In anticipation of the release of her new video, soulstress Adesuwa dropped the single “Wild Light” on OkayPlayer yesterday. Adesuwa, formerly of Denitia and Sene, refines and smoothes out her solo sound with lush harmonics and velvet cream vocals. Co-produced by Brad Williams, the sound is bigger, fuller, and more immersive than her previous work. “Adesuwa,” a Nigerian name which means “Surrounded by Prosperity,” may prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Help her celebrate the video release at Exile @ Berlin, 25 Ave A at 7:30 on Friday December 18th. – BrokeMc photo by E. Springer

The red-eye psychedelia of Alexander Brettin called for a club meeting at The Satellite, and we answered along with half of Silverlake. Mad Alchemy‘s Lance Gordon propped up analog visuals with some old-school projectors, leaving an astringent smell in the air to mingle with hops and weed. Blobs of liquid color painted the artist Ted Feighan (Monster Rally) as he turned the audience on to exotica sweets over a bed of hip hop beats. Frankie & The Witch Fingers kicked it into high gear with the fast-burning petal power of their acid rock, followed swiftly by the thick groove and bright jangle of Oxnard’s surfpoppers Sea Lions. Brettin’s Mild High Club took the stage last, and of course they slayed the stage with their slack-jawed psych jams. But it was only half an hour long, and we wanted more. 

With shouts for an encore, Mild High Club threw out one last song that left The Satellite faded beyond recognition, and satisfied for the night. More pictures of the show on our Instagram @TheDeliLA.  – Ryan Mo, photos: Michelle McCausland

If you’ve never been on tour, the new video from Brooklyn quintet, The Jaguar Club, might offer some insight into the vibrant, audacious, and, at times, exhausting intricacies of time spent on the road with your best friends, playing music every night. The visuals for their song, "The Last of the Night," a new single following last year’s debut album CLOSE, were shot, and, consequentially directed by the band, on tour in July and August of this year, including England, a few festivals, and full slew of US dates in support of Idlewild. Shots alternate in schizophrenic juggling fashion between hotel rooms and lobbies, parking lots, gorgeous city shots, bridges and roads, and breathtaking beachscapes, with tons of footage of the band in their various car rentals thrown in between. Aside from appearing like an absolute blast, the video depicts five friends who know each other better than most, travel together, spend countless hours together, and still manage to play energetically the music that they love, every night, thus speaking volumes for the binding power of life on tour, both for camaraderie, and musicianship.

The track itself is a lush ballad of catchy hooks and driving, shakeable rhythms, with enough synth fills and vocal reverb to instill that inspirational mysticism mirrored in the Kerouac romance of the road. Included in the visuals are plenty of shots of hometown favorite spot, The Knitting Factory, where The Jaguar Club will be headlining a pretty stacked bill on December 15th. Playing alongside them will be Dead Leaf Echo, Dinowalrus, and Decorum. It should be a fine time! -JP Basileo

Back in March, Lowell, Massachussetts trio Spooky Future released ‘Chrese,’ a palpably intriguing collection of jazz-rock songs. Calmer than its title may imply, the first track "Finally, You’ve Lost Your Mind" (streaming below) is a smooth blend of drum clasps and guitar curls that is pleasantly reminiscent of The Bad Plus and BADBADNOTGOOD. The second-to-last song, "The National Fun Deficit," similarly, plays along to a graceful pace, its thick bass lines effectively showing the elegant power of instrumental music. Spooky Future plays at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA on 12/15.- Zach Weg

A few months ago, Providence-based act Sensitive Hearts released some pleasantly sensual demos. While the song "Who Is He" is an electronica-oriented piece of skipping beats and percussive pings, the punk-inflected track "I’ll Hold Your Hand" (streaming below) shows the genteel-voiced artist in an antsier manner, his vocals practically punching their way towards love. Damon Albarn’s melancholic solo debut ‘Everyday Robots’ may be an influence on these songs but, as its name shows, Sensitive Hearts has an deep emotional artfulness that makes it fresh. Sensitive Hearts plays AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday (12/12). – Zach Weg 

If you wonder why so much electronic music is invading the web-waves, the answer is bifold: portability, and user friendliness (as in: you don’t really need to learn to play an instrument to make electronic music). These two features certainly helped NYC based electronic songriter Amanda Steckler (of Blonde Maze) write songs while traveling back and forth between NYC and London. Tos songs were christallized in four track debut EP "Oceans," which is a sonic diary of the contrasting feelings and thoughts of an transatlantic traveler – always an ocean away from someone or something dear to them, asleep while the loved ones are awake and vice-versa, as single "Awake / Asleep" (streaming) points out. Blonde Maze will perform at Pianos on New Year’s Eve (which is always a lot of fun, with Great Caesar and Controller.

