Kiss Hello wants to share a moment. The project is the pseudonym of DTLA-based experimental/alt pop auteur Linus Landucci, whose most recent self-titled album is an effervescent blend of nimble yet blissed-out electronic instrumentals and endearingly melodic, guitar-forward indie pop songs.
Standout tracks include "Juicy Time,” with its acrobatic, Jaco Pastorius-style bass, spun-glass synth pads, softly bit-crushed drum sounds, and ambient vocal samples, which evoke a nostalgia for a past that may never have actually arrived.
Meanwhile, “Don’t Fret” and “Goodbye (Smiling My Way Home) are summery blasts of beachy jangle pop with a distinctly California vibe, perfect for blasting over the speakers on a long drive up PCH.
Overall, Kiss Hello’s engaging mid-fi aesthetic and wistful lyrics demonstrate an advance from their earlier, more lo-fi and ambient work, and bring them into 2021 poised to be the new soundtrack to your socially-distanced summer outings. Gabe Hernandez
“Dancing With Ghosts” is the teaser single from Jesse Beaman’s forthcoming album, “Mira.” The track starts out simply, with soft, reverbed synths and a steady four on the floor beat, building a dark stage for what’s to come. As instruments gradually come in, it feels like your eyes focusing, adjusting in the darkness. Shapes take form: snares roll subtly under bright, whirring pianos. The track does not transform, it unfolds. The melody stays largely consistent, but it blooms and softens, heaves and contracts in a very organic way. Kinetic yet subtle, the instruments move with such understated synchronicity that — should you not be listening hard enough — you stand to miss the best parts. It is a sleek and seamless piece, ethereal and icy. It is music that feels “cool” without sacrificing self-awareness. Self-awareness is essential here, as “Dancing With Ghosts” lends itself easily to introspection. It’s electronic but it’s distinctly human. While it opens with hard, precise drums and synths, the end of the song finds the aforementioned bright pianos fluttering, scattered and disembodied over a beat that crashed to a halt measures earlier. The song is powerful, not only in its watertight production (handled by Interpol’s Brandon Curtis) and its composition, but in its mysterious emotional weight. Though the piece clocks in at less than four minutes, the phases of the song pass like seasons: at times it feels nostalgic and longing, at times vivacious. If Beaman’s music can take so many forms in under four minutes, the inquisitive listener will find themselves excited for what he’ll do in a full-length release.
Sylvia Vaser has released her debut EP, "Sleepwalker". Back in November she released the EP’s lead single, "Float", which was accompanied by the beautifully cinematic Megan Borhart-Remus directed video below.
In February she released the EP’s title track and the animated video below. The EP is soothing blend of Dream Pop and Americana, and fitting showcase for the Vaser’s deep and welcoming vocals.
Post-Punk trio Paper Mice recently released the title track, "1-800-MONDAYS", from their forthcoming third full-length album. The album is set to be released via Three One G on May 7th and also features the previously released lead single "The Cynic Route".
This is the work of Dave Reminick (guitar, vocals, piano), Taylor Hales (bass, backing vocals), and John Carroll (drums, backing vocals, wind chimes).
FACS have released the first two single, "Strawberry Cough" and "General Public", from their forthcoming LP, Present Tense, which is set to be released on May 21st via Trouble In Mind.
This is the trio of Noah Leger (drums, keyboards), Alianna Kalaba (bass, keyboards, drums), and Brian Case (guitar, vocals, bass VI)
"Needle” is a word rife with many different meanings. A needle used to be required to hear pre-recorded music and maybe it still is if you’re a vinyl junkie. You also need one to sew a sweater or scarf and other warm and fuzzy things. But "to needle" someone means to bug the hell out of them in a very un-warm and fuzzy fashion. Intravenous needles are used to save lives. But they’re also synonymous with drug addition and deadly ODs. And when you’re on "pins and needles” you’re not sure whether to anticipate or to dread a future event.
“Needle” is also the first song on Jeremy Bastard’s Everyone Is History, There Is No Memory, his first full LP as the featured performer and producer. The album is full of warm analogue synths tones but mixed with a coldwave sensibility, and the overall sound is by turns murky and sleek or sometimes both at once. And who knows if we’re talking about good needles or bad ones in a song like this, but either way much of music has a pins and needles quality to it in a way that reminds me of the Tech Noir scene in the first Terminator movie.
For one thing there’s the death disco vibe of "Needle" that sounds just right for an 80s club with a chain link fence around a neon-saturated dance floor. But there’s also something about the sound design like in how the soundtrack gets all echoey and distant sounding just as the scene above transitions to slo-mo visuals. And then the music transitions from diegetic to non-diegetic sound, but so gradually and seamlessly you could miss it if you’re immersed in the action too much but it alters your perceptions either way.
Jeremy Bastard’s music does this same thing too with overlapping layers of sound that alters your perceptions. Like when waves of echo seems to coalesce and follow their own rhythmic logic independent of the rest of the song. Or when a sound is pushed into the red far enough that you can get lost in its ruptured, distorted interiors. Overall there’s a clear focus on being diffuse on the record (Official Paradox of the Day) but just don’t get it twisted because this isn’t an experimental noise project. It’s still a dance record but one that threads the needle with sonic experimentation.
