Tag: Stones Throw Records

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kiefer Teams up with Shibo and Planet Giza on Strutting and Soulful “BusyForYa”

Los Angeles-based acclaimed pianist and producer Kiefer Shackelford, a.k.a. Kiefer was raised in San Diego by parents, who were both aerospace engineers and keen pianists, who both influenced him in their own way: His mother taught him at a very young age how to read music and play piano, starting with simple Bach minuets. His father was a huge jazz head, and a fan big fan of Blue Note Records in particular. who released albums by Sonny Clark and Gene Harris.

Shacklelord would endlessly listen to Kind of Blue and after reading Miles Davis‘ biography when he was 13, he knew that he wanted to become a jazz musician. During high school, he studied jazz piano with a local teacher and went to attend UCLA, where Blue Note recording artist and legendary guitarist Kenny Burrell, who was head of the school’s jazz program, became one of his tutors throughout his studies.

After completing his studies, Shackelford signed to Stones Throw Records, where he quickly established his musical identity and gained attention with a series of releases including 2018’s Happysad, 2021’s Between Days and 2023’s It’s Okay B U. Adding to a growing profile, he has collaborated with Dr. Dre, De La Soul, Pete Rock, Anderson .Paak, Terrace Martin and a growing list of others. He’s also a member of the collective FATHERS with Ben “CARRTOONS” Carr, Nate Smith and producer Kenneth Blume, who released their self-titled debut on Blue Note earlier this year.

2026 is a busy year for the acclaimed pianist: His fourth album, and Blue Note Records debut, the Kiefer, Shibo, and CARRTOONS co-produced Memory Bomb is slated for a September 25, 2026 release. The album will feature guest spots from Tony Stone, Erick The Architect, CARRTOONS, Nate Smith, Walter Smith III, Cisco Swank, Relyae, Rae Khalil, Moonchild‘s Amber Navarn, Planet Giza, and more.

Long considered one of Los Angeles’ best kept musical secrets, Kiefer has been described as a musician, who doesn’t just play keys with his fingers, but his soul. He’s a truly gifted artist, who has actively redefined that sweet spot between jazz improvisation and hip-hop beat making through a distinctive musical style, which he calls “Over The Breaks,” which reaches new heights of creativity on Memory Bomb.

The acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist is a believer in embracing new inferences and new styles through collaboration with others — and that’s where the journey to his first Blue Note bandleader album began. His first priority was to get his two best friends — CARRTOONS and Shibo — to co-produce the album with him, as they completely understood his sound, his harmonic sensibility and both are extremely adept at drum programming. The innovation through collaboration mindset extended to the inclusion of a talented cast of vocalist, rappers and musicians in interesting combinations, The result was something new and exciting while still sounding like a Kiefer-led project.

The album’s title, Memory Bomb is a poetic and metaphoric way of saying a dream. For Keifer, there are three types of dreams/memory bombs, the sort you experience when you sleep, the wishful longing type and the ambitious type — and those themes populate the direction of many of the album’s songs. Throughout the album’s runtime, there is a lyrical feel with the album’s material telling a story. It’s wistful, poetic and groove-driven, centered around the sensation of being in a dreamscape. And because of the material’s improvisational moments, the story changes every time the listener listens to it.

The album will include the previously released “NewLevels NewDevils” feat. Tony Stony, Erick The Architect and CARRTOONS, album title track “Memory Bomb” feat. Walter Smith III, Flanafi, and Shibo,” and the album’s third and latest single “BusyForYa” feat. Planet Giza and Shibo. “BusyForYa” is a soulful blend of neo-soul, R&B and pop and hip-hop built around the acclaimed pianist’s strutting and twinkling keys, a strutting bass line and swaggering hip-hop beats beneath soulful crooning and a thoughtful, conscious verse.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kiefer Shares Dreamlike “Memory Bomb” feat. Walter Smith III, Flanafi, and Shibo

Los Angeles-based acclaimed pianist and producer Kiefer Shackelford, a.k.a. Kiefer was raised in San Diego by parents, who were both aerospace engineers and keen pianists, who both influenced him in their own way: His mother taught him at a very young age how to read music and play piano, starting with simple Bach minuets. His father was a huge jazz head, and a fan big fan of Blue Note Records in particular. who released albums by Sonny Clark and Gene Harris.

Shacklelord would endlessly listen to Kind of Blue and after reading Miles Davis‘ biography when he was 13, he knew that he wanted to become a jazz musician. During high school, he studied jazz piano with a local teacher and went to attend UCLA, where Blue Note recording artist and legendary guitarist Kenny Burrell, who was head of the school’s jazz program, became one of his tutors throughout his studies.

After completing his studies, Shackelford signed to Stones Throw Records, where he quickly established his musical identity and gained attention with a series of releases including 2018’s Happysad, 2021’s Between Days and 2023’s It’s Okay B U. Adding to a growing profile, he has collaborated with Dr. Dre, De La Soul, Pete Rock, Anderson .Paak, Terrace Martin and a growing list of others. He’s also a member of the collective FATHERS with Ben “CARRTOONS” Carr, Nate Smith and producer Kenneth Blume, who released their self-titled debut on Blue Note earlier this year.

2026 will continue to be a busy year for the acclaimed pianist: His fourth album, and Blue Note Records debut, the Kiefer, Shibo, and CARRTOONS co-produced Memory Bomb is slated for a September 25, 2026 release. The album will feature guest spots from Tony Stone, Erick The Architect, CARRTOONS, Nate Smith, Walter Smith III, Cisco Swank, Relyae, Rae Khalil, Moonchild‘s Amber Navarn, Planet Giza, and more.

