazz bass in a more traditional fashion — gig-by-gig, learning trial-by-fire.
By the mid-2010s, the trio relocated to Los Angeles, where they started with a more jazz-tinged take on soul. “”That’s what we were all into at the time—jazz,” Brainstory’s Kevin Martin explains. “And that’s what we wanted to do with our first EP in 2014—take our songs and expand them, improvise, weld jazz onto them. We wanted to trick people into listening to jazz, basically.”
Since then, the trio’s sound and approach has evolved from their self-released EPs and the opening slots of their earliest days. Growing as musicians and people, the trio don’t want to be pigeonholed as jazz heads — although the transcendent and freeing nature of that genre is crucial to their sound.
For the members of Brainstory, the “genre-bending” band distinction is a celebration of what sets them apart in a very busy and crowded field. Anchored by Kevin Martin’s songwriting and real, studied-but-humble musicianship, the result is something new yet familiar. But it’s more than just top-notch musicianship and songwriting; the band also has some proper influences. In their formative days, some of their most significant influences came from a few places: their parents (who were musicians in their own right) and their household record collections, and then later, Chicano Batman‘s Eduardo Arenas.
Arenas produced the trio’s first EPs and then introduced them to Big Crown Records and the label’s co-owner Leon Michels, who would eventually produce their full-length debut, 2019’s Buck. Michels also was a major influence on the band’s 2021 EP Ripe: Of the seven-song EP, two featured lyrics while the remaining five were instrumental compositions rooted in heady, vibey atmospherics.
Much like the countless bands and artists across the globe, the pandemic kept the members of Brainstory out of the studio, away from Big Crown’s East Coast operations — and of course, put their plans to play live shows on pause for a while. Feeling the need to establish and maintain some momentum during the pandemic, the trio decided to do something drastic: Spearheaded by the band’s Eric Hagstrom, the band built their own studio in Long Beach and quickly got to work recording music. “We didn’t really set out to make a record,” Hagerstrom clarifies. “We were learning how to record and playing around to figure out what was working. But we were also sending the stuff to Big Crown, and they were like, ‘Let’s make this record.’”
The trio’s Leon Micehls-produced sophomore album Sounds Good is slated for an April 19, 2024 release through Big Crown Records. The album will feature “Gift of Life,” a lush, old-school, Quiet Storm-like, show-topping ballad built around a shimmering and vibey arrangement featuring fluttering, ethereal flute paired with Kevin Martin’s emotive, falsetto croon and some incredibly catch hooks. While the song see the band pulling from classic soul, psych soul and dub in a way that sounds like it could been released sometime between 1968-1974, “Gift of Life,” manages to feel remarkably modern.
Thematically, the song sees the trio ruminating on the complexity of the human condition with a hard-earned, weary wisdom. “This song is somewhat of a prayer to the inevitable decay that surrounds us and the pain that follows. It alters our perspectives and ways of life,” Brainstory explains. “It’s a powerful natural force that guides us. In this life, we lose and eventually must let go of life itself but, when we learn to surrender, we give ourselves a chance to change and adapt. Though it is often painful, the reward is simply to see another day with new eyes full of gratitude for the opportunity to live.”
To celebrate the official announcement of their sophomore album, the California trio shared a double single “Listen”/”Too Yung.” “Listen” sees the trio crafting a classic, two-step inducing groove-driven song with shimmering analog synths, an overdrive-fueled guitar solo paired with some dreamy falsetto melodies and harmonies. While sounding as though it could have been a Mandrill or Isley Brothers B side, the song sees Martin expressing modern day frustrations over how technology can distract people from being fully present in our daily lives and from spirituality. The song’s narrator is encouraging the listener to spend some time enjoying the present moment, because it’s all too short and remarkably fleeting.
The trio will be hitting the road this week for some Northern California shows with The Budos Band before embarking on a headlining U.S. tour in April, and UK and European Union dates in May with Lady Wray. Tour dates are below.
