On February 5th, local music collective Diy4lyfe lines an arthouse stage with five up-and-coming bands from disparate cities across Southern California. Originally billed as a release party for The Human Machine‘s Patterns, the event was postponed to add Young Lovers with Hollow Ran, Pedestrian, and Twentytwofourteen (who recently released the "Please Go Quietly" EP). Each band performs with their own projections, along with a special music video premiere by live-loop duo Time and Energy.

The show is one of many efforts to fundraise for The Frida Cinema, a non-profit community-driven arthouse cinema in Santa Ana. Founded in 2014 by director and OC native Logan Crow, The Frida Cinema has featured critically acclaimed and underrepresented films for Orange County residents. Last May, Crow announced to LA Times that once the theater developed a solid audience, he would celebrate with a screening of The Room. Godspeed.

Set times and ticket information on the event page. – Ryan Mo

Less than a year since his last album Ghost, the animated avant-pop statue Julius Smack releases Tomb Songs, a collection of works expressing the individual pains of the post-industrial world. The San Francisco transplant’s effete voice swims through isopropyl synths, reappropriated samples, and layered drums to create maximalist narratives ("Poetics I") as dance-y as they are contemplative. Catch Julius Smack as he performs at pehrspace tonight with Practical Records siblings Michael Vidal, Lucky Dragons, Grand Lady Dance House, and Mo Dotti. – Ryan Mo

It’s no easy task to reference, in a musical video, a classic movie from the past, but Karla Rose‘s black and white video for single ‘Girl Next Door,’ featuring images of the 1954 film noir by the same title, pulls off this feat in style, feeling uniform and well produced, with Karla’s song functioning as a perfectly suspenceful soundtrack. The singer’s slightly detached delivery and bluesy melodies, reminiscent of a less pretentious Lana Del Rey, are enhanced by the track’s Morriconian references and soft jazz overtones – it’s no accident that she used to play with Morricone Youth.

We’re enthralled with "Gravity", the first track from Alex Rajabi’s alias Plaster Cast since last year’s debut "Sunless". A spiritual transmigration of the prophecized "future of R&B" duo Malta, Rajabi shifts weight in this tandem production with the self-proclaimed GodKing BRAH1M. A current that rides the minimal structure of "Gravity" exemplifies the sublation of hip-hop and electronic music without washing out the je ne sais quoi of Plaster Cast’s past life, from the vocals of Michaela Wilson (previously featured in Malta’s "Out of Bounds") to the permeating future rhythms. But something was left behind in the metempsychosis, whether real or perceived, and we can’t help but listen again and again to find this void, this absence that haunts and beckons our ears.

Stream "Gravity", the first track from Plaster Cast’s debut EP "Permanence" — out March 4th on Los Angeles’ Zoom Lens. – Ryan Mo

Noisy duo-plus-drummer Dirty Dishes, who moved from LA to NYC in 2015, just released this video for single "Thank You Come Again," which definitely betrays influences from the loud/quiet/loud sound of the best Nirvana songs. If you are into cathartic, dyonisiac music, this is definitely something you want to experience live: the band will be playing Shea Stadium on February 4th, and then venture for an extensive west coast tour starting February 16.

You really don’t need much to create a compelling video, and Brooklyn self-defined "slop-folk" band Paul Meadow knows that: all you need is a good two minute song, and – in this case – the footage of a cute dog stretching by the beach (in slow motion). "Heart of a Dog" sounds like a more Americana version of Mercury Rev from the days of Deserter’s Songs, which should be taken as a compliment, since the Buffalo based collective is one of the most imaginative psych rock acts of the last twenty years. "Paul Meadow is the creation of Sunset Park, Brooklyn’s Stirling Krusing and Chris Lee, and their upcoming EP ‘Cheap & Easy’ is the host of a series of "reflections engulfed in the symbolism of meaninglessness." Stuff that dog doesn’t seem too concerned about.

Paul Meadow_Heart of a Dog from Paul Meadow on Vimeo.

Drawing on traditions of old-timey doo wop and proto-surf rock, Cinema Hearts bring a uniquely catchy sound out of Fairfax, VA, to the DC music scene. Incorporating contemporary elements of lo-fi indie and dream pop, this innovative trio brings a sound that evokes flashes of the Greatest Generation’s dance halls and of DIY basement stages. The playful lyrical content is amplified by vocalist Caroline Weinroth’s deep, mellifluous tones, which the guitar and drums are crisp and tight. Catch them play Songbyrd Music House, 2/11, after which they’ll be dropping their first LP, Feels Like Forever, on Valentine’s Day, 2/14. -Jonathan Goodwin

Brooklyn based band Mon Khmer made their appearance in the NYC music circuit back in the late aughts with an electronically infused, guitar-laden sound that they carefully developed throughout their two beautifully textural EPs. It’s been four years since they’ve released any new material but they surface every few months to play shows around the city, including one of the last shows at Glasslands Gallery – they are truly talented musicians. If catching them live is on your bucket list then don’t forget to keep an eye on their Facebook page, where they post information on upcoming shows, and definitely don’t forget to see them tonight at Baby’s All Right. – Adriana S Ballester

The Deli NYC is sad to announce, and The Deli Portland is happy to report, that synthpop duo My Body – who impressed us at our latest electro CMJ Stage this past October – relocated from the east coast hipster capital to the west coast one. Well, at least we can still cover them! Check out their latest single "Manjacked," streaminig below. Portlanders can see them live at Mississippi Studios on 02.18.

SFV’s raw modal-soul polymaths The Unending Thread have released a video to "La Casa De Mi Padre", the second song to their split EP with Forget It — which is out and free to stream, by the way. Cooped up at the Henhouse Studio (confimed that Julian Tallman-Rogatini raises chickens), the trio delve into lyrical self-actualization and drool-worthy double-tapping that splashes near-obscene amounts of color over the grisaille landscape of the forseeable future.

"I know I don’t know anything | And that’s the best part of this journey that hasn’t happened yet"

Like, if someone were to make a Youtube AMV for Over The Garden Wall, it would be criminal not to use this song.

On a more serious note, The Unending Thread faces off with Forget It at The Smell on February 4th’s "AMP vs. AMP Deathmatch" where the two bands will celebrate the Los Angeles release of their split EP by performing songs and piledrivers on each other. The trash talk surrounding Dustin and the Explosions, Haricort Vertt (fka Josh Abrahms), Love Nothing and Ferbus also comes to a head — there will be blood, or at least some drawn-out carnage. Expect an obscene amount of chairs, tables, ladders, and maybe even a kendo stick to be pulled from under the stage. – Ryan Mo

We rarely blog about videos of live performances, but this one by NJ soul-rock singer Donna Missal, shot in the studio, is just too good to be missed. A band able to produce songs and performances of this caliber should have no problem turning heads in 2016. Don’t miss the group’s upcoming performance at Rockwood Music Hall on February 2nd.

In the NYC scene, TEEN is a force to be reckoned with: these ladies are relentlessly prolific and their material is always interesting. They have a new album on the horizon, entitled "Love Yes," and have released three preview singles from it, which we are streaming below, in order of preference. They are playing Mercury on February 8 and Union Pool on the 14th, so you have no excuses to miss them.