Daeves is the indie rock project of Devon Murphy, a multi-instrumentalist songwriter hailing from Acton, MA. On his latest release, Whatever Before The Storm, Murphy wields a slacker sensibility through songs inspired by new wave folk and indie music. Murphy’s casual disposition and breathy baritone call comparisons to Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon, while the album’s instrumentation (performed solely by Murphy himself) calls to mind the looseness of Pavement, with the structural know-how of Real Estate. Despite it’s unconcerned title, Whatever Before The Storm is a sturdy new release worthy of a listen. Stream the album below. -Charley Ruddell

Three years since it’s creation, Magnolia Loft has created a reputation for being one of Boston’s top tier DIY venues. Located on the third floor of a Jamaica Plain apartment building, Magnolia Loft has provided a space for local artists and musicians to hold interactive exhibits and performances for community participants. Sadly, the staple underground venue, run and programmed by tenant Audrey Harrar, has been forced to vacate the property to make way for building development. To commemorate the venue’s legacy, Harrar has compiled a fifty-two song mixtape, titled Magnolia Songs Mixtape, compiled of artists who have performed at the space, including acts like Sidney Gish, BAERD, Izzy Heltai, and I Can Chase Dragons. Stream Magnolia Songs Mixtape below. -Charley Ruddell

The small indie tape label New Perfume Records out of Boston have a knack for finding compelling underground artists with little to no online presence (David Poole and Afraid of Storms to name a couple). The newest release from Saguiv Rosenstock, the shoegaze weirdo behind Assassin of Youth, is the most recent example of New Perfume gold. A MYSTERIOUS HUM… WHERE IS IT FROM? is the newest release by Assassin of Youth, a four track EP that challenges the shoegaze status quo by incorporating elements of fast punk and cheeky humor into the typically vast and bleak atmosphere of the genre. A MYSTERIOUS HUM is a nod to contemporary noise rock melody makers like DIIV and Beach Fossils, while maintaining the innate weirdness of the Boston underground scene. Stream their new EP below and check out more from New Perfume here. -Charley Ruddell

Matthew Politoski, frontman of the beloved Boston indie rock group Animal Flag, has released a sprawling instrumental solo album titled 8 Emanations, his first in over two years. The instrumental drones on 8 Emanations are entirely devoid of lyricism, or melody for that matter, and instead focus on ethereal and enveloping soundscapes, built using various acoustic and electronic instruments. Politoski’s newest work draws on influences ranging from European electronica and witch house music, displaying intuitive structures to darkly emotive and deeply stirring harmonic movements. The result is an incredibly warm and strangely inviting body of work that will take any Animal Flag fan by surprise. Stream and purchase 8 Emanations below, where all the proceeds will be donated to the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. -Charley Ruddell

Although Pink Navel, the solo project of smooth poet Devin Bee, released his full length album Raw Navel over a year ago, the rapper/beatmaker deserves some current recognition. Bee’s particular brand of oddball hip-hop is heavily driven by a stream-of-conscious and absurdist flow of spoken word poetry, highlighted by crunchy lofi beats swaddled in background noise and quirky synth patches. Bee’s poetic content bares a stark similarity to Mike Doughty’s, the mythic voice behind cult group Soul Coughing, while his delivery resembles the smooth confidence of 2000s alt-hip groups like Aesop Rock and Blue Scholars. Raw Navel, in all of its warped obscurity, is a clever and compelling release, and a much needed breath of life in New England’s alternative hip hop scene. You can stream Raw Navel below. -Charley Ruddell

Hard rock trio Sundrifter have released their newest album Visitations, a full length followup to 2016’s Not Coming Back. The Boston three piece are most notable for their heavy approach and unrelenting walls of sound, reminiscent of grunge bands like Soundgarden and the Melvins, while also co-opting a uniquely melodic quality found in popular hard rock bands like Muse and Queens of the Stone Age. Visitations plods and stomps in a relentless march employing riff after riff of Sabbath-esque mojo, where guitars and vocals are draped in fuzz and tinged with psychedelia. Check out Visitations below. -Charley Ruddell

Boston experimental group Kármán Voh have released If Only Apart, the fuzzy, pulsing follow up to October’s Ill Loam. If Only Apart displays the cavernous nuances of post-rock and shoegaze, wherein each song envelops its listener in a haze of warm distortion, steady rhythms, and abstract, yet melodic vocal concepts. It’s difficult not to draw comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, or even contemporaries like Deerhunter, but at their core, Kármán Voh draw from a darker, more deeply personal space than their influences. Dive into If Only Apart below. -Charley Ruddell