BRAINSTORY TOUR DATES
Feb 23 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA*
Feb 24 – Felton Music Hall – Felton, CA*
Apr18 – Lodge Room- Highland Park, CA
Apr 22 – Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ
Apr 23 – Love Buzz – El Paso, TX
Apr 25 – Tandem – San Antonio, TX
Apr 26 – Psych Fest – Austin, TX
Apr 27 – Norman Music Festival – Norman, OK
Apr 30 – Sister Bar – Albuquerque, NM
May 01 – Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO
May 02 – The Atrium – Fort Collins, CO
May 03 – DLC – Salt Lake City, UT
May 04 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
May 07 – High DIve – Seattle, WA
May 08 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
May 16 – Knust – Hamburg, Germany +
May 17 – Franz Mhelhose – Enfurt, Germany +
May 18 – Lido – Berlin, Germany +
May 20 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, France +
May 26 – Cross The Tracks Festival – Brockwell Park, UK
Arguably better known for being playing bass in Red Thread Theory,San Francisco-based musician, composer and producer Michael Mosley is also the creative mastermind behind the emerging recording project rhythmspltter. With rhythmspitter, Mosley explores instrumental indie rock and lo-fi beat-driven material that’s influenced from an eclectic array of sources, including Bill Laswell’s Material and Jah Wobble‘s Invaders of the Heart.
Each rhythmspitter composition sees Mosley weaving together a rich tapestry of instruments and rhythms from across the world. Each composition is meticulously crafted to resonate with listeners while providing a chill and captivating vibe that’s entrancing. With rhythmspitter, Mosley seeks to break down barriers and introduce audiences to a world of sonic exploration that they may not have encountered before — but he also hopes to open minds to the beauty of different styles and instrtuments.
Mosley’s latest rhythmsplitter single “Juxtaposition” off his forthcoming album Syncretism: Book of Transition is a mind-bending synthesis of lo-fi hip-hop beats, Bhangra, Indian classical music that sounds perfect for the lounge — and for the dance floor.
Kian Stevens-Winston is an Illinois born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and creative mastermind behind the emerging indie rock recording recording project Sugar Pit. Stevens-Winston started the project in earnest in his Illinois bedroom back in 2015 with a slurry of singles.
While gaining momentum on Soundcloud, Stevens-Winston moved to Philadelphia, to study sound engineering at Drexel. He found a welcome home in the city’s college house show circuit, and then released his debut EP, 2020’s Defense Mechanism, which saw him quickly establishing his signature freak pop sound that draws from post-punk and garage rock paired with a raw yet eccentric vocal performance.
In 2021, Stevens-Winston relocated to San Francisco, where he began writing and recording his full-length debut while developing his live show. Last year, he relocated again to Los Angeles. And in L.A., he has hit the ground running: After assembling a revamped live quartet, the band played a handful of sold-out shows last November. Earlier this year, the Illinois-born, Los Angeles-based artist shared “Why I Come Back Home.”
Built around twangy and folksy acoustic guitar, fuzzy electric guitar-driven power chords, propulsive drumming and enormous power pop-like hooks and choruses paired with Stevens-Winston’s raw, yearning delivery. The song thematically touches upon a series of familiar struggles — life’s endless transitions, newfound independence and the longing for something constant and familiar in a mad, mad, mad, mad world.
Stevens-Winston explains that the song was written in between two major, life-altering events: a breakup and a solo move across the country. The result is a song swerves between heartbreak, despair and pride within the turn of a phrase — and in a fashion that feels familiar.
Rising Paris-based electro pop sextet L’Impératice — founder Charles de Boisseguin (keys), Hagni Gown (keys), David Gaugué (bass), Achille Trocellier (guitar), Tom Daveau (drums) and Flore Benguigui (vocals) — formed back in 2012. And in a relatively short period of time, they quickly developed a reputation for being extremely prolific: Within their first three years together, they released 2012’s self-titled debut EP, 2014’s Sonate Pacifique EP and 2015’s Odyssée EP.