Long considered one of Los Angeles’ best kept musical secrets, Kiefer has been described as a musician, who doesn’t just play keys with his fingers, but his soul. He’s a truly gifted artist, who has actively redefined that sweet spot between jazz improvisation and hip-hop beat making through a distinctive musical style, which he calls “Over The Breaks,” which reaches new heights of creativity on Memory Bomb.

The acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist is a believer in embracing new inferences and new styles through collaboration with others — and that’s where the journey to his first Blue Note bandleader album began. His first priority was to get his two best friends — CARRTOONS and Shibo — to co-produce the album with him, as they completely understood his sound, his harmonic sensibility and both are extremely adept at drum programming. The innovation through collaboration mindset extended to the inclusion of a talented cast of vocalist, rappers and musicians in interesting combinations, The result was something new and exciting while still sounding like a Kiefer-led project.

The album’s title, Memory Bomb is a poetic and metaphoric way of saying a dream. For Keifer, there are three types of dreams/memory bombs, the sort you experience when you sleep, the wishful longing type and the ambitious type — and those themes populate the direction of many of the album’s songs. Throughout the album’s runtime, there is a lyrical feel with the album’s material telling a story. It’s wistful, poetic and groove-driven, centered around the sensation of being in a dreamscape. And because of the material’s improvisational moments, the story changes every time the listener listens to it.

The album will include the previously released “NewLevels NewDevils” feat. Tony Stony, Erick The Architect and CARRTOONS, and the album’s second single, album title track “Memory Bomb” feat. Walter Smith III, Flanafi, and Shibo. “Memory Bomb” is a meditative, almost wistful blend of bop-era jazz, jazz fusion and beatmaking that’s dreamlike and effortlessly soulful.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Kiefer Teams Up with Tony Stone, Erick The Architect and CARRTOONS on Soulful, Introspective “NewLevels NewDevils”

Los Angeles-based acclaimed pianist and producer Kiefer Shackelford, a.k.a. Kiefer was raised in San Diego by parents, who were both aerospace engineers and keen pianists, who both influenced him in their own way: His mother […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Josh da Costa Returns with Shimmering “Shireen”

Los Angeles-based artist Josh da Costa was a fixture in the early 2010s Brooklyn scene. Covering music back then, it seemed as though anyone could start a band or a project — and just about everyone did. And they all played at hundreds of now, long-shuttered venues like Cameo Art Gallery, Glasslands, 285 Kent, The Palisades, The Grand Victory, Trash Bar and countless others. da Costa’s first band Regal Degal toured with Real Estate and DIIV and opened for The Pop Group. (Unsurprisingly, I wrote about Regal Degal on this site back in 2013. Yes, this site’s early days y’all.)

When Regal Degal split up, da Costa relocated to Los Angeles. The old Craftsman house he shared with Geneva Jacuzzi, Shags Chamberlain, James Ferraro and Daryl Johns was a paradise for “freaks and friends,” as well as artists and musicians, who constantly wandered in for a jam session or for a hang. At the time, he played drums with Drugdealer and MGMT and he formed CMON, who released an album through Mexican Summer. (I saw CMON open for Jorge Elbrecht back in 2018! So I’m familiar with da Costa and his work.)

The party came to an abrupt end when the Craftsman burned down “in a blaze of glory,” set alight by a serial arsonist and the pandemic forced CMON, much like countless other acts, to cancel a big tour. da Costa’s serious relationship also ended. But for him, it wasn’t all disaster: his friends supported him after the fire, he met someone new and the pandemic meant that he finally had the time to revisit music from his adolescence and “get deep into some of the great I’d had lying around for years but overlooked.”

da Costa’s full-length debut, New Wave Graveyard is slated for a Friday July 24, 2026 release through Stones Throw Records. He imagined the album as a “greatest hits from a parallel universe, classic songs from an alternate reality.” “Instead of trying to hone in on one specific vibe or sound, I went through my own taste and record collection and tried out different approaches — as if I were more than just one artist,” he explains. While drawing from different styles and genres, the album’s material is anchored in how he crystallizes these very different approaches into something singular distinct, crafting a stylish record that defies easy categorization.

If you’ve been lucky to catch da Costa DJ around Los Angeles or have caught his Confusing Mix radio show on NTS, the album’s album overall aesthetic won’t come as a surprise. As a DJ and radio host, he has an uncanny knack for finding curious records from all over the place — music from Brussels-based micro-labels, Flying Nun Records favorites and left field post punk — and blending them in a way that somehow makes perfect sense.

Written over the course of several years, New Wave Graveyard was written during a transition period, a time when da Costa was “getting close to people and getting torn between the types of pleasure and discomfort all of that brings. Breaking people’s hearts, but mostly your own. And remaining excited about not just falling in love, but staying in love.”

Much like countless others, da Costa was drawn to LA’s “movie magic, bizarre music, sleazy sexy glammy druggy outsiders, and this blown-out bad vibe flipside to the California dream” – which interestingly enough, also describers New Wave Graveyard in a nutshell. The titular new wave graveyard is both a literal place (da Costa sometimes drives by his old burned-down house, which is still vacant) and a vibe, an elegy to forgotten fantasies and faded memories.

