London – Secret Someones, the union of Brooklyn-based singer/songwriters Bess Rogers, Hannah Winkler, and Lelia Broussard with the addition of drummer Zach Jones, came about organically through tour sharing as solo acts and joining in on each other’s sets. The new band’s self-titled debut album is a strong endorsement of how well the trio of
San Francisco – Fraternal UK electronic/garage-throwback duo Disclosure are no strangers to the theatrical. The brothers Lawrence—Guy (24) and Howard (21)—and their debut LP Settle released back in 2013 (which spanned fourteen gorgeous tracks), re-introduced the world to the forgotten genre of garage electronica, casting a diverse crew of collaborators to embody their vision. Settle
Los Angeles – In the wake of More Than Any Other Day’s enormous splash, critics could not help themselves but reference groups like Television or The Talking Heads when describing the wiry post-punk heard throughout Ought’s debut release. This opinion is backed up with some decent arguments; the sing/speaking bears a passing resemblance to David
San Francisco – “And now, it’s show time.” So begins the full-length commercial debut from Skylar Spence, Prom King: an eleven-track nu-disco opus from 22-year-old wunderkind Ryan DeRobertis. Some may remember DeRobertis from his days as a producer of “vaporwave” music (a genre of electronica that relies heavily on samples that have been drastically slowed-down)
Los Angeles – Debut record Mind Out Wandering from Astronauts etc. captures a heavenly soundscape in the course of ten commendable tracks. The man behind this moniker is Anthony Ferraro (touring keyboardist for Toro Y Moi). The culmination of Astronauts, etc. didn’t just happen by accident or overnight. While studying music at the University of
London – Depending on where you live Light Up The Dark could be the second album from British songstress Gabrielle Aplin, or the first. Oddly her 2013 debut, “English Rain”, which came on the back of her sweetly sensitive cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “The Power of Love” for the 2012 John Lewis [department
Chicago – This year brought an 80s resurgence like no other. From movies, TV, and fashion, the decade of excess swooped in hard, taking its biggest hit in pop music. Artists like Carly Rae Jepson, Bleachers, The Wombats, and Walk the Moon have been echoing the sounds of Debbie Gibson and Madonna to Hall &
Chicago – Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing Gary Clark Jr.‘s live album, simply titled Live. I declared it a masterpiece and hailed the Grammy winner as the new Hendrix and called him a “legend among men, the musician of our generation, and when parents school their children in what ‘real music’ is, they’ll reference
Los Angeles - Petite Noir has successfully created one of the best albums of 2015 with La Vie Est Belle / Life Is Beautiful. 24 year-old South African artist Yannick Ilunga takes his electronic post-punk to a new genre, noir wave. If not the best album, than it is certainly the most imaginative. Petite Noir’s aesthetic
San Francisco – Chris Baio now finds himself in somewhat of a unique position, at least amongst his bandmates. The bassist for the unstoppable indie quartet Vampire Weekend may not be as recognizable as frontman Ezra Koenig or keyboardist/producer to the “indie elite” Rostam Batmanglij, but things are looking bright for the multi-talented Baio, seeing