Back in 2016, the Parsian sextet released a re-edited, remixed and slowed down version of Odyssée, L’Empreruer, inspired by a fan mistakenly playing a vinyl copy of Odyssée at the wrong speed. L’Impératice followed that up with a version of Odysseé featuring arrangements centered around violin, cello and acoustic guitar. During the summer of 2017, the Parisian electro pop act signed to microqlima records, who released that year’s Séquences EP.
Their full-length debut, 2018’s Matahari featured “Erreur 404,” which they performed on the French TV show Quotidien. They followed that up with an English language version of Matahari and 2021’s Renaud Letang co-produced sophomore album Taku Tsubo.
Deriving its name from the medical term for broken heart/takutsubo syndrome ((蛸 壺, from Japanese “octopus trap”). The condition usually manifests itself as deformation of the heart’s left ventricle caused by severe emotional or physical stress — i.e., the death of a loved one, an intense argument with someone you care about, a breakup, a sudden illness or the like. An untreated broken heart can actually kill you.
Cuco is a Hawthorne, CA-based electronic music producer and artist, whose early stage, earnest bedroom pop aesthetic seemed to immediately connect with audiences online. Home-recorded and then shared through Bandcamp and SoundCloud, his self-released efforts 2016’s Wannabewithu and 2018’s Chiquito EP featured relatable and catchy material in both English and Spanish that openly defied genre restraints with elements of mariachi, R&B and psychedelia helped him win over first generation Latin Americans and young fans of indie singer/songwriters.
As the play counts and stream counts increased, there was a greater demand for him to play live shows in front of increasingly larger crowds on tour and at festivals. “It’ll always be surreal to me,” he says. “I never take it for granted if I see so many people at one show, you know, I don’t know the next day that I’m gonna see that again; it’s always appreciated.”
With massive buzz surrounding him, Cuco wound up signing with Interscope, who released his full-length debut, 2019’s Para Mi. His sophomore album, last year’s Fantasy Gateway sees him pushing the envelope of his sound, presenting a new chapter of the young producer/artist’s career in which he takes risks to great results.
The Parisian JOVM mainstays recently teamed up with the rapidly rising producer and artist on “Heartquake,” a collaboration that can be traced back to when they all met during last year’s Coachella. “Heartquake” is a woozy yet breezy bop built around an expansive, mind-melting arrangement that begins with glistening and wobbling synth oscillations, twinkling keys and trap-like beats before briefly morphing into a slinky bit of disco funk before closing out with glistening and wobbling synth oscillations and trap beats . Throughout the song L’Impératice’s Flore Benguigui sings English lyrics with a bemused yet sultry sense of longing and desire.
“It’s the story of someone completely disconnected from their emotions who is on their usual peaceful bus ride one morning. And then, someone sits across from them, and suddenly, their brain freezes, and they fall to their knees, struck by a thunderbolt, a kind of Tako tsubo,” the members of L’Impératice explain. “It’s a sensation that shakes them to the core, and they’re not sure if they can survive it, but they desire it.” Cuco adds: “It’s a pleasure and honor to be working with my friends in L’Impératrice.”
Summer Festival season is coming — and it’ll be here sooner than you know it. And of course, that means all kinds of festival announcements.
So let’s get to it, right?
Taking place annually in San Francisco‘s Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands is one of the most popular summer vents in the region for both music fans and foodies. The three-day festival showcases world-class music programming, from legendary acts to emerging artists plus some of the region’s best restaurants, wineries and breweries, as well as Outsider Art, Cocktail Magic — and the return of Grass Lands, the first curated cannabis experience at a major American music festival. It’s the very best that the Bay Area has to offer!
Fan favorite electronic music haven, SOMA Tent will return for a third year and promises club beats with top-level sounds and lights throughout the festivals’ run. Friday features Claptone, BLOND:ISH and Justin Jay; Saturday includes sets from Daniel Avery, Sama’ AbdulhadiandDenis Sulta; and Sunday concludes with Âme b2b Trikk, WhoMadeWho, Tinlicker; and many more each day.