Nothing lasts forever: Bands start and break up. Friends flame out and lovers leave. Treasured spaces vanish. But the album reportedly bottles the sensation of being there, where the magic and cool shit happened — even if that place is completely imagined. It’s a celebration of strange people met once, but never forgotten, of shows and parties you attended and those you wished you had, of being young and earnest, and a little bit weird.

New Wave Graveyard will include the previously released, shimmering electro pop ballad “96 Year Old Girl” and the album’s last pre-release single, “Shireen.” “Shireen” is a a bit of XTC and Flying Nun Records-like jangle pop, anchored around a shimmering 12 string guitar and da Costa’s unerring knack for crafting a remarkably catchy hook. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Shireen” sounds as though it could have been released in 1983 or so — but with a subtly modern production.

Directed by Ambar Navarro, the accompanying video for “Shireen” features da Costa as a sort of unseen narrator to an 80s teen movie that quickly turns into a campy horror movie featuring a blood-thirsty vampire/werewolf.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Josh da Costa Shares Shimmering, Goth-like Dirge “96 Year Old Girl”

Los Angeles-based artist Josh da Costa was a fixture in the early 2010s Brooklyn scene. Covering music back then, it seemed as though anyone could start a band or a project — and just about everyone did. And they all played at hundreds of now, long-shuttered venues like Cameo Art Gallery, Glasslands, 285 Kent, The Palisades, The Grand Victory, Trash Bar and countless others. da Costa’s first band Regal Degal toured with Real Estate and DIIV and opened for The Pop Group.

When Regal Degal split up, da Costa relocated to Los Angeles. The old Craftsman house he shared with Geneva Jacuzzi, Shags Chamberlain, James Ferraro and Daryl Johns was a paradise for “freaks and friends,” as well as artists and musicians, who constantly wandered in for a jam session or for a hang. At the time, he played drums with Drugdealer and MGMT and he formed CMON, who released an album through Mexican Summer.

The party came to an abrupt end when the Craftsman burned down “in a blaze of glory,” set alight by a serial arsonist and the pandemic forced CMON, much like countless other acts, to cancel a big tour. da Costa’s serious relationship also ended. But for him, it wasn’t all disaster: his friends supported him after the fire, he met someone new and the pandemic meant that he finally had the time to revisit music from his adolescence and “get deep into some of the great I’d had lying around for years but overlooked.”

da Costa’s full-length debut, New Wave Graveyard is slated for a July 24, 2026 release through Stones Throw Records. He imagined the album as a “greatest hits from a parallel universe, classic songs from an alternate reality.” “Instead of trying to hone in on one specific vibe or sound, I went through my own taste and record collection and tried out different approaches — as if I were more than just one artist,” he explains. While drawing from different styles and genres, the album’s material is anchored in how he crystallizes these very different approaches into something singular distinct, crafting a stylish record that defies easy categorization.

If you’ve been lucky to catch da Costa DJ around Los Angeles or have caught his Confusing Mix radio show on NTS, the album’s album overall aesthetic won’t come as a surprise. As a DJ and radio host, he has an uncanny knack for finding curious records from all over the place — music from Brussels-based micro-labels, Flying Nun Records favorites and left field post punk — and blending them in a way that somehow makes perfect sense.

Written over the course of several years, New Wave Graveyard was written during a transition period, a time when da Costa was “getting close to people and getting torn between the types of pleasure and discomfort all of that brings. Breaking people’s hearts, but mostly your own. And remaining excited about not just falling in love, but staying in love.”

Much like countless others, da Costa was drawn to LA’s “movie magic, bizarre music, sleazy sexy glammy druggy outsiders, and this blown-out bad vibe flipside to the California dream” – which interestingly enough, also describers New Wave Graveyard in a nutshell. The titular new wave graveyard is both a literal place (da Costa sometimes drives by his old burned-down house, which is still vacant) and a vibe, an elegy to forgotten fantasies and faded memories.

Nothing lasts forever: Bands start and break up. Friends flame out and lovers leave. Treasured spaces vanish. But the album reportedly bottles the sensation of being there, where the magic and cool shit happened — even if that place is completely imagined. It’s a celebration of strange people met once, but never forgotten, of shows and parties you attended and those you wished you had, of being young and earnest, and a little bit weird.

New Wave Graveyard’s latest single “96 Year Old Girl” is a dirgey yet shimmering electro pop ballad that to my ears is one-part brooding goth, one-part Tears for Fears, one-part Prefab Sprout and one-part Jorge Elbrecht. Thematically, the song reckons with not feeling seemed by a loved one and was written one night “after getting really high, ordering Dominos, and watching Terminator 2,” da Costa explains.

Directed by Skellyrot, the accompanying video for “96 Year Old Girl” fittingly employs 1980s VHS shot footage and resembles both public access TV shows and low budget music videos and horror movies.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Automatic Returns with Trip Hop-Inspired “Mercury”

Formed almost a decade ago, Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon Gaines (bass, vocals) — have released two albums:

  • Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres. 

  • Their sophomore effort, 2022’s Excess saw the band sonically riding an imaginary edge where the 70s underground met 80s corporate culture. 

After they finished touring to support their sophomore album, each member of the trio pursued their own interests: Glaudini honed her skills as a producer; Saxon Gaines enrolled in botany classes; and Dompé got married, moved out to the country and began caring for horses. 

With two albums under their collective belts, the trio wanted to do something different for their third album. Slated for a fall release through Stones Throw Records. Is It Now? sees the trio collaborating with producer Loren Humphrey to build upon the sound of their previous releases — minimalist yet danceable songs, which they describe as “deviant pop.”  Throughout the album’s recording process, Humphrey encouraged the band to play live and loose through long takes that allowed the rhythm section to breathe.

