LA
TRACK: Edwin Arzu – ‘Over’: a pristine soul torchsong
IF YOU have a penchant for pristine R’n’B pop songwriting of a very fine order, here’s an upcoming name for you: NYC-born, LA-resident Edwin Arzu. Born and raised in the Bronx to a Honduran single mother, Edwin’s first steps into creativity came through poetry, which evolved into a passion for songwriting as a teen. He …
SEE: No Age – ‘Turned To String’: new video from low-slung noise rockers
SO LOOK, it’s not even news anymore: 2020, and the world is busy going to hell in a handcart. So just what is a scuzzily excellent, guitar-totin’ US alt.rock band to do? There ain’t no gigs; there no signing sessions. Hell now even the goddam pressing plants are backing up like bad plumbing. The answer? …
SEE: No Age – ‘Smoothie Kings’: abstract shapes and lofi beauty
UNORTHODOX former Sub Pop noiseniks No Age have got through some virusy distribution teething troubles and finally their new album Goons Be Gone, their second for new housekeepers Drag City, is out in the world. And in celebration the duo, Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt, have released a rather lovely, abstract and colourful video …
TRACK: Magic Bronson are back and ‘Surfin’
LA’s scuzzed-up alt.pop duo Magic Bronson are back and “Surfin on your brainwaves” with the second single to be released ahead of their forthcoming LP. It’s a slice of West Coast psych goodness, coming at you in a wall of delay and bells and tremulous guitar, all MGMT’s leather-jacketed little bro. “It’s our time, it’s …
SEE: Sarah Walk is unblinking on ‘Unravel’
WATCH the film for LA singer-songwriter Sarah Walk’s single, “Unravel”, and know she is a woman who is both facing up to and able to articulate emotional pain. “Why is it my job to fix this mess? / You’re always ready to defend / You hear my concerns as anger / No one wants an …
Track: Vast Asteroid – Champagne Ambassadors
There has been an increasing number of references to the genre of spacegaze – a highly volatile concoction of shoegaze, psychedelia and dream pop. Vast Asteroid so describe themselves, and it is most appropriate. Their new single, ‘Champaign Ambassadors’, is a shimmering, glittering wall of noise – all reverb and chorus layered over guitars and …
SAY PSYCH: ALBUM REVIEW: Paint – ‘Spiritual Vegas’
STEPPING outside his home musical turf, the Allah-Las for the second time, songwriter and guitarist Pedrum Siadatian is poised to exhibit the latest deeply coloured, impressionistic canvas he has produced under his Paint nom-de-plume, 2: Spiritual Vegas. Paint grew out of the four-track experimentation that any songwriter nurtures: a little side hustle where odder things …
Droppin’ Knowledge – Ras Kass – New Single: Push On Thru
Legendary LA emcee Ras Kass is out with a new one, to help us push on through the challenges in life. Kass, who is still releasing great boom bap rap twenty-five years after his iconic Soul On Ice, brings the bars on the song, Push On Thru. The song was produced by the human rhythm …
Track: rincs – Locked In
rincs are LA duo Rebecca Ramirez and Bjorn Winberg and their new single ‘Locked In’ is a gorgeously unassuming delight. Ramirez’s voice is hauntingly melancholic and expressive, the instrumentation unadorned and brittle and the combination of the two delivers a beautifully evocative song: And it’s not just about the sound and rhythm – the duo, …
Say Psych: Premiere: Spindrift – Songs from the Ancient Age
Here at BSM we’ve been big fans of Spindrift for some time, so it really is an honour to bring you the premiere of their new album Songs from the Ancient Age, which is to be released on Little Cloud Records next month. Songs from the Ancient Age covers the bands move from East to …