Additionally, festival organizers announced the daily chef and restaurant lineups Golden Gate Club, Outside Lands’ premiere luxury experience: Friday will feature Golden Gate Club, Outside Lands’ premiere luxury experience. Friday will feature Food & Wine’s Best New Chef 2016 winner Ravi Kapur from the James Beard Award-nominated restaurant Liholiho Yacht Club, who will serve South and East Asian inspired heritage cuisine. Saturday features two-time James Beard Award-nominated chef Tyler Florence with Miller & Lux offering innovative renditions of American steakhouse classics. Sunday closes out the elevated experience with Michelin Star and James Beard Award-winner for Best Restaurant, Boulevard, led by chef duo Nancy Oakes & Dana Younkin who will serve New American staples from their iconic Embarcadero location.
Festival organizers recently announced that Single-Day tickets are currently on sale — now. Organizers are encouraging fans to purchase tickets quickly as they’re expected to sell out quickly. Single day ticket prices start at: Single Day GA ($199), Single Day GA+ ($299), Single Day VIP ($449) and Single Day Golden Gate Club ($2,199). A limited number of 3-Day GA and Golden Gate Club passes are still available. Taxes and fees apply to all ticket types. Tickets are all available exclusively at www.sfoutsidelands.com.
After stints playing drums for acclaimed singer/songwriter Shilpa Ray and a list of other bands, Robert Preston Collum (guitar, vocals) stepped out into the spotlight with his solo project Pink Mexico. Preston self-released his 2013 full-length debut Pnik Mxeico, which caught the attention of Austin-based label Fleeting Youth Records, who then re-released the album the following December.
Collum relocated to Brooklyn in the fall of 2014 to begin recording what would be his sophomore album. Following countless Brooklyn shows during the course of 2015, the project extended into a full-fledged band with the addition of Grady Walker (drums, vocals) and Ian Everall (bass). Collum’s Pink Mexico sophomore album, 2016’s Fool was released through Burger Records and French label Big Tomato Records. He and his bandmates supported the album with an opening spot for Honus Honus (a.k.a Mam Man) during that artist’s November 2016 tour.
Pink Mexico’s third album 2019’s DUMP was released through Burger Records and Little Dickamn Records. Unlike the previously released albums, where Collum played all the instrumental parts, DUMP is the first album that features Everall and Walker on their respective instruments.
Earlier this year, Pink Mexico announced their signing to Quiet Panic Records, who will be releasing their fifth album, Mirrorhead. Slated for a May 19, 2023 release, Mirrorhead was written and recorded during the period of its predecessor’s release. But while Idiot Piss Illiterate‘s material rode on a frantic garage rock undercurrent, the forthcoming album reportedly swaps out ragged pace for bruising waves of heavy sound, interspersed with moments of stripped back exposure. Thematically, the album’s material is rooted in a recollection of memories and experiences woven through the reconstruction of the self and a bold sense of experimentation.
If you’ve bene frequenting this site, you might recall that earlier this month I wrote about Mirrorhead single “Dungeonhead,” a 120 MinutesMTV-era alt rock-inspired aural assault centered around layers of reverb-drenched, fuzzy and distorted power chords and thunderous power chords paired with Collum’s plaintive and ethereal lead vocal. But under the ironically detached delivery and enormous hooks, is a song that evokes a palpable sense of unease.
Pink Mexico’s Robert Preston Collum calls “Dungeonhead,” “a track about never feeling comfortable in one’s own skin while reflecting on the obscurities of life during a time when the regular version of confusing and fucked up is even more fucked up and confusing.”