Take for instance the first of the two tracks featuring ElectraMonet on vocals, whose singing could be described as Nico-esque or if you prefer Jane Birkin-esque. Normally if you’ve got a voice like this to work with you’d expect the producer to make that voice sound as angelic and ethereal and "pure" as possible. Ms. Monet’s singing on “Shadow Boxing” is all these things except pure (and all the better for it) because the production highlights the grit and grain of her voice (including, most unusually, the sibilance of echoing "Sssss" sounds) and of the instrumental sounds from the pounding drums to the insistent keyboard ostinato to the John McGeoch like guitar outro. These are dreampop angels with dirty faces.
But then next the third track "Love is a Mistake" (featuring Disolve) would be a perfect fit for John Hughes’ never realized sequel to Pretty in Pink because it’s a hooky indie-electro-pop song with romantically tragic overtones that would be perfect for the scene where Duckie drives up to the class reunion blasting the song on his car’s cassette player still bitter at how he didn’t get Molly Ringwald in the end (sidebar: the ending of Pretty in Pink was changed because Duckie wasn’t considered Molly-worthy enough by test audiences).
And Jeremy Bastard could play the DJ at the reunion prom because that’s something he does too. And on Everyone Is History he holds onto that DJ-minded curatorial mindset by featuring a different singer/lyricist/collaborator on every other track or two, and according to Jeremy himself it was the motivating spark behind the entire project. Exiled to Florida for much of the past year, Jeremy turned to producing and long-distance collaborations as a way to maintain creative momentum and human contact. And in the process he may have found his future musical lane, or one of them, because this one-on-one approach apparently suits his creative muse, at least judging by other recent releases in this format (see below) and bonus non-album tracks from the album’s various collaborators that keep popping up as b-sides to its singles like needles in a haystack. (Jason Lee)
The local talent Primo the Alien cultivates a mysterious, dreamlike universe on her latest single “Sunrise,” along with some help from LA-based musician Shadowrunner, who produced the track and was behind its instrumentation. Her noted influences, such as Whitney Houston, Tina Turner and David Bowie, are all on display here, showcasing her powerful vocals establishing a theatrical, Bowie-esque presence. In addition to channeling some of these iconic artists, Primo and Shadowrunner incorporate modern synthwave sounds to create a nostalgic, dreamy and upbeat atmosphere that is fresh and unique.
Despite being mainly influenced by older artists, Primo is also inspired by contemporary electronic-oriented artists like The Midnight — leading to a very natural collaboration process between her and Shadowrunner. If Primo’s thunderous and distinctvocals were to be isolated, one might not expect it to be paired with Shadowrunner’s electro, synthwave production. Yet they both make it work seamlessly. “I tend to tailor the delivery, tone and stylistic choices to the song. For this, I was looking for something sweet, innocent, and pure,” she says. “I think that that matched the production that Shadowrunner brought.”
The lyrical content is rooted in loneliness and isolation. “I was thinking of the yearning that is when you can’t be with someone. Looking at our current situation with covid and just being apart and away from each other a lot of times is kind of what I was drawing on,” she says.
It’s a song about waiting to be with someone and the pain that comes with that, but there is undoubtedly a hopeful message — that, even though you may have to wait to be with someone, you’re going to wait for that person no matter the barriers and limitations.
Justice Hill recently released visuals for the lead single, "Outta This", from his debut full-length album, Room With A View, which is out today, April 20th, via Miner Lake Records.
On the album, Hill showcases is strong and soulful baritone vocals over a blend of Pop, R&B, and Dance sounds. He is joined by vocalists Eshé All Day Hues and Swäm, guitarists Rob Campbell, Charles Corley and Noah Gitlis, sax player José Guadalupe, and bassist Conor Roe.
Hip Hop duo 1773, Just J and Wisdm O.N.E., have released the lead single, "If I Could Fly", from their forthcoming album, Growth Chart, which is set to be released on April 23rd.
The new track is a true feel good, summertime, song with production from BombeardO and vocals from New York’s Natalie Oliveri.
Geoff Bradford gives Austin a fresh taste of relaxation and energy with his beautiful and dynamic, new EP “Texas Psychedelic.” The EP comes across as almost a look at musical history as it takes you through acoustic, jazzy and electric tracks, all the while featuring Bradford’s clear and distinctive, Ben Folds-esque vocals. The EP revolves around echoey and ethereal instruments — both physical and electronic — and slow tempos resonate with peace.
The EP is five heavily-varying tracks — Bradford experiments with dynamics, tempo and timbre throughout. Here, Bradford’s personality and creativity is on full display. Though the lyrics and vocals are largely the same, the changes in beat and instrumentation highlight moods ranging from bright and playful to relaxing.
When listening to “Texas Psychedelic” I find myself amazed by just how vibrant every part of the song is. While powerful guitar trills or riffs cascade in the background, there is still a consistent clarity that puts me at ease — at no point do I find myself overwhelmed.
Perfect for the reopening of “the old normal,” tracks truly are buoyant and delicate. It’s what the psychedelic experience is all about and “Texas Psychedelic” is an unorthodox, feel-good album that we very much need.
Mind Maintenance has released the first single, "Glow & Glimmer", from their forthcoming self-titled debut album which is set to be released on June 11th via Drag City.
This is the duo of bassist Joshua Abrams and drummer Chad Taylor who both traded in the instruments that they are widely known for to take up guimbri and mbira. This allows the duo to explore a more worldly sound from their deep rooted improvisational jazz perspective.
