Week in Pop
The new album How to Get Your Record Played In Shops from Bay Area pop hero Mike Donovan arrives April 20 from Drag City & today we present a look at the Betty Nguyen video for “Cold Shine” that will tug & gnaw at your heart strings. A filmmaker who lost their home in the recent Thomas Fire tragedy in Southern California sends out a visual of healing, rebirth & rejuvenation that is soundtracked by Donovan’s own mystic-musical style. Betty Nguyen introduced the video with the the following words:
Thanks for the opportunity to make a film about my Thomas Fire experience. There’s been a lot of trauma but people have shown so much kindness and altruism, that it has made me a true witness to humanity. I am forever moved and grateful to everyone who stepped up during this time. It’s been a transformative experience for myself and my community. Peace.
Tijuana’s Mint Field shared the nature connecting Laura-Lynn Petrick video for “Cambios del Pasar” off recent album Pasar de las Luces from Innovative Leisure. Petrick captures Estrella Sanchez & Amor Amezcua out & about in the state of Morelos, Mexico that marries the group’s dream-distortion sound with environments of a mystic splendor & an array of animals. Laura-Lynn Petrick introduced the video with the following insights:
“Cambios del Pasar” is meant to be a collection of moving paintings, exploring the notion of change and nature as its canvas. Estrella and Amor connect with their natural environment, at times with ease, at times chaotic. The video was shot in the state of Morelos, in Lagunas de Zempoala and near Cuernavaca, with Super 8 film, using only natural light.
KENZA provided a sampler from the upcoming Dixie & the Dead State EP with tracks that are guaranteed to put you into some trippy head spaces that feel both familiar & totally new all at the same time. “San Pedro Sedation” takes you to super chill stratospheres, to the big-shot experimental & surreal single “Vegas Best”, sending the audience through slipstreams of consciousness on the brain twisting “Biscayne Bay” ft. Emery Simeon that keeps you swimming through a kaleidescope of sensations.
Wax Idols continue to crush the pop game with the mesmerizing new jam “Crashing” that further proves that Hether Fortune & the game are true aesthetic shape-shifters for our time. Featured off the highly anticipated new album Happy Ending available May 16 via Etruscan Gold Records; the band rewrites the rule books of all of your favorite underground icons in a manner of style, smarts & that psychic sense that artists have with their creative crafts. Catch Wax Idols playing San Francisco tomorrow April 14 at the Great American Music Hall.
Preparing for a massive tour kicking off April 26, La Luz delivered a look at the Vice Cooler thriller video for “The Creature” off their upcoming Floating Features album available May 11 through Hardly Art. Watch as Marian Li Pino, Alice Sandahl, Lena Simon, Esther Simon, Will Sprout, Dalton Blanco & the director star in a cinematic slice of the supernatural & surreal set to the group’s signature haunting & eternally entrancing style of sound.
Philly’s own Hop Along presented a look at the Derrick Belcham viceo for the single “How Simple” featured off the lauded new album Bark Your Head Off, Dog from Saddle Creek. The spotlight is on leader Frances Quinlan singing in the spotlight where humble home digs becomes a stage that is all the band’s own.
Joyner dropped the illuminated new single “White Lights” that shines with an understated & meditative brilliance. Reunions & rekindled flames between two hearts are painted in an arrangement that beams like the light that breaks through the veil of night to begin a brand new morning.
The duo Charge It To The Game featuring Fat Tony & Kyle Mabson shared some new tracks from their debut album House With A Pool arriving April 27 via Ghost Ramp. The big bouncing single “Bad Boy” ft. Juiceboxxx runs up the bill with a style of extravagance followed by “Y.B.N.” ft. B L A C K I E that keeps that moody movement of hedonism & head ringing rolling ahead in perpetual motion.
Check out the new single “Better Than You” off of Petal’s forthcoming album Magic Gone available June 15 from Run For Cover Records. Kiley Lotz specializes in rock ballads that distill all the idiosyncrasies that comprise the beauty of our individual array of identities that makes us who we are (beyond the comparative games of better or less than size-ups).
