After five years of a fructuous collaboration with Juan Mendez, ‘Permissions of Love‘ is Tropic of Cancer’s first output clearly established as Camella Lobo’s solo venture, a three-track EP released in May on the Italian minimal/industrial label Mannequin. If the transition is virtually seemless, the emotional generosity of this record further discredits most labels that were attributed to the band, shoegaze, goth, coldwave, you name it. What Lobo sings is as ever hard to grasp, an end would suggest the titles but the voice itself is deep drowned in reverberation; there’s only this persistent smashing beat to hold onto, but somehow that’s enough to draw one into a strangely reassuring droning atmosphere which soon enough becomes so familiar that in contrast, the silence afterwards feels like a cold and oppressive void. Next step for Camella Lobo? ‘I Feel Nothing’, a new EP announced for October (Sleeperhold). – Tracy Mamoun

It’s not only their name Wildcat! Wildcat! that’s borrowed from Ratatat, it’s a taste for the swagger of a hip-hop beat that sets them at a vital distance from the hundreds of synthpop acts flooding the indie scene every year. The name, it turns out, they actually owe to Eli Cash’s play Wildcat (The Royal Tenenbaums); yet where his project led to failure, things are looking up for this lot. No glee, no kitsch, and for that, hats off. No obsolete vernacular either, for that matter. Just three guys, some spotless keyboard arrangements and a sexy bassline, which amount to a catchy groove stuck in your head until the next takes its place. With only two singles to their name, they’ve already made quite a reputation for themselves. Recently landing a residency at The Echo, they’ll be playing the famous LA stage every Monday evening throughout the month of August. 

It made sense as scenes got fragmented that the best bands would work on a fence, crafting a fusion that could work beyond the niche. That’s precisely the simple beauty of A House For Lions, who emerged onto LA’s indie-rock scene almost two years ago, and have been drawing attention to themselves ever since. They stand right between alt-folk and alt-rock, singing with penetrating tenderness, playing it raw for those who won’t have it too polished, reverberated, distorted for those who ‘like it rough‘ so to speak. It’s a blissful blend really, that wraps around you, grips you; their first single especially, ‘Let Back‘, which started things off as it settled in founder Daniel Norman’s head and showed him the way.

It’s now been over a year since their first EP “I Want Us To Be Remembered”, and no, we haven’t forgotten them; so when the new year comes and they’re ready to drop this first album they’re working on, we’ll be there. Meanwhile though, you can see them play at Taix for The Echo Park Rising Festival on August 25th. Streaming below is their new track, an original cover of Tina Turner’s classic hit ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ – enjoy! – Tracy Mamoun

Today, Tiff Randol (more recently known as IAMEVE) released the latest in a series of twelve songs debuted in April. Every month, as she builds up to the full-length release of her new project ‘The Everything Nothing‘, she reveals another step in the blossoming of Eve Ami, and every month we watch her evolve on the cover of a single. The lost, drowning girl of April’s ‘Throw Me A Line’ has gained confidence, she’s a ‘Temptress‘, glamorous in her feathers, dangerous; the stage is where you reinvent yourself, and the album describes this journey, the rebirth of Eve like David becoming Ziggy, delivered with the force of a powerful pop voice that grows more seductive by the single. If this is far from being Randol’s first output, who has behind her an album and two EPs, it is surely her strongest narrative effort to date; she’s a storyteller you see, and as she lets this tale unfold step by step like she did with ‘Polyamourous’ in 2009, each time there’s a suspense in the course that makes the next release all the more exciting. – Tracy Mamoun

Dutifully inspired by the late 70’s new wave movement, WEAVE! channel the raw emotion of the era with rhythmically slick grooves fuelled with the rasping funk sound of British bands like the Delta 5 and the Raincoats. Ivory Lee Carlson and Nicole originally conceived the band in 2007, and though they’ve gone through several line-up changes and even a brief hiatus in the past few years, they’ve managed to keep the essence of the project intact. Their latest EP, suitably titled "New Funk Romance", imparts a newness to a musical styling that continues to persist and never loses its touch – commanded by layers of vaporous synth, Carlson and Turley’s warm, yelping vocals give a sense of desperation to the songs’ scratchy basslines and jerky drum patterns. It’s all a tad rough-hewn, but that’s essentially their strength – their dub-tinged home brew of post-punk may be quirkily shabby, but it’s also dance-y and above all fun. – Juan Edgardo Rodríguez (@juanerodriguez)

Expert in psychedelic music, curator of its heydays and dedicated actor of its present, Martin Nunez is what one would call a fanatic. Better known as Sir Psych, the LA-based scholar/composer will be releasing in January 2013 his first full-length solo album, ‘The Popsike World of Sir Psych‘. In this record, which you can listen to here, Nunez adopts a critical, contemporary approach to psychedelic aesthetics by integrating to his work an eclectic mix of sounds. Folk, hip-hop, dub, circus music and radio recordings… these are only some of the twists found along a colourful course of nineteen tracks which define as many experimental variations on the one theme central to his career. If you fancy exploring further the depths of Sir Psych’s musical universe, check out his many compilations of late 60s standards and obscure findings, Sir Psych Presents, as well as his recent garage-infused collaborations with punk musician Al Rivera as The Smoking Trees. – Tracy Mamoun