Mirrorhead‘s latest single “Shame” is a brooding bruiser built around layers of fuzzy and distorted power chords, thunderous drumming paired with Collum’s ethereal and achingly plaintive vocal. While continuing a run of material that sounds indebted to 120 Minutes-era MTV, “Shame” is imbued with a lived-in, bitter sense of shame, insecurity and self-loathing. “It’s a shame we as humans are so insecure and selfish that we’re incapable of having respect for one another,” Collum says. “The only undeniable certainties in this life are; no one decides to be born and we all die.”
The band will be playing an album release show at TV Eye on June 11, 2023 with TVOD, Substitute and a special guest TBA. Tickets and more info is available here.
After stints playing drums for acclaimed singer/songwriter Shilpa Ray and a list of other bands, Robert Preston Collum (guitar, vocals) stepped out into the spotlight with his solo project Pink Mexico. Preston self-released his 2013 full-length debut Pnik Mxeico, which caught the attention of Austin-based label Fleeting Youth Records, who then re-released the album the following December.
Collum relocated to Brooklyn in the fall of 2014 to begin recording what would be his sophomore album. Following countless Brooklyn shows during the course of 2015, the project extended into a full-fledged band with the addition of Grady Walker (drums, vocals) and Ian Everall (bass). Collum’s Pink Mexico sophomore album, 2016’s Fool was released through Burger Records and French label Big Tomato Records. He and his bandmates supported the album with an opening spot for Honus Honus (a.k.a Mam Man) during that artist’s November 2016 tour.
Pink Mexico’s third album 2019’s DUMP was released through Burger Records and Little Dickamn Records. Unlike the previously released albums, where Collum played all the instruments, DUMP is the first album that features Everall and Walker on their respective instruments.
Earlier this year, Pink Mexico announced their signing to Quiet Panic Records, who will be releasing their fifth album, Mirrorhead. Slated for a May 19, 2023 release, Mirrorhead was written and recorded during the period of its predecessor’s release. But while Idiot Piss Illiterate‘s material rode on a frantic garage rock undercurrent, the forthcoming album reportedly swaps out ragged pace for bruising waves of heavy sound, interspersed with moments of stripped back exposure. Thematically, the album’s material is rooted in a recollection of memories and experiences woven through the reconstruction oft he self and a bold sense of experimentation.
Mirrorhead‘s first single “Dungeonhead” is a 120 MinutesMTV-era alt rock-inspired aural assault centered around layers of reverb-drenched, fuzzy and distorted power chords and thunderous power chords paired with Collum’s plaintive and ethereal lead vocal. But under the ironically detached delivery and enormous hooks, is a song that evokes a palpable sense of unease.
Pink Mexico’s Robert Preston calls “Dungeonhead,” “a track about never feeling comfortable in one’s own skin while reflecting on the obscurities of life during a time when the regular version of confusing and fucked up is even more fucked up and confusing.”
Directed by Steven Ungureanu, the brooding and uneasy accompanying video for “Dungeonhead” was shot across my home borough of Queens. I recognize a number of significant locations including Ridgewood, Jackson Heights, Forest Park, Ridgewood Reservoir, Far Rockaway and more.
Portland, OR-based electro pop duo Dreckig — married couple Papi Fimbres and Shana Lindbeck — derive their project’s name from the German word for dirty. Believing that destiny led them to meet each other, the project is fueled by the duo’s desire to honor their respective Mexican and German heritages in a new and collaborative way.
Sonically, the duo have crafted a sound that meshes cumbia rhythms, motorik groove-driven krautrock and electronic music — with lyrics written and sung in Spanish, English and German.
The Portland-based duo’s third album, Digital Exposure was released last year through San Francisco-based Broken Clover Records. The album sees the duo continuing their ongoing collaboration with Pinewave Studio‘s Johann Wagner. The album thematically touches on social constructs, our impact on the environment and embracing every day life.
Last year, I wrote about album single “La Ballena,“a slow-burning and lysergic song featuring oscillating synths, fluttering and looping flute, cumbia rhythms and a relentless motorik groove paired with lyrics chanted and crooned in a sonorous Spanish. While sonically being a feverish synthesis of Kraftwerk and Meridian Brothers, “La Ballena” for me conjures an image of a dancer on narcotics, gently swaying to the song.