OMB Peezy delivered the @KWelchVisuals video for “Fuck My P.O.” reflects upon troubles, trials, tribulations & the push for an autonomy beyond the reach of the law’s goons. Peezy presents an escapist look at dealing with the denizens of the system while trying to live their own life amid intrusive house calls from annoying & imposing officers. OMB Peezy provided the following introduction to the visual:
The reason I wrote “Fuck My P.O.” is because I was having legal problems with my previous probation officer. When you’re a bad child growing up and you finally find the right route for yourself you will still have troubles that you have to overcome within the system. But there is no reason for anybody to hold you back from building your future. So I wrote “Fuck My P.O.” because that is how I feel; he’d been trying to hold me back from chasing my dream. I felt that it was important to make the video for this song because I wanted people to know the impact he had on my life at the time.
In case you missed it, watch pop royalty phem perform the beloved anthem of identity (and the obfuscation of identity) “Blinders” courtesy of the influential podcast Kinda Neat. The iconic Liv Marsico’s song about the struggles to find themselves in life’s mazes & games is illustrated in a kind of illuminating honesty designed to give hope to anyone who never fit neatly into anyone else’s idea about who they should be (while searching out the complications of what autonomy truly means for themselves).
Introducing Loveday’s debut single “Close” (Ferocious Label Services) that pens a song of togetherness that spins some creative arrangement takes on electric rhythm & blues alchemy. Exhibitions of feelings are delivered through paused step by step harmonies & diamond glowing production. The artist introduced the single with the following reflections:
“Close” all came from this really to the point chorus lyric that I think every girl my age has experienced—when you’re just in this moment with someone and that’s it. I spent ages trying to rephrase it, but then I realized that it’s powerful to be so straight-up, so we just cut everything out and just stacked multiple tracks of me singing the lyric pitched in different ways. It’s like a mini-anthem to just being true to yourself, being unafraid to say how you really feel and to just let go a bit.
Llovers made a song that seeks a fleeting moment with a special someone on “A Second With You” that illustrates the most economic & humble of desires. The modest request but for one second with a loved one is creatively conveyed in a twinkling electric ballad that reinforces just how much these precious & brief meetings mean to the heart & spirit.
Arriving the same day as their Equals EP (Weyrd Son Records) on April 20, Second Still are also releasing their Part Times Punks EP via Sentimental Records—sharing the following listen to the new brooding & darkened fog clouds that is “Echelon”. The group takes the audience through the sound of an elaborate ancient palace full of haunted charms on “Echelon” that resurrects the aesthetics from the goth/industrial eras of yesterday with a more modern set of moods.
Honey Radar delivered a listen to the throwback rocking title track “Psychic Cruise” from the forthcoming EP of the same name available April 20 from Chunklet Industries. Not even bothering to reach the minute & a half mark; Honey Radar’s “Psychic Cruise” takes the listener down tributaries that sounds like something inspired from an esoteric b-movie beach dance-party shindig (right before the event is abruptly interrupted by some kind of extra-terrestrial invasion).
In more Chunklet Industries news—Omni delivered the minimalist rhythm-edged DIY fun of “Sunset Preacher” from their forthcoming Chunklet 7″. The ATL trio continues their career of making sporadic heart-skipping styles that operate on their own arrangement principles that are always fresh, yet somehow still very familiar.
Durham’s The Yada Yada Yadas dropped the single “Woke Up Strange” about waking up feeling a little bit wonky & out of sorts. The anthem for waking up on the weird side of the bed is executed like a collection of power-chords guaranteed to get your day started proper (and strangely inspired).
Watch Lume’s Tom Conway video for “Loss Leader” off the upcoming Wrung Out EP available April 20 that tackles apartment bound moods of isolation & introspection. From focused visual presentations of observing the ennui of daily life; the visualization illustrates a narrative of pensive behaviors, apathy & a host of mental health battles that illustrate the human struggle with aspects of fear & depression.
