NYC’s songwriter Evangelia‘s single "Always On Mine" is a subdued electropop ballad addressed to a past lover. Following the singer through the lonely streets of a city at night, the visuals that accompany the song grow more and more surreal, almost to the point of feeling like virtual reality. It’s a fitting portrayal for a song that wonders about how things might have been, and how they could be, and whether you’ve imagined it all. Check out "Always On Mine" below, and stream the rest of Evangelia’s music here. -Sunny Betz

Based in NYC but born and raised in Quito, Ecuador, Maria Usbeck moved to the states at 17 to attend art school, and found herself fronting the new wave band Selebrities. After five years of singing in English, Maria decided to let her mother tongue speak and began to create music on her own. The tracks on sophomore LP Envejeciendo – out on August 16 – form a concept album exploring the universal obsession with youth and our preoccupation with growing older, and are anchored in Usbeck’s personal experiences with adulthood. After recently forcing herself out of a depressive, aging-induced slump, Usbeck was determined to have fun with the subject matter. The album is peppered with personal anecdotes and nods to her firsthand fieldwork into the aging process. Particularly moving are the samples of a recorded interview with Usbeck’s late Ecuadorian grandmother, who speaks animatedly about her girlhood suitors and imagines what her life could have been had she married someone else. It’s this tone of nostalgic joy, coexisting with curiosity for futures both impossible and unrealized, that runs throughout Envejeciendo.

One could say that, with their influences equally split between pop-punk and brainy/noisy indie rock, The Vaughns represent the perfect balance between the most dominant musical inclinations of the Garden State and the Big Apple. But, of course, influences mean nothing if they aren’t supported by good and original songwriting, and the Springfield, NJ, quartet can certainly deliver in that department. Their 2017 single Santa Cruz is still their most accomplished track to date, with its pressing arpeggiated chord progression that seems able to build up tension for an indefinite amount of time, and vocalist Anna Lies’ borderline casual approach to singing. More recent single "Bring Your Kids to Work Day" (video streaminbg below) is a faster, punkier number dressed with Sonic Youth-style guitar stabs, Blur-worthy "who-oos," culminating into an orgiastic (sonically speaking) grand finale. The band just landed an opening slot for The Gaslight Anthem’s show at Irving Plaza on June 22, it should be fun.

You may remember NYC-based Electro-soul band MS MR, who conquered our ears and hearts in the early aughts with a couple of uber-catchy singles. The voice and half of the songwriting engine behind that project, Lizzie Plapinger, is back under the LPX moniker with a new EP entitled "Junk of the Heart," and time seems to have stopped. The sound is slightly punchier and guitar-based, but not widely dissimilar from the previous project, also because the lady’s (gorgeous) vocals and melodies are easily recognizable. Check out the EP below and read an interview with Lizzie about the new record here.

Finalizing a record can take a lot longer than expected, and, paradoxically, being good at making records can interfere with it. That’s the story of Jonathan Seale, the NYC based producer of Feist, Lucius, Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird and more, who goes under the stage name os Son of Cloud. "When I started making records professionally at age 20, I decided that I wanted to focus on supporting the writing of other artists because I felt that I hadn’t lived enough life to make a meaningful contribution to the world as a songwriter" – he says – and what happened then, we guess, is that the recording business took over his life. It’s hard for busy producers to go back to the potentially zero-money-making entreprise that is the band biz after experiencing success in a different and still creative area of the music industry, so it is remarkable to see Seale’s commitment to finish this record and disclose to the world his thoughtful songwriting and incredibly deep and soulful tenor. In support of the upcoming album, Seale will perform his debut concert as Son of Cloud on March 23rd, 2019, at The Brooklyn Friends Meeting House, playing with a full band.

Channeling a sound reminiscent of forward looking artists like Radiohead and Pink Floyd, NYC-based band Upright Man molds a signature psych-rock style propelled by a traditional guitar, bass, and drums set up. In their 2017 debut self-titled album, the trio consisting of Aidan Dolan (guitar/vocals), Nick Katz (bass/vocals), and Max Yassky (drums/vocals) flaunts  an assortment of openings for each song that range from punchy and overdriven basslines to swiftly picked guitar riffs. Songs like "Ecstacy" and "Agorognostic" soothe with ambient verses and then explode into hard-charging choruses that show off the band’s authentic sound. In songs like "Say What You Mean" you can hear the folk influences of Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking second album, and yet, through all these changes the three New Yorkers remain themselves. The album’s title track (which double as the band’s names, since the record is self-titled) is a hard-hitting classic rock ode that truly crystallizes the group’s versatility. Upright Man will be taking the stage at Brooklyn Bazaar on March 15th. – Rene Cobar

We are happy to announce our return to Austin with not one but TWO live show during the famous music festival in the Texan city. The shows are linked to our Austin Synth and Pedal Expo, hosted on the third floor of very central venue Chuggin’ Monkey.