North Hollywood duo Glow Marrow is Derek Coburn and Darin Green, two high school mates who released in early 2011 their debut EP Broadheart, which I guess, a posteriori, feels like something of a first draft. In just over a year and a half, the rough edges have been softened, polyrhythmic structures polished, and where instrumental layers would sometimes converse clumsily, they’re now flirting at ease with one another. There you have it. Julian, first track off their upcoming follow-up Braver Days (out September 15th), a shimmering electro-pop song combining synth, guitar and a third of a drum kit with a touch of melancholy, and certainly the influence of Animal Collective’s neo-psychedelia. Far more fluid thus far more gripping than its predecessors, it introduces the ‘new and improved‘ Glow Marrow with which we’ll be getting further acquainted as fall approaches. – Tracy Mamoun

Oren Lyons have released “Forever Found,” the first song off their much anticipated debut album. Originally a three-piece, the band has doubled in size to create the vast, sweeping, and eerily romantic track. Though “Forever Found” conjures up peaceful images, like great blue waves crashing on the beach, there’s an underlying feeling that everything could fall apart at any time. The result sounds like a combination of a quieter version of Portishead and the score of the film “Melancholia.” Be on the lookout for Oren Lyon’s currently untitled debut album due out later this year, and listen to “Forever Found” streaming below. – Joshua S. Johnson

Ioanna Gika and Leopold Ross, best known as the dark pop sensation Io Echo, surely need no introduction. Their hypnotic concoction of goth rock and industrial music influences, laced with delicately eerie far-Eastern textures, has seen the duo gather over the last couple of years a growing fan base, as well as land some valuable opportunities, e.g supporting the likes of Florence & The Machine, Nine Inch Nails and composing the soundtrack to James Franco & Harmony Korine’s collaboration ‘Rebel’.

Long story short, ‘debut‘ probably isn’t the most adequate term here; however, to round up a course of achievement upon achievement, LA’s haunting duo is now ready to release its first self-titled EP. Announced for October 16th, the record will feature their latest single ‘When The Lilies Die‘ as well as ‘Carnation‘, collaboration with The Drums’ own Jonny Pierce, and will be followed in early 2013 by their much-anticipated full-length album, ‘Ministry Of Love’. Meanwhile, you can see them perform on August 17th at The Troubadour with London’s Charli XCX. Tracy Mamoun

Whilst working on a second album with London-based collaborator Shawn Lee,  AM is currently adding the finishing touches to his next solo project, produced by Joey Waronker. Reputed for his eclectic combinations of sounds, and a fondness for retro aesthetics, the LA DJ/composer introduced the upcoming record by releasing a couple of days ago a sweet cover of Harry Nilsson’s song Me And My Arrow. Truly faithful to the original, he re-recorded it with Waronker, softly picking up the repetitive melody and lyrics of Nilsson’s 1971 folk tale with a subtle Krautrock beat. Adding a little groove to a lovely song, and nothing more, it’s an intimate, touching homage to the American songwriter. You can catch AM & Shawn Lee on tour at The Satellite on August 24th. – Tracy Mamoun

For this first full-length album, Saint Motel playfully indulged the usual fantasies of the so-called ‘debut’, i.e some questionable ventures out of the infamous box; the trick is to do it en finesse, but hey, isn’t that just their field of expertise? On Voyeur, released July 14th, the band added to their sharp slick brand of indie-pop/rock a touch of latin rhythms, a little pastiche, some swing and some sarcasm, but did so with such subtelty that all twists and turns seem to smoothly blend into the arrogant thread of this record. Currently on the roads with Races, the band will soon be back to California, with a couple of shows booked in Santa Ana & San Diego and an appearance on September 14th at L.A’s… Lobster Fest? Don’t ask. Tracy Mamoun

With three songs to their name and only a couple of performances behind them, The Rebel Light is a LA-based sibling trio in its infancy, drifting from one influence to the next with soulful energy, and an innocence that stretches right to the edge of kitschy. See below the homemade slideshow that illustrates their first song, ‘Goodbye Serenade‘; celebrating every milestone of the 20th century onwards, from the first man on the moon to the birth of Facebook, it could just about be a true cynic’s worst nightmare if it weren’t for the momentum of the soundtrack.

Featuring a nostalgic waltz with piano, xylophone and trumpet, some pompous folk-rock and electronic-infused indie rock, their first EP (to be released by the end of summer) will be quite the eclectic little set. As we speak, the band is getting back from NYC, where they appeared on the Catalpa weekender’s bill alongside the likes of Snoop & The Black Keys- not bad for a second show, right? For another chance to say “I saw them as they were just starting” (who doesn’t love that?) catch their next appearance at LA’s Street Food Cinema on August 11th – Tracy Mamoun