Niko Blank’s single “Ride” got a new twist from Finland DJ/producer Lenno that offers something for your morning commute, a little something for your favorite dance floor dive to the humble confines of your very own living room. The remix offers a host of spring feels to accompany your journeys as you set out for all avenues of adventures & aspirations of unlimited inspiration.
André Costello and the Cool Minors offered a viewing of the spaced out visual from Justin A. Nixon off their upcoming release Resident Frequencies available May 11. The feeling of floating about in space around some futuristic space station is created in sound & vision that spins frames of perception that involves the entirety of the senses like an odyssey of adventure set deep in the recesses of the cosmos.
Vast Asteroid dropped the Christian Stephen filmed b/w video for “Encrypted” captured live at an LA show at Harvard & Stone. The material world based environment seen in the video provides something of a grounding device for a group with a sound that soars to places that are out of this world.
Brighton’s Luvia brought a listen to the endearing pastoral pop ballad “For You” courtesy of My Little Empire Records. Luvia’s song moves from cozy cottage confines outward to the great expanses of the world with a love song that sweetly floats through the atmosphere like a phone signal text/voicemail telegram lullaby seeking its intended, beloved recipient.
Harlequiin brought the electro-rhythms with the creative beat-suite “Bandit In A Blindfold” from the upcoming Your Heart’s Afloat EP available April 16. The cumulation of percussive elements gather together in a unique arrangement sequence that is well outside of the ordinary or expected pop conventions (and worthy of repeat listens).
CHNNLL shared the new hand-clapping single “Tooth and Nail” that coincides with today’s release of the artist’s self-titled EP. Currently on tour now through April 21, Chris Davidson’s song exhibits the rough roads that lend a bit of credence to the old adage of if you want something done, you gotta do it yourself & for yourself.
Also treat yourself to CHNLL’s self-titled EP that brings some modern day meditations to start your weekend off proper. The opener “Waves” observes the things that lift you up & bring you down like the ebb & flow of the tide, to the metaphoric swims in “The River”, the passion, poise & purpose presentations of “In My Blood”, the urgent rhythms of “Beg Borrow or Steal”, to the moment of reflective pause that sets sail toward the heavens on “Caution Sign”.
Fotocrime brought more dark mascara-smeared pop with “The Rose and the Thorn” featured off the upcoming Principle of Pain album available May 18 through Auxiliary Records/Golden Antenna Records (EU). The feel of dancing by yourself late at night in a dive full of faces you don’t recognize & folks you don’t know is conveyed in illustrations of beauty & the elusive actualization of desires (and deep seeded latent dreams).
Deaf Poets sent word of the upcoming EP Change & Bloom available June 15 (WaxRomantix Records) with a listen to the big ripping & crunch-chord roaring title track. Brooklyn by Miami duo Sean Wouters and Nico E.P. provide a three part mammoth jam that has the attitude & electric cadences that you crave relentlessly.
Hvmmingbyrd offered a listen to the haunting new single “Papillon” full of hypnotic & spirit-lifting moods. From echoing harmonies & the sustain of echoing notes; candid dialogues & exchanges are relayed in a tense vignette that feels as if its on the verge of something big.
LA’s own Numb.er provided a listen to the new sinewy & synth-studded single “A Memory Stained” featured off the new album Goodbye available May 25 via felte. Jeff Fribourg & friends employ a photographic approach to their music that transforms striking & haunting visions of perpetual night into pure cinema candy for the ear.
Indulge in the new single “Neurons”, the title cut from the upcoming EP from Orange County’s own energetic pop upstarts Ecstatic Union. The group’s Rex Costello, Oliver Hart, Solange Kupersmid & Bradley Cluff catapult their take on the sonic sciences to somewhere deep into the ascending heavens of infinite atmospheres of glorious reverberations.
SHōTA LōDI shared the deluxe single suite for “Party Girl” that delivers a plethora of celebratory sensations to start your weekend off proper. Spanning sounds for late night club dwelling dalliances to subdued acoustic renditions; LōDI makes a bright pop noise suited for both extensive evening avenues to early morning coffee-break interludes alike.