We were pretty impressed with Brooklyn power pop band Downies’ first single "Widow" back in May, but then silence fell – we even tried to book them for our CMJ show but no reply was had (by the way, here’s an almost absolute truth for you: distorted guitar based bands tend to be horrible at replying to emails, while acoustic musicians tend to be great at it – go figure!). But let’s not digress. Downies is now dead, because it has tramsitioned into something else identical to itself in everything but its name, which is now "Cende." They are about to release a debut, self titled EP scheduled for January 2016, but available for full streaming on their bandcamp page. "Is it good?" – you ask. "It’s good" we answer. It’s fast, distorted grunge-pop, featuring melodies that anybody will have a hard time purging from their system. Five good songs out of five, with the fourth one being not poppy at all, but very Pixies-ish in an extreme and concentrated way. For the record, you’ll never get a complaint from us with the word "Pixies" in it; even "they sound too much like The Pixies" should always be interpreted as a huge compliment, as long as it’s referred to the band’s early years. Listen again to "Widow," and enjoy the speedy catchiness of second track "End," streaming below.

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The Good Hearts will be making their debut live performance this Sunday, December 13, at recordBar. Show starts at 8 pm. Facebook event page. You can also catch them at Coda for MudStomp Records’ Saturday Afternoon Stomp on December 19 at 3 pm. Facebook event page. 

Mass Gothic is the project of ex Hooray for Earth Noel Heroux, whose debut, self titled debut LP is scheduled for a February 2016 release under Sub Pop records. The album was written and recorded at Noel’s home over four months during the winter of 2014-2015, and features no collaborations with other musicians: "All I wanted to do was whatever I do when I’m alone and I’m unconcerned with what anyone else wants or expects." in early 2016 Mass Gothic will be touring the US (Brooklyn date at Palisades on February 27) and play SXSW to promote the record. You can listen to first single "Nice Night" below.

Brooklyn four piece American Darlings latest EP release is entitled “Rubber Tracks” like the Converse sponsored studio in East Williamsburg. Single “You And I” (streaming) comes off as an intentionally perky-pop track that points towards early Elvis Costello and perhaps even The Smithereens as songwriting inspiration. The inclusion of pitch bended guitars hooks between verses, however, suggests something else. Has yet another sub-genre been established – “happy-gaze?” Extended bars of sinewy single note guitar riffs take things into further pleasing directions. “Time For Two” continues this thematic direction, confirming the gaze scene’s increasingly de rigueur Sonic Youth/MBV guitar hybrid. Vocals are delivered blending softer REM-like vibrato on the verses against a big shouted Foo Fighters-style chorus. Third song “Kimchee Princess” is a live track from one of their shows, showing what the band can do outside the controlled studio environment. The band will play next at Pianos on December 9. – By Dave Cromwell

With their sputtering beats and trotting guitars, Northampton, Massachussetts indie funk quartet Mammal Dap powerfully reminds the listener that instruments alone can be deeply affecting. Excluding a human voice, songs like the drum-skipped "Ariel" and the bass-rubbed "Tried Tides" (streaming below) evoke autumnal melancholy while ultimately letting summer joy slide through. A compelling combination of Ratatat’s elasticity and Flying Lotus’s claustrophobia, such subtle yet fierce tracks play along to an intriguingly unpredictable pace. Mammal Dap has many forthcoming shows listed, including one this Thursday (12/10) at Stomping Ground in Putnam, CT. – Zach Weg

This past February, Northampton, Massachussetts avant-pop trio And The Kids did nothing less than impressively filter daily angst through dancey pop. Listening to such songs as the drum-hopped opener "Pangea" and the celestial fourth one, "Glory Glory" (streaming below), one may smile at these deft musicians’ ability to meld the panic of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the calm of Beach House with compassionately direct lyrics. While it is, as frontwoman Hannah Mohan sings on the former, "alright to tell a lie," And The Kids is boldly committed to telling the truth about all-too-real pain. And The Kids has several shows coming up, including one at SPACE Gallery in Portland, ME on Thursday 12/10. – Zach Weg