Portland – Stranger Cat, the brainchild of Cat Martino and Sven Britt, is an electronic wonderland of sound. Their debut album, In The Wilderness, takes the listener into a wilderness that the duo has carefully constructed with layers of synth, drum machines, well-placed bass and Martino’s breathy, haunting vocals. The album isn’t what you may
New York – Vinyl lovers rejoice! Record Store Day, the humble but highly exciting third Saturday in April, is fast approaching and it’s time to start finalizing those wish lists! This year, the eighth for the pseudo-holiday for record enthusiasts, is marked on the calendar for April 18. (The festive day of record appreciation was started in
Los Angeles – LA quintet Fool’s Gold at last return with a powerful mix of eclectic afro-pop tunes for their long-awaited third LP, Flying Lessons. Nearly four years have passed since the band’s previous record, Leave No Trace, debuted to praiseworthy reviews. With this most recent release, Fool’s Gold extends their early resonance to craft
Los Angeles – The latest full length release from Shlohmo, Dark Red, is a fitting showcase for an artist whose personal life has traversed a cryptically challenging time over the past year. The man behind Shlohmo, Henry Laufner, spends the vast majority of Dark Red’s runtime barraging through a landscape of dissonance, dreariness and despair. This
Los Angeles – When the infectiously catchy “Weekend” debuted last year, Portland-based Priory gained an overwhelming awareness in the blogsphere. It really put longtime friends Brandon Rush and Kyle Sears on the map despite already releasing their debut album back in 2011 on a small label. The change of style into the realm of dance-pop/electro-rock
Nashville – Both heartfelt and heartbreaking, the latest from the U.K. sister act The Staves is a triumph of both artistry and emotion. Best New Bands interviewed the band a while back, before the release of their full-length debut, but even then the band was gaining significant traction. If I Was (via Nonesuch Records) follows
Berlin – The record label Muttis Mischkonsum has only been around for a few short years, but during that time has made quite an impact in Berlin featuring a slew of artists that celebrate the diversity of music and the spirit of the artistic mecca of the moment. With their diverse offering and eclectic roster
Berlin – Since 2011, Serbian band VVHILE has been quickly gaining sonic steam, working at a pace that is as dizzying for the listener as it is the producers themselves. With the release of More, this band is channeling those 90s bands that the decade was best known and celebrated for. Creating music that resonates
New York – Nadine Shah is pretty much doing a PJ Harvey impression. There’s no way to avoid mentioning it; her music is so specifically influenced by Polly Jean Harvey’s mid-90s body of work that it almost should be evaluated as an alternate-universe continuation of what Harvey could have done if she had stayed in
Los Angeles – While Mike Greene, the mastermind and sole member of electronic music act Fort Romeau, has not made any grand departures from the well-received sound he established on his debut album and subsequent singles, the London-based house producer has tweaked the formula just a bit. Fort Romeau’s second full-length, Insides, was released