Dan Barracuda shared the evocative & introspective single “Sensing You” featured off the upcoming second album Rooster Illusion. The Boston, MA artist illustrates an array of multidisciplinary talents that experiments with a variety of arrangements & creative liberties that offers surprises for the audience at every turn.
Cape Weather presented a look at the life-in-transit video from the group’s own Eric Jackowitz for “Telephono” single available now via Future Gods. The updated lounge pop style of Natalie Smith & the group expands those telephone talks into an assertive metropolitan odyssey that illustrates a listen & look at confident worlds that are on the move toward an assured & aspirational greatness.
Sailor Beast, aka the multidisciplinary artist Alicia Angeles presented the conscious spinning collage visuals for “My Favorite Ex”. A visual & audio artist whose work expands beyond the conventions of mediums & genres; the LA x Brooklyn upstart Alicia creates the kinds of mixed-media art that entertains by way of methodical emulation our own perceptive & cognitive thought stream processes & cycles.
Fiddlehead dropped a listen to their new passion-driven single “Poem You” featured off the debut album Springtime and Blind available April 13 from Run For Cover. The group angles roars of chords into a controlled wave pool of feelings & catharsis that measures poetics with hopes of something great materializing.
Introducing NYC’s Charzrd who just dropped the breakout single “Sway” ft. Yume via Diversity Records. Vocals from Yume reiterate the easy come, easy go dichotomies with the reiterated ease of it’s no sweat that makes for an infectious track to inspire you to hurdle high above whatever obstacles or stumbling bocks might be in your path.
LA based STAL, aka Pierre-Marie Maulini, delivered the enchanted dance pop of “Magic”. Maulini emphasizes the magical touch that can work to create great wonders as insinuated through a wealth of atmospheric pop elements that soar & surround the listener.
Performing both weekends at Coachella, The Buttertones provided a look at their new video for “Baby C4” from David Gantz, Theo Cohn & Ben Mullen off their upcoming Midnight In A Moonless Dream available May 4 via Innovative Leisure. Captured at The Lodge Room with lighting effects by Johnny Luna; the Buttertones share a privy view of their stage presence & relentless energy that is outright explosive & addictive.
Speedy Ortiz presented a look at the Elle Schneider video for “Villain” featured off the upcoming album Twerp Verse available April 27 via Carpark Records. Featuring River Johnson as villainous Fishhead; Sadie Dupuis is seen duking it out with an intrusive & obnoxious swamp thing that constantly gets in the way of life activities in the most random & irksome of ways.
Rebecca Rosoff of Slow Roar is Dig Exotic who shared the single “Perfect” ahead of the upcoming EPs Act Two & Act Three available later this spring to complete the artist’s ambitious trilogy. “Perfect” entertains the idea of perfection & its corresponding fallacy conveyed in an assemblage of buzzing electro ambiance that surrounds with a powerful sense of menace & purpose.
CUP delivered a look at the Garrett M. Davis video for “Magic Planet” off their upcoming album Jitter Visions available April 27 through Aagoo Records. The galaxy flying visuals mix the mythological with the space-age in a perfectly weird send-up through the cosmos to compliment the NYC group’s own oddball aesthetic.
Flesh Eating Foundation dropped the tense apocalyptic visuals for “Futurelast” featuring Adam Probert off the upcoming release We Are Fucked arriving May 1 from Sonic Entrails Records. The video takes us to the group’s home of Stafford, England where the b/w visuals of buildings & sites in decay underscores the entropy aphorism postulated throughout; the future will not last…
Swampmeat Family Band shared the performance visuals for the strumming & twanging new single “Needle And Thread” featured off their debut album Too Many Things To Hide available now via PNKSLM Recordings. The group takes you to a simpler time & place that recalls the sophisticated derelict troubadours of yesteryears to today’s art-dodging outcasts.