The album’s latest single “Non Zero Sum” sees the duo pairing skittering cumbia rhythms with glistening Kraftwerk-inspired synths and blown out beats to create a sensual, sinuous bed for their ethereal harmonizing in Spanish. “Non Zero Sum” manages to bring a trippy synthesis of Trans Europe Express-era Kraftwerk and Señor Coconut‘s El Baile Alemán.
Directed and edited by Alicia J. Rose, the accompanying video for “Non Zero Sum” sees the duo as space age Druids changing in the woods and drumming in a disco wonderland, complete with kaleidoscopic effects.
Eric Krasno, a a two-time Grammy winning, guitarist, producer and JOVM mainstay, best known for his work with Soulive, Lettuce, and Pretty Lights. Krasno has received seven Grammy nominations in the following categories: Best Blues Album, Best Contemporary Blues, Best R&B and Best Electronic Album.
Otis McDonald, a producer and multi-instrumentalist, best known for a large catalog that continues to be used in millions of videos across the Internet.
The trio can trace their collaboration back to April 2020: Krasno came across McDonalds music on Instagram and immediately became a fan. Months later, McDonald who had been woking on material with his longtime friend Chiavaro, enlisted Krasno to add some of his guitar to the mix. And before they knew it, the trio had an album’s worth of material rooted in classic R&B, funk and soul-tinged grooves, nostalgia, and a newfound friendship based in their mutual love for music.
For the creative process and the feel captured on the album are unlike any other project that these artists have been involved with previously. With each musician in a different location — Krasno in Los Angeles, McDonald in San Francisco and Chiavaro in Brooklyn — the band wrote and recorded material remotely while becoming arguably the highest band who never played a gig. “It was easy and fun. Exactly what it should be,” King Canyon’s Otis McDonald says. “It didn’t take long before we had a couple of albums’ worth of songs. Some tracks feature special guests and others showcase the power trio format. King Canyon is fresh and rooted in nostalgia.”
The self-titled full-length debut album’s third and latest single “Ice & Fire” is an old-school soul and R&B-inspired strut centered around twinkling keys, an irresistible, funky groove and swinging, J. Dilla-inspired drumming paired with Son Little’s soulful yet plaintive vocal. Sonically, “Ice & Fire” brings a mix of JOVM mainstays Black Pumas and classic soul to mind — thanks to a dusty, old-timey feel with subtly modern production flourishes, and earnest performances.
“Son Little and I met a few years back at a festival. We had a lot of mutual respect for each other’s music and decided to start writing together,” Eric Krasno explains. “We instantly became tight as friends and frequent collaborators. Ice & Fire is a perfect mixture of the sounds of Son Little & King Canyon. Son’s lyrical imagery blends with the KC’s soundscape creating a unique and soulful sound.“
Deriving their project’s name from the combination of their middle names, the emerging, Los Angeles-based, fraternal twin sibling, indie electro pop duo Alexandra John — Liza and Weston Cain — officially formed back in 2020. But they can trace their passion for music, and the origins of their music careers to growing up in a musical household in San Francisco: Liza Cain spent much of her childhood dancing, acting and singing, as well as playing piano. Weston Cain is a seasoned multi-instrumentalist, who first started playing the drums when he was four, and picked up other instruments, like guitar and piano, as he grew older.
With Alexandra John, Liza and Weston Cain craft hook-driven indie electro pop influenced by Massive Attack, Glass Animals, and Zero 7 meant to embody both feminine and masculine energies. Fittingly, their creative process is rooted in their uniquely deep personal connection. “When my sister and I get into a room together to work there’s a kinetic, creative energy that’s so familiar,” Alexandra John’s Weston Cain says. “We just seem to feed off one another.” Thematically, the duo’s work tackles big, universal concerns including anxiety, addiction, grief, loss and more.
