Los Angeles
Album Review: Maral – Ground Groove : global big beats with vision.
The fine art of sampling is less about cut and paste or stitching together, it’s much more than finding that funky line or hipster phrase and building from there. The best sampling becomes part of the overall story, not an add-on or slot-in but entrenched in the overall soundscape, a part of the music’s roots. …
Track/Video: ‘Go-to’ instrumentalist Amir Yaghmai slips into the solo spotlight with ‘White Turtleneck’ from soon come debut ‘Go Bozo’.
Don’t you just love labels that do things differently? LA’s Colorfield Records are on a mission driven by the search for spontaneity, coaxing consummate musicians from session and backing bands to step out of the shadows themselves and record their own music. Plus to add more energy to the proceedings, the debutants are encouraged to …
Album Review: Sam Wilkes & Jacob Mann – Perform the compositions of Sam Wilkes & Jacob Mann: weird and wonderful nu-jazz connections.
You know the crusty old adage ‘it’s a small world’, well tired as it might be it still has resonance for musicians. Take L.A. underground experimenters Sam Wilkes and Jacob Mann, they go back a long way. Meeting as students at USC music school, bass playing, multi-instrumentalist Wilkes and keyboard-centric Mann have been crossing musical …
PREMIERE: New Originals are in their feelings on emotive new single ‘So Sad’
They announced themselves last month with ‘Wasteland’ and a stellar supporting cast, but New Originals are hitting the ground running. The project of Dave Brandwein and Rob O’Block, the pair are joined here by Daru Jones and Danke on what serves as the second single from their forthcoming debut album. As the title implies, it’s …
PREMIERE: Cosmo Gold invite you to the world of Krong with brilliant album taster ‘Wildflowers’
If you’re new to Los Angeles trio Cosmo Gold, then now is the perfect time to get on board with their diverse sound, because not only have the band shared a new single from their debut album (which we’re premiering below, no less), but they’ve also revealed all the juicy details about said debut album …
New Track/Video: Maral announces new album ‘Ground Groove’ with ‘Feedback Jam’ – dark wave dub with a punch.
LA based producer/DJ Maral is a sound collaborator, collector and connector. From her ‘Mahur Club’ album in 2019 through to 2020’s ‘Push’ she has continued to rove the global beat-making terrain and discover her own dance-floor destinations. On the way she’s pulled strands from her Iranian heritage, whether classical, folk or pop, from her dub …
PREMIERE: LA veterans Near Beer unleash their anticipated debut album
It would be fair to say the members of Los Angeles outfit Near Beer have put in the work. It’s coming on a decade since leader/vocalist/guitarist Joey Siara’s old band, The Henry Clay People, broke up. Getting a second chance in a lineup completed, in the main, by Brent Stranathan (drums) and Jeremy Levy (bass) …
PREMIERE: Los Angeles duo Trick Gum share the short and snappy ‘Tim Dillon’
The individual members of Los Angeles collaboration Trick Gum certainly like to keep busy; Justin Raisen has worked with the likes of Lizzo, Yves Tumor and Yeah Yeah Yeahs as producer, while his cousin Jordan Benik is part of fellow Los Angelenos Sweaters. This work ethic extends to their new project; they’ve already released three …
PREMIERE: The Rare Occasions are ‘Seasick’ on first new song of 2022
You may have heard The Rare Occasions already without knowing it; the Los Angeles trio released an album a little over a year ago called Big Whoop, which, contrary to its nonchalant title, has been doing plenty to put them on the map. It’s not even a song off that album that’s been doing the …
PREMIERE: LA trio Lost Cat present ‘Bitch Fight’ from their impending debut album
Meet Lost Cat. They’re from Los Angeles, and there’s three of them – Angie, Lucy and Kiki. They’re on a first-names-only basis apparently, and that’s fine with us. Their sound’s at the crossroads of peak girl group and garage punk, with their new song throwing in a woozy psychedelic bridge for good measure. It’s called …