Is It Now? will feature album title track, “Is It Now?,” a continuation of the sound they’ve established through their first two albums, while simultaneously being a subtle refine with one of the tightest grooves they’ve written to date with their unerring knack for catchy hooks. And at its core, the song expresses a deeply modern sense of unease and restlessness.

Is It Now?‘s second and latest single, “Mercury” is a brooding and slow-burning, trip hop-like track featuring glistening synth stabs and a propulsive backbeat sample that’s heavily inspired by the Stones Throw catalog. The band’s Izzy Glaudini says, the song’s lyrics are a reminder “not to fall into nihilism or cynicism, to instead see life through a bit of a spiritual lens.” She adds, “Despite the horrible shit constantly happening, life can still be mysterious and beautiful. I wanted to lean into a sense of dreaminess, and to have the verses feel like a dark lullaby.”

Directed by Sira Sounds, the accompanying, dreamily shot visual features the trio — both individually and as a unit — drinking from a goblet with green liquid.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Automatic Shares Restless “Is It Now?”

Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon Gaines (bass, vocals) — formed nine years ago. And in that time, they’ve released two albums:

  • Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres. 

  • Their sophomore effort, 2022’s Excess saw the band sonically riding an imaginary edge where the 70s underground met 80s corporate culture.

After they finished touring to support their sophomore album, each member of the trio pursued there own interests: Glaudini honed her skills as a producer; Saxon Gaines enrolled in botany classiest; and Dompé got married, moved out to the country and began caring for horses.

With two albums under their collective belts, the Los Angeles-based trio wanted to do something different for their third album. Slated for a fall release through Stones Throw Records. Is It Now? sees the trio collaborating with producer Loren Humphrey to build upon the sound of their previous releases — minimalist yet danceable songs, which they describe as “deviant pop.”

Is It Now?‘s first single, album title track “Is It Now?” is a continuation of the sound that they established on their first two albums while simultaneously being a subtle yet noticeable refinement. “Is It Now?” features what may arguably be the tightest groove they’ve written to date paired with icy synths and a call-and-response chorus while showcasing their unerring knack for catchy hooks. But at its core is a modern sense of restlessness and unease that just feels — well, familiar.

The new single celebrates being authentically yourself. The call-and-response chorus vies between two points f view — a rebellious perspective and the manufactured, mass culture one. Automatica’s Izzy Glaudini explains that, increasingly, “the thing I think about the most on a day-to-day basis is: how do you have a sense of joy while the world seems to be collapsing, and you feel so powerless?” 

She adds, “I feel like, as American citizens, we have a responsibility to pull the levers to stop the machine. ‘Is It Now?’ is about trying to not feel like a victim in this environment. It’s important to still feel a sense of joy, even amongst all the horrible shit going on in the world.” 

Directed by Nicola and Juliana Giraffe, the accompanying video for “Is It Now” features the trio in an I Love Lucy-like scenario at a factory while they pack boxes and load them onto a truck while evoking the restlessness at the core of the song.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Gabriel da Rosa Performs “Nunca Mais”

Gabriel da Rosa is a rising  Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Growing up in rural, southern Brazil, da Rosa’s radio DJ father exposed him to a wide variety of music from the homeland. But it wasn’t until he relocated to Los Angeles that he began curating Brazilian records and DJ’ing himself. 

da Rosa wound up bonding with Stones Throw Records‘ label head, founder, artist and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf over their shared love of Brazilian music. Later, he began writing own original Bossa nova, inspired by traditional Bossa nova, but with a contemporary edge while collaborating with Pedro Dom, a highly sought-after musician, who has worked with some of Brazil’s beloved and internationally known artists like Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante, and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ian Ramil. 

The Brazilian-born artist’s full-length debut, 2023’s É o que a casa oferece was anchored around traditional Bossa nova and samba-inspired sounds with subtle elements of jazz. 

Officially dropping today through Stone’s Throw Records, da Rosa’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Cacofonia, derives its title from the Brazilian Portuguese word for “cacophony,” while referencing the album’s overall clash of “notes, tensions, surprises and moods.” 

Thematically, Cacofonia is an ode to his homeland — including his family, its environment and the country’s indigenous and working-class people. The album is inspired by — and is the result of da Rosa’s emotional return home after eight years away. His family and travels led him back to his hometown of Cruz Alta. Though he’d often felt like an outsider growing up, seeing Brazil with fresh eyes mae him feel more connected to his country and his people than ever before. And when he returned to Los Angeles to work on the album, he kept those memories close. 

Cacofonia sees da Rosa eschewing much of the more traditional Bossa nova and samba-inspired elements of his sound. And while Bossa nova is still a part of the album’s overall sound and aesthetic, da Rosa wanted to pair and experiemnt with new influences, including Brazilian artists working in other genres and styles like Rodrigo Amarante and O Terno, as well as American artists like David Byrne (!) and Sam Evian. 

da Rosa’s lyrics sung mostly in Brazilian Portuguese have a trace of saudade — the longing for something or someone that you can’t get back or no longer exists. The album also features the Brazilian-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s parents and siblings discussing their heritage on voice notes, which sets the album’s overall scene with tropical birds in the background.