The duo’s debut EP Healing officially drops today, and the EP was written and informed by the weirdness, chaos and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were all grieving our old lives and accepting the new,” Weston Cain explains. “Everyone goes through healing, every day. The EP lyrically breaks down the process of grieving from denial to acceptance. Each song on the EP adds a new layer of acceptance. It’s really about the growth we all go through while experiencing this crazy beautiful thing we call life,” Liza Cain adds.
Centered around Liza Cain’s self-assured and sultry pop starlet delivery gliding over a slick and contemporary production featuring skittering, trap beats, woozy and atmospheric synths, squiggling funk guitar, Healing EP‘s second and latest single, EP title track “Healing” is a slickly produced, glittery, lounge and club friendly bop that to my ears meshes 80s synth pop with trap and contemporary R&B. But underneath the slick production is earnest, seemingly lived-in lyricism with the song reminding and urging the listener that true healing can only happen when you’re in touch with and acknowledge your feelings.
Featuring videography by Mallory Tuner and Flasch World and edited by Flasch World, the accompanying video for “Healing” features the siblings performing the song and filmed through hazy and kaleidoscopic filters while serving lewks.
London-based DJ and producer Jimmy Verschoyle, best known as Jimmy V, has developed a reputation for being “DJ’s DJ,” cutting his teeth playing the clubs and bars of the Bristol scene, before becoming a London underground scene mainstay. His highly-respected status as a tastemaker and selector gradually earned his slots across the global festival scene, including Burning Man and Glastonbury’s The Rabbit Hole, as well as clubs across the UK and States.
Jimmy V further exploded into the scene with his debut EP No Way Back. Building upon the buzz surrounding him, the London-based producer and DJ released a remix of Della Zouch‘s “Rebel” and “Lose My Mind” feat. Liz Cass.
His early releases caught the attention of San Francisco-based electronic label Smoke-n-Mirrors, who signed him and released his most recent singles “Amasonica” and “Yukon,” which have received widespread attention in the international scene: Those tracks landed on TraxSource‘s Top 40 and Beatport‘s Tech House’s Top 20.
The London-based producer and DJ’s latest single “Orinoco” is a genre-defying, globalist banger that pairs tweeter and woofer rocking thump, Afro-Colombian percussion, Iberian-influenced groove and a looped horn-driven hook that sounds as though it could rock clubs from Berlin to São Paulo, Medellin to Miami, London to New York.
clo is an emerging, 20-year-old, San Francisco-born, Brussels-raised, neo-soul/R&B and jazz singer/songwriter, who’s currently splitting her time between New York and Paris, where she’s simultaneously pursuing studies in Neuroscience while modeling, and starting a professional music career.
The emerging Belgian-born artist can trace the origins of her music career to when she started receiving classical and jazz training in piano when she turned four. Since then, clo has spent much of her formative years creating her own original music, inspired by Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Snoh Aalegra, and CELESTE.
Earlier this year, I wrote about clo’s debut single “room,” a slow-burning and vibey ballad centered around the young Belgian-born artist’s sultry vocals paired with a brooding production featuring skittering, tweeter and woofer rattling trap beats, twinkling jazz piano and atmospheric synths. The song reveals an artist, who’s remarkably self-assured beyond her relative youth — while showcasing an artist, with an uncanny knack for mature, lived-in lyricism and a well-placed, razor sharp hook.
Her second single “Big Smile” is a vibey, neo-soul-like ballad that finds the emerging young artist collaborating with a live band, which gives the song a lush, cinematic sound and a vibrant, you’re-there-in-the-studio immediacy — all while continuing to reveal a singer/songwriter with a mature beyond her years self-assuredness.
The accompanying video for “Big Smile” primarily features home video shot footage of the young San Francisco-born artist as a small child. The video hints at the very origins of the young artist’s passion and career and a loss of innocence and simplicity.
Portland, OR-based electro pop duo Dreckig — married couple Papi Fimbres and Shana Lindbeck — derive their project’s name from the German word for dirty. Believing that destiny led them to meet each other, the project is fueled by the duo’s desire to honor their respective Mexican and German heritages in a new and collaborative way.