Following the release of “Out Of The” in late 2017, Boston folk collective BAERD have returned with a sonically ambitious new single titled “If All Goes As Planned”. BAERD, fronted by singer/guitarist Isaiah Baerd, have a penchant for composing progressive, and often times challenging neo-folk music, evocative of modern new wave folk bands like Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens. “If All Goes As Planned” plays out as more of a score than a song, jumping between mixed meters and instrumental swells accompanying Baerd’s whimsical growl. Both “Out Of The” and “If All Goes As Planned” are featured singles from BAERD’s forthcoming full length album Crete, due to arrive this Summer. Check out “If All Goes As Planned” below. -Charley Ruddell

The results are in: Jamaica Plain indie rockers Modern Painters have won the Deli Magazine Artist of the Month poll for January 2018! The Painters gained the the Deli’s attention after releasing their lush eponymous debut album in December 2017, warranting a write up and a subsequent nomination for Artist of the Month. From our December write up: “In the case of Jamaica Plains’ folk-indie group Modern Painters, the confidence, sincerity, and precision in their self-titled debut is not unlike a veteran band with several good albums under their belt.”

To celebrate their victory, Modern Painters and Deli Magazine have decided to exclusively premiere their newest music video for “Whaler”, a breezy, jazz guitar laden track from their debut album. “Whaler” falls into the unique category of loungey, New England-intellectual indie music, recalling songs like Jonathan Richman’s “That Summer Feeling”, and Galaxie 500’s “Blue Thunder”.

The summer-y “Whaler” video couldn’t come at a better time, as New Englanders spend the mid-winter lull dreaming of lake-days under the hot summer sun. The video features singers Gabe Goodman and Nike Brannstrom half-dancing and crooning on Goodman’s 13’ 1969 Boston Whaler in his hometown of Scituate in the South Shore. Clad in a black dress and a casual black and white suit, Brannstrom and Goodman emote the delicious warm haze of lazy summer days, capturing the freedom and youthful vigor of harbor towns and mid day boat rides.

Be sure to catch Modern Painters at the Midway Cafe on March 20th. Enjoy the video for “Whaler” below. -Charley Ruddell

One defining piece of reggae music is social criticism, a major theme embedded within “Rise Up”, the newest single from Boston-based rocksteady’s Java Jukebox. “Rise Up” is an exercise in classic dub form: a bass and drum driven arrangement, arpeggiated horn lines, tape delayed phrases (Rise Up! up…up…up…up), a dancehall breakdown, and of course, social criticism. Singer Samuel Walukouw, rallying in the cool rasp of a Marley, uses “Rise Up” as a call to action, specifically against police brutality; “Put your fist up high in the air, say you’re going to fight this brutality!” The heartfelt commentary and chops behind it all make the music of Java Jukebox truly authentic and unique in the dub-sparse city of Boston. Stream “Rise Up” below, and check out Java Jukebox at Brighton Music Hall on February 2nd. -Charley Ruddell

Portland’s soulful pop songstress Katie Matzell grew up listening to a trove of oldies records kept in her basement, a stashed library of her father’s from his days as a DJ. She cites Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin as two major influences, which comes at no surprise after listening to her smoothly rich self-titled debut EP. Matzell’s voice, both effortless and simple, floats above a sea of washy keys and pocket grooves, calling comparisons to not only her influences of the past, but to her contemporaries- Norah Jones and Emily King immediately come to mind. The six track EP covers plenty of musical ground, ranging from the heady neo-soul of “Brick Sidewalks”, to the dubious funk of “On the Line”, to the gospel-blues of “Don’t They Say”. Stream Katie’s EP below. –Charley Ruddell  

Since the initial creation of the garage/psych weirdo collective The Prefab Messiahs in 1981, the band has disbanded and banded again several times, scattering new releases as they came and went. The band’s newest release, the cynical Psychsploitation Today, continues their sonic narrative of the past while highlighting the hysteria of today. The Messiahs are as weird as ever on Psychsploitation, locking into a psych sound of the mid/late 60s when it was hip to be as weird as possible; the whole record is a swirling conglomerate of surf and garage music, chanky tamborine, chorus-drenched harmonies, and a not so subtle nod to the current administration in power (“The Man Who Killed Reality”). Get weird with Psychsploitation Today below. -Charley Ruddell