Cacofonia also comments on our discordant and polarizing world: da Rosa’s mother performs a poem about the devastating war in Gaza on “Sabor Humanidade,” and other songs speak to class inequality in Brazil and the impact of Bolsonaro’s mining policies on the Amazon and its people. Several album songs see da Rosa bearing witness to the lives of Brazil’s working class — a songwriting style influenced by years of listening to narrative-based songs and his grandmother’s life stories. 

After eight years away from family, da Rosa pledges to “never disconnect from my people and roots for this long again.” Cacofonia sees the Brazilian-born artist making good on that promise. It’s “me, in this moment of my life.” Gabriel saw “how proud I was of my culture. I used to be lost, scared, and trying so hard to please others.”  And although he has settled in Los Angeles, where he makes music among the city’s growing scene of of Brazilian musicians, regular DJs with his collection of rare Brazilian records, cooks churrasco and lets his “inner child play freely” through painting, Cruz Alta will always be home. But he says that home is also whenever there are “friends, some sort of security, safety, and community.” 

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I managed to write about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “Pê Patu Pá,” a song that opens with a repeating tropical songbird sample and glistening Rhodes that unfurls into a gently swaying, Bossa nova groove with a buzzing psych rock-like guitar solo serving as a lush and dreamy bed for da Rosa’s dreamy coo-like crooning. The song talks about the preservation of the sabía, the songbird of São Paulo State since 1966 — and the national songbird since 2002. The character “Vira-Mundo” represents the fight to preserve the bird, which is seen as representative of Brazil as soccer and Bossa nova.

  • “Seu João,” which continues a run of breezy yet deliberately crafted material that channels samba and bossa nova-driven jazz’s golden age — but with a mischievous modern sensibility. Lyrically, the song is a portrayal of market workers da Rosa observed outside of his family home in São Paulo — and he does so with a deep-seated empathy and pride.

Cacofonia’s final single “Nunca Mais,” which translates to “Never again,” is a ethereal and dreamy bit of Bossa nova, featuring twinkling keys that’s anchored by an underlying sense of ache and betrayal, as the song’s narrator describes a bitter heartbreak.

The live footage was shot on the costal hills of Los Angeles from an undisclosed yet breathtakingly gorgeous location that da Rosa and his collaborators lovingly call Petrichor. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Gabriel da Rosa Performs “Seu João”

Gabriel da Rosa is a rising  Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Growing up in rural, southern Brazil, da Rosa’s radio DJ father exposed him to a wide variety of music from the homeland. But it wasn’t until he relocated to Los Angeles that he began curating Brazilian records and DJ’ing himself. 

da Rosa wound up bonnding with Stones Throw Records‘ label head, founder, artist and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf over their shared love of Brazilian music. Later, he began writing own original Bossa nova, inspired by traditional Bossa nova, but with a contemporary edge while collaborating with Pedro Dom, a highly sought-after musician, who has worked with some of Brazil’s beloved and internationally known artists like Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante, and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ian Ramil. 

The Brazilian-born artist’s full-length debut, 2023’s É o que a casa oferece was anchored around traditional Bossa nova and samba-inspired sounds with subtle elements of jazz. 

Slated for a June 6, 2025 release through Stone’s Throw Records, da Rosa’s highly-anticipated sophomore album, Cacofonia, derives its title from the Brazilian Portuguese word for “cacophony,” while referencing the album’s overall clash of “notes, tensions, surprises and moods.” 

Thematically, Cacofonia is an ode to his homeland — including his family, its environment and the country’s indigenous and working-class people. The album is inspired by — and is the result of da Rosa’s emotional return home after eight years away. His family and travels led him back to his hometown of Cruz Alta. Though he’d often felt like an outsider growing up, seeing Brazil with fresh eyes mae him feel more connected to his country and his people than ever before. And when he returned to Los Angeles to work on the album, he kept those memories close. 

Cacofonia reportedly sees da Rosa eschewing much of the more traditional Bossa nova and samba-inspired elements of his sound. And while Bossa nova is still a part of the album’s overall sound and aesthetic, da Rosa wanted to pair and experiemnt with new influences, including Brazilian artists working in other genres and styles like Rodrigo Amarante and O Terno, as well as American artists like David Byrne (!) and Sam Evian. 

da Rosa’s lyrics sung mostly in Brazilian Portuguese have a trace of saudade — the longing for something or someone that you can’t get back or no longer exists. The album also features the Brazilian-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s parents and siblings discussing their heritage on voice notes, which sets the album’s overall scene with tropical birds in the background.

Cacofonia also comments on our discordant and polarizing world: da Rosa’s mother performs a poem about the devastating war in Gaza on “Sabor Humanidade,” and other songs speak to class inequality in Brazil and the impact of Bolsonaro’s mining policies on the Amazon and its people. Several album songs see da Rosa bearing witness to the lives of Brazil’s working class — a songwriting style influenced by years of listening to narrative-based songs and his grandmother’s life stories. 

After eight years away from family, da Rosa pledges to “never disconnect from my people and roots for this long again.” Cacofonia reportedly sees the Brazilian-born artist making good on that promise. It’s “me, in this moment of my life.” Gabriel saw “how proud I was of my culture. I used to be lost, scared, and trying so hard to please others.”  And although he has settled in Los Angeles, where he makes music among the city’s growing scene of of Brazilian musicians, regular DJs with his collection of rare Brazilian records, cooks churrasco and lets his “inner child play freely” through painting, Cruz Alta will always be home. But he says that home is also whenever there are “friends, some sort of security, safety, and community.” 