This is a free show – RSVP HERE!

Here’s the lineup and a playlist for the first night, on March 15, hosted at the Chuggin’ Monkey‘s ground floor right on East 6th Street!

Hailing from Queens, Lina Tullgren plays music that almost denies this geography and origin. Whether it’s her collaborations or solo material, the music from this DIY artist rarely conforms to the ideas of the moment or regional trends, without using the kitchen sink approach to experimentation. Thrashing drums and guitars that are simultaneously gritty and pristine can sneak up on you, whereas Tullgren’s vocals dip into emo territory at times and are the gravitational center for every song; these compositions are so powerful because of their disparate elements and how they resemble genres we know, but are blended in unexpected ways in her music. The even more surprising part is how these uncomfortably surreal songs harmonize together, reaching a point where these funeral marches are equal halves of hypnotic and skin-crawling. It’s music that beckons us to go deeper into the void, and you’ll be able to see it live on March 15 at the upcoming unofficial SXSW show linked to our Austin Synth and Pedal Expo – more info soon! – Tucker Pennington

The Brooklyn dream-pop duo known as CLAVVS has always had their feet squarely planted in the realm of electronic soul-pop. Swaying soundscapes and luscious vocals were synthesized into a potent formula. Yet with this recent run of new singles to promote their upcoming EP No Saviors, the pair have cracked open new patterns to make their distinct ideas sound infinitely more versatile. Lay Back adds a baroque flourish (reminiscent of some Tricky’s best ideas) that crashes down like a waterfall of strings, while the title track (streaming below) bursts with polyrhythms and self-assured brashness. Retaining their hazy aura and breaking out of the dream pop bubble with exuberance is a balancing act that CLAVVS pulls off with the utmost ease. – Tucker Pennington

With three full length albums and a fair share of movie placements under his composer and musician’s belt, Matt Shapiro cannot not be called a staple of the NYC scene. He recently unveiled The Addict (streaming below), the first single from the upcoming EP Fade In, scheduled for an early March release. Mostly electronic, The Addict represents – according to Shapiro himself – a return to a more disciplined and stripped down approach to writing, after the epic and layered sound of his latest LP Metaphysical. However, after the initial bars (which are stripped down indeed), The Addict builds into a rich and warm sound conveyed by luxurious, ’80s inspired synth pads and by Matt’s soulful tenor and spot on falsettos, which sing about the best addictions of all – Falling in Love.

Pynkie, the stage name of New Jersey’s Lindsey Radice, is one of the musicians from the NYC area most often photographed while smiling – and we certainly like that. She will bring her charming bed-dream pop to Pianos on March 9 within the New Colossus Festival, a LES/East Village based city festival debuting this year that looks to fill void left by the death of the CMJ Music Marathon. Pynkie’s 2018 debut album Neoteny is filled with delicately performed songs that are at once inventive and intimate. 

The ever-evolving quartet VAURA follows up their 2013 album The Missing almost six years later with Sables, their most refined and contemplative release yet. Introspective and somber, Sables finds the band shedding most of its post-metal heaviness in favor of experiments with brooding kosmische musik and the more avant-garde elements of new wave.

Featuring Josh Strawn (Azar Swan) on vocals, guitar and synthesizers, Kevin Hufnagel (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia) on guitar, Toby Driver (Kayo Dot) on bass, and Charlie Schmid (Tombs) on drums and electronics, VAURA engages ever more with their UK and German prog/art rock influences to grandiose and eerie effect. While still retaining the distinctive and specific style carved out on the band’s first two releases — Selenelion in 2010 and The Missing the following year — Sables is the third LP, a concise collection of meditative compositions on endings and extinctions, complemented by the mixing and production work of legendary UK producer Peter Walsh (Scott Walker, Peter Gabriel).