Sonically, the duo have crafted a sound that meshes cumbia rhythms, motorik groove-driven krautrock and electronic music — with lyrics written and sung in Spanish, English and German.
Slated for release on Friday through San Francisco-based Broken Clover Records, the Portland-based duo’s third album Digital Exposure sees the duo continuing their ongoing collaboration with Pinewave Studio‘s Johann Wagner. The album thematically touches on social constructs, our impact on the environment and embracing every day life.
Digital Exposure‘s latest single “La Ballena” is a slow-burning and lysergic bop centered around oscillating synths, fluttering and looping flute, cumbia rhythms and a relentless motorik groove paired with lyrics chanted and crooned in a sonorous Spanish. While sonically being a feverish synthesis of Kraftwerk and Meridian Brothers, “La Ballena” for me conjures an image of a dancer on narcotics, gently swaying to the song.
Neil Sethi is a rising, Atlanta-born, San Francisco-based, Indian-American electronic music producer and DJ, best known as AIR APPARENT. Drawing inspiration from an eclectic array of artists and genres including Bollywood, hip-hop, pop punk and the likes of James Blake, Japanese Breakfast, Vampire Weekend, CHVRCHES and Purity Ring among others, the rising Atlanta-born, San Francisco-based artist has developed and honed a critically applauded sound and approach that sees him effortlessly meshing a myriad of genres and styles. Beyond braking down musical barriers, Sethi hopes to inspire other marginalized young people to pursue their creative endeavors.
Sethi released his sophomore AIR APPARENT EP, Color Dreams in 2019. He followed that up with his biggest single to date, 2020’s “three strikes” feat. DAVVN, a track that has since amassed over 119,000 Spotify streams.
The rising Atlanta-born, San Francisco-based electronic music artist’s full-length debut, Chromatic is slated for a September 16, 2022 release. Sonically, the album’s material reportedly will be a splashy and vibrant fusion of 80s funk and electronic dance music paired with soaring, R&B and pop-leaning hooks — while thematically, the album chronicles the highs and lows of a romantic relationship. Along with that, the album will display Sethi’s range as a musician on full display: he wrote more melodies and lyrics than ever before. Reportedly, the end result is dynamic, dreamy fantasy that imagines summer lasting all year long while busting traditional genre boundaries.
“I wanted to play on the idea that electronic music doesn’t have to be one thing. It can be stretched and smeared in different directions,” Sethi says of Chromatic. “The title refers to me expressing my vision of electronic music in a range of different colors, just how you can take a human experience and find 25 different angles and narratives within it.”
Chromatic‘s latest single, “Leave Me” is a sultry, infectious bop that sonically is a slick synthesis of New Jack Swing, 80s synth funk, contemporary electro pop and R&B centered around glistening synth arpeggios. wobbling bass synths, skittering and thumping beats, a chopped up and distorted vocal sample paired with Megan Ashworth‘s sultry yet contemplative delivery and a soaring, infectious hook. But underneath the breezy and infectious hookiness of the song, is a narrator, who’s desperate to move forward with her life, and is begging her partner to leave her and find someone else that might be a better fit.
Interestingly, the track emerged from Sethi’s desire to pay homage to electronic influences like KAYTRANADA and Disclosure, and took shape after he discovered a vocal sample on Splice that he played around with, eventually chopping it up and distorting it. “As I listened to it more and more,” Sethi explains, “I realized the melody was really hooky so I went back and wrote an initial pass of lyrics based on the vocal sample and tune.”
Inspired by Flying Lotus and J. Dilla, pantology added an electric bass line that took the production further — but it still lacked a vocalist. “When it came to figuring out a topline vocal,”says Sethi, “I was lucky to discover Megan Ashworth online and work with her team on getting an impeccable vocal that sat nicely in the mix with a powerful, yet reflective energy.”