Last month, I wrote about “Pê Patu Pá.” Opening with a repeating tropical songbird pattern and glistening Rhodes, the song unfurls into a gently swaying, Bosas nova groove with a buzzing psych rock-like guitar solo serving as a lush and dreamy bed for da Rosa’s dreamy coo-like crooning. The song talks about the preservation of the sabía, the songbird of São Paulo State since 1966 — and the national songbird since 2002. The character “Vira-Mundo” represents the fight to preserve the bird, which may be seen as representative of Brazil as soccer and Bossa nova.

Cacofonia‘s third and latest single “Seu João” is continues a run of breezy yet deliberately crafted material that channels samba and bossa nova-driven jazz’s golden age — but with a mischievous modern sensibility. Lyrically, the song is a portrayal of market workers da Rosa observed outside of his family home in São Paulo — and he does so with a deep-seated empathy and pride.

The live footage was shot on the costal hills of Los Angeles from an undisclosed location that da Rosa and his collaborators lovingly call Petrichor.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Gabriel da Rosa Celebrates Brazil and Its National Songbird in “Pê Patu Pá”

Gabriel da Rosa is a rising  Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Growing up in rural, southern Brazil, da Rosa’s radio DJ father exposed him to a wide variety of music from the homeland. But it wasn’t until he relocated to Los Angeles that he began curating Brazilian records and DJ’ing himself.

da Rosa wound up bounding with Stones Throw Records‘ label head, founder, artist and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf over their shared love of Brazilian music. Later, he began writing own original Bossa nova, inspired by traditional Bossa nova, but with a contemporary edge while collaborating with Pedro Dom, a highly sought-after musician, who has worked with some of Brazil’s best, internationally known artists like Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante, and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ian Ramil. 

The Brazilian-born artist’s full-length debut, 2023’s É o que a casa oferece was anchored around traditional Bossa nova and samba-inspired sounds with subtle elements of jazz.

da Rosa’s highly-anticipated sophomore album, Cacofonia, derives its title from the Brazilian Portuguese word for “cacophony,” while referencing the album’s overall clash of “notes, tensions, surprises and moods.”

Thematically, the forthcoming album is an ode to Brazil — including his family, its environment and the country’s indigenous and working-class people. The album is the result of da Rosa’s emotional return home after eight years away, following the release of his full-length debut. His family and travels led him back to Cruz Alta. Though he’d often felt like an outsider growing up, seeing Brazil with fresh eyes mae him feel more connected to his country and his people than ever before. And when he returned to Los Angeles to work on the album, he kept those memories close.

Cacofonia reportedly sees da Rosa eschewing much of the more traditional Bossa nova and samba-inspired sounds of his debut, and while Bossa nova is still a part of the album’s overall sound and aesthetic, he wanted to pair and experiment with new influences — Brazilian artists working in other genres and styles, including Rodrigo Amarante and O Terno, as well as American artists like David Byrne (!) and Sam Evian.

Against a colorful musical backdrop, Cacofonia‘s lyrics sung mostly in Brazilian Portuguese, have a trace of saudade, longing for something or someone that you can’t get back — or no longer exists. da Rosa’s parents and siblings discuss their heritage on voice notes in the background of the album’s opening track, setting the scene with an immersive soundscape, alongside the sounds of tropical birds.  

Cacofonia also comments on our discordant and polarizing world: da Rosa’s mother performs a poem about the devastating war in Gaza on “Sabor Humanidade,” and other songs speak to class inequality in Brazil and the impact of Bolsonaro’s mining policies on the Amazon and its people. Several album songs see da Rosa bearing witness to the lives of Brazil’s working class — a songwriting style influenced by years of listening to narrative-based songs and his grandmother’s life stories.

After eight years away from family, da Rosa pledges to “never disconnect from my people and roots for this long again.” Cacofonia reportedly sees the Brazilian-born artist making good on that promise. It’s “me, in this moment of my life.” Gabriel saw “how proud I was of my culture. I used to be lost, scared, and trying so hard to please others.”  And although he has settled in Los Angeles, where he makes music among the city’s growing scene of of Brazilian musicians, regular DJs with his collection of rare Brazilian records, cooks churrasco and lets his “inner child play freely” through painting, Cruz Alta will always be home. But he says that home is also whenever there are “friends, some sort of security, safety, and community.”

Cacofonia‘s latest single “Pê Patu Pá” begins with a recurring tropical songbird sample and some glistening Rhodes, before unfurling into a gently swaying, Bossa nova groove with a buzzing psych rock-like guitar solo serving as a lush and dreamy bed for da Rosa’s dreamy coo-like croon.

The song talks about the preservation of the sabía, the songbird of São Paulo State since 1966 — and the national songbird since 2002. The character “Vira-Mundo” represents the fight to preserve the bird, which may be seen as representative of Brazil as soccer and Bossa nova.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Madlib is an acclaimed and legendary producer, musician and artist, who’s widely hailed for his groundbreaking contributions to hip-hop, jazz and experimental music. As a producer, his production style is marked by a love of eclecticism while drawing from jazz, soul, funk and world music. His use of unconventional sampling techniques and his knack for creating immersive sonic soundscapes have earned him a devoted following among music lovers and his fellow artists alike since his early days with Stones Throw Records in the early 2000s.

Beyond his acclaimed solo work, Madlib has collaborated with Kanye West, MF DOOM as Madvillain, J. Dilla, Freddie Gibbs and Erykah Badu among a lengthy list of others. His production credits span across a wide range of genres, showcasing his versatility and artistic vision.

Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-based acclaimed and rising emcee Your Old Droog emerged into the hip-hop scene a decade ago, initially cloaked in mystery and anonymity. But he quickly earned a reputation for his sharp, punch lyrics and gruff delivery. Some speculated on who the man was behind the sophisticated wordplay. But with the release of his eponymous debut, Your Old Droog body stepped out into the spotlight. And since then he’s been remarkably prolific, releasing eight albums and 10 EPs, which have cemented his reputation as your favorite emcee’s favorite emcee — and as a emcee, who’s about to explode onto the mainstream.

Your Old Droog’s forthcoming 11th album Movie reportedly sees the Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-based emcee in a new era, where he’s received countless co-signs from some of the genre’s greatest artists — and taking his place among them.

Last year, Madlib worked with Talib Kweli on Liberation 2 and DJ Muggs and Meyheim Lauren on Champagne for Breakfast. 2024 marks several major anniversaries for Madlib: the 20th anniversary of 2004’s Madvillainy, which also reached Gold status and the 10th anniversary of his collaboration with Freddie Gibbs’ Piñata. Along with that, Jahari Massamba Unit, his group with the equally acclaimed musician, producer and artist Karriem Riggins released YHWH is Love.

Madlib’s latest single “REEKYOD,” a collaboration with Your Old Droog and Black Thought continues an enormous and productive period for the acclaimed producer, musician and artist. Not only is the single the first bit of new Madlib material since 2021’s Sound Ancestors, it’s the producer’s first release on the acclaimed artist’s new label Madlib Invazion. Anchored around a dusty and woozy bit of funky soul, the production is roomy enough for two great emcees to effortlessly spit dexterous bars full of insane wordplay and braggadocio. Simply put, it’s a celebration of what real hip-hop is: dope beats, and legendary emcees pushing each other and challenging each other in true verbal jousting.

Madlib will be embarking on a run of tour dates with Freddie Gibbs celebrating the 10th anniversary of Piñata. Tour dates are below.

Madlib Live

May 10, 2024 – BOSTON *

May 11, 2024 – NYC *

May 19, 2024 – CHICAGO *

May 24, 2024 – LONDON *

May 26, 2024 – LONDON (SOLO DJ SET) 

May 30, 2024 – BARCELONA *

*with Freddie Gibbs

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Pearl & The Oysters Share Woozy and Dreamy “Fireflies”

Released earlier this year through Stones Throw Records, Pearl & The Oysters‘ fourth album, Coast 2 Coast is heavily influenced by the pair’s move from Paris to Los Angeles — with a stop in Florida. Written mostly in Juliette “Pearl” Davis’ and Joachim Polack’s 1-bed apartment, the album’s material was fleshed out by a collection of friends and collaborators including Stereolab‘s Lætitia Sadier, Unknown Mortal Orchesta‘s, Caroline Rose’s and La Luz’s Riley Geare, Neon Indian creative mastermind Alan Palomo, Dent May, Mild High Club‘s Alex Brettin, and Shags Chamberlain, who mixed the album.

Because it was inspired so much by the pair’s relocation, the album thematically explores the idea of travel — physical, mental, experienced and fantasized. The album draws on an eclectic array of aesthetics and images, including Barbarella followed by an Agnés Varda triple bill; Florida swamps and sandy L.A. beaches under a mirrorball-like sun; a radio picking up a faraway broadcast before it fades into an oldies pop station, and crashing waves that melt into the sound of Davis’ white noise machine, among other things.

Coast 2 Coast‘s latest single “Fireflies” is a breezy and nostalgia-tinged bop built around woozy analog synths, twinkling keys, a supple bass line and a steady yet propulsive backbeat paired with Davis’ plaintive delivery. Sonically. “Fireflies” reminds me a bit of a synthesis of Young Narrator in the Breakers-era Pavo Pavo and 70s AM rock. Inspired by the late composer Ryuchi Sakamoto, the song explores dream states and insomniac visions.

Directed by Ambar Navarro, the accompanying video for “Fireflies” is informed by old sci-fi films: We see Davis hatching from a pearl and throughout the video, she plays a a daydreaming Tinkerbell type, who travels freely from planet to planet. Police acts as a controller of the universe while trying to capture Juliette, who has teleportation powers.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Gabriel da Rosa is a Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Growing up in rural, southern Brazil with a radio DJ for a father, de Rosa was exposed to a wide variety of music from his his homeland. But it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that he began curating Brazilian records and DJ’ing himself. 

da Rosa wound up bonding with Stones Throw Records‘ label head, founder, artist and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf over their shared love of Brazilian music. The Brazilian-born artist began writing his own bossa nova, inspired by traditional bossa nova but with a contemporary edge with Pedro Dom, a musician, who has worked with some of Brazil’s best, internationally known artists like Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante, and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ian Ramil. 

The Brazilian-born artist signed to Stones Throw last year. The label released his debut single, “Jasmin parte 1,” a song that details the enchanted feelings of first meeting someone, but doubting whether that connection will actually last. As de Rosa puts it, “the song is about “wanting to remain in an eternal fairytale.”

