Sometimes great music comes from obscure places. Other times it’s so obvious that the music is overwhelmingly amazing that impossible to put your finger on the pulse of why that’s the case. After a few years of working behind the scenes with L.A.-based producer/maestro Flying Lotus, bassist extraordinaire Thundercat (not to be confused with the ‘80s cartoon of the same name) is finally getting the widespread respect and acclaim that’s been long overdue. While his solo debut, 2011’s The Golden…

Surfer Blood might have set all future expectations a bit high for themselves with their 2010 debut album Astro Coast. The band’s immediate knack for hypnotizing hooks (“Floating Vibes” has been stuck in my head for about three years now) and a surprise cleanliness coupled with generally buzz guitars was impressive -- very impressive. That was 2010 during a spike of beach-rock craze and Surfer Blood was leading the pack. It’s been three years since that release and finally the…

The LA-via-England singer-songwriter released her fourth album, Once I Was an Eagle, May 27 on Ribbon Music and, while I’m not one to typically be so blunt, it’s entirely wonderful. When Marling introduced her set at Seattle’s Columbia City Theater on May 15, she opened with these four tracks and, before the album was out, released a movie featuring them. Before May 27, then, I was laboring under the delusion that Once I Was an Eagle began with one epic…

Let us extend Splashh a warm welcoming to the world of full-length albums. The East London quartet released Comfort, its debut album, on June 4 (in the U.S.; September 2 in the UK and Europe) on Kanine/Luv Luv Luv Records. Comfort reads like a debut album, with all the blooming energy and fresh innovation that will have fans in the future lamenting that they “liked Splashh’s old stuff better.” But until then, we can revel in the present purity of…