His second single “Bandida” was a swooning and swaying, wine-drunk Bossa nova rooted in its creator’s thoughts while in solitude, featuring strummed guitar, da Rosa’s heartbroken and weary delivery and a mournful sax line parried with the genre’s traditional, shuffling rhythms. As da Rosa explains, the song came about after an idle night spent in, drinking wine and strumming his guitar. “The wine and my guitar brought out some bittersweet thoughts — all day, I’m surrounded by amazing people, real friends and acquaintances, but at the end of the day, I’m alone,” he says. 

da Rosa’s full-length debut, É o que a casa oferece is slated for a February 17, 2023 release through Stones Throw Records. For Gabriel da Rosa, the appeal of bossa nova is its emotional as well as musical depth. He says, “When you listen to it, you feel blissful – it evokes happy memories. That’s what I’m trying to do on the album.”

The album’s latest single “Cachaça” is named for Brazil’s most popular spirit, and as a result, it evokes being in a Brazilian boteco (bar), swaying drunkenly to the music, lost in your thoughts and memories. But it’s not a sad song. Rather, it’s celebratory. It’s a song celebrating both love won and lost — and well, drinking a bit too much.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Automatic Shares Slow-Burning “Turn Away”

Los Angeles-based post punk outfit Automatic — Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) and Halle Saxon (bass, vocals) — can trace their origins to their hometown’s DIY scene: Each individual member had been immersed in the scene when they met. They started jamming back in 2017. The trio quickly became a local club circuit mainstay.

Their full-length debut, 2019’s Signals saw the trio quickly establishing their sound, which paired motorik grooves with icy atmospheres. 

The trio’s sophomore album Excess was released last year through Stones Throw Records. The album sees the band sonically riding an imaginary edge where the ’70s underground met ’80s corporate culture. As the band puts it, “That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream all for the sake of consumerism.” Using that particular point in time as a lens through which to view our uncertain and seemingly apocalyptic present, the album’s material sees the trio taking aim at corporate culture and extravagance through deadpan critiques and razor sharp hooks. 

Last year, I wrote about two album singles:

  • “Skyscraper,” a dance floor friendly bop built around glistening synth arpeggios, relentless four-on-the-floor and disco-influenced bass lines paired with an icy, insouciant delivery and razor sharp, well-placed hooks. And while sonically seeming like a slick and effortless synthesis of Blondie, Devo and Talking Heads, the song is rooted in incisive and politically charged commentary. The band’s Halle Saxon explains that “Skyscraper” is ” . . .about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job.” Lola Dompé adds, “Kind of like going to LA to live your dreams.”

  • “Teen Beat,” a single centered around multi-part harmonized chanted vocals, bubbling and arpeggiated synths and a relentless motorik groove that seemed like a seamless mesh of Gang of Four and Nots. Much like its predecessor, “Teen Beat” continues a run of material that rooted in incisive and urgent political commentary. “The title was taken from a preset on a dinky drum machine, and the song is about the chaos of climate change descending upon Gen Z,” the band explain. 

“Turn Away,” Excess‘ latest single is a slow-burning, bop centered around a syrupy groove rooted in a rapid-fire boom bap-like drumming, twinkling, reverb-drenched keys and a propulsive bass line paired with sultrily delivered vocals and the trio’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks.

Directed by Amber Navarro, the accompanying video for “Turn Away” begins with the band flying aboard a private jet, when something goes disastrously wrong mid-flight. The plane crashes and the trio miraculously survives what appears to be a catastrophic crash in the middle of the desert. Naturally, the members of the band are left to fend for themselves — completely alone.

“We got to work together with Ambar Navarro, our friend and director of the first music video off our album Excess, ‘New Beginning’. We have a lot of fun on set with Ambar because she gets our sense of humor and she visually adds some lightness to the heavier themes of our album, like climate change and income inequality. We become the capitalist death cult in this satirical animation of what could happen if we as a society continue on this path of excess.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Gabriel da Rosa Shares a Swooning Meditation on Loneliness

Gabriel da Rosa is a Cruz Alta, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-born, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and guitarist. Growing up in rural, southern Brazil with a radio DJ for a father, de Rosa was exposed to a wide variety of music from his his homeland. But it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that he began curating Brazilian records and DJ’ing himself.

da Rosa wound up bonding with Stones Throw Records‘ label head, founder, artist and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf over their shared love of Brazilian music. The Brazilian-born artist began writing his own bossa nova, inspired by traditional bossa nova but with a contemporary edge with Pedro Dom, a musician, who has worked with some of Brazil’s best, internationally known artists like Seu Jorge, Rodrigo Amarante, and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ian Ramil.

The Brazilian-born artist signed to Stones Throw earlier this year, and the label released his debut single “Jasmim parte 1” earlier this year, a song that details the enchanted feelings of first meeting someone, but having doubts whether the connection with actually last. As de Rosa puts it, “the song is about “wanting to remain in an eternal fairytale.”

da Rosa’s second and latest single “Bandida” is a swooning and swaying, wine-drunk Bossa nova rooted its creator’s thoughts while in solitude and centered around strummed guitar, the Brazilian-born artist’s heartbroken and weary delivery, a mournful saxophone line paired with the genre’s traditional shuffling rhythms. As da Rosa explains, the song came about after an idle night spent in, drinking wine and strumming his guitar. “The wine and my guitar brought out some bittersweet thoughts — all day, I’m surrounded by amazing people, real friends and acquaintances, but at the end of the day, I’m alone,” he says.

Directed and edited by Eric Coleman, the accompanying video is shot in a gorgeous and cinematic black and white, and feature the Brazilian-born artist and his backing band performing the song in a little club, as the wine-drinking crowd gently sways and sings along, recognizing a bit of themselves in the song’s bittersweet meditation of loneliness.