Omer Matz shared the gentle single of introspective reflections on the lush & lovely “Hold”. The Tel Aviv artist brings gentle baroque strings of comfort with subtle electronic components that create a sound of generative care & concern that is incredibly calming.
Porlolo delivered the jingle-jangle ore of “I Don’t Want to Lose” from the Awards EP available April 27. The confessional & urgent love note lays down all heart-wrung emotions on the line in a bid to retain the special ones that haven’t yet gotten away.
Minneapolis band Scrunchies are plotting to release their debut album Stunner June 1 via the prestigious imprint Forged Artifacts, providing a listen to the action packed title track. The quartet stuns with a fury that literally arrives out of nowhere as the group packs a punch that is guaranteed to get the crowd in the pit moving & respectfully slam-dancing.
BUHU blessed the world with a warm meditative pool of bliss with the gift of the new single “Yew” released through Kitsuné Musique, featured off the upcoming album Tenets slated for September 5. Jeremy Rogers and Tiffany Paciga’s track imitates the ultimate out-of-body experience where the sensation of floating is delivered with copious amounts of aural dopamine for all available senses.
Lexington breakouts Johnny Conqueroo dropped by their DIY Jack Dunavant visual for “Brick” that brings the audience to a privy performance space party. With a theme that involves multiple hands involved with all aspects of instrumentation, the Conqueroo trio keeps the rock loud & a style that blasts off to a level that is guaranteed to tick off the neighbors.
Introducing Clever Girls from Burlington, Vermont who presented a look at the board grinding visual for “Loom” directed by Brett Marshall. Leader Diane Jean is seen kicking it with close friends friends & creative comrades, enjoying thoughtful outdoor hikes, porch sessions, park strolls & coastal confessions that compliment a sincere & sentimental song that will stay with you long after the track & visual concludes. Jean & company’s new album Luck is available now.
AUGUST 08 (one of the latest to join the 88rising team) delivered the Lambo mythologizing video of honest endearments & contemporary art pop with “Lately” directed by Saint. The latest offering from the artist’s anticipated release Father; AUGUST 08 is taking a radically revolutionary & maximalist approach to conveying an innovative & wild cross section between materialistic-mania & an unlimited execution of very well manicured affection.
Those looking for some adventurous excitement are bound for an extremely good time with the video for Blade of Grass’s “Looks So Good” courtesy of Etxe Records. The Chip Godwin video matches the rapid charging rhythm arrangements in a flashy array of desert dazzling visuals that possess an all around awesome strangeness.
Drawing heavy inspiration from the São Miguel Island located in Portugal’s Azores region; Manchester’s Pale Green Things shared a holiday for the heart with the beautiful strums & ambiance of “The Islands”. The sentiment of respite is reverberated throughout in a way that feels so honest, emotive, hushed, yet confessional & real in ways that might bring about the waterworks for the listener.
Montreal’s CHANCES unveiled more from their upcoming debut album Traveler available April 27 with a listen to the massive pop-electro arrangement of “Fire To Go”. The trio trades in deliveries that that are harmonically issued like powerful proclamations from an oracle on the mount that shines a realized light that points toward assertive & firm directions of abode. CHANCES wrote the following about the new single:
We’re excited to share our fourth single “Fire To Go”, an anthem of resilience. It’s an empowering break-up song that talks about taking a stand and resisting the temptation to let someone back into your life when you know it isn’t right. Right off the top, catchy synths hook you in, providing a sort of sonic lift off. The soaring harmonies in the chorus translate the strength and willpower it takes to say no to someone you still love.
Those looking for some good ol’ sunrise seeking warehouse bangers might enjoy the hedonistic excesses of LOSH’s One More Chanc featuring Bodhi Jones courtesy of Braslive Records. All the bright & obvious dance pop pattern sequences are programmed in place that incorporate some choice synth patches of intrigue.
Treat yourselves to Adelaide, Australia’s West Thebarton who are sending word that their debut album Different People Being Different will be arriving May 18 from Domestic La La with a look at the ecstatic & enthusiastic video for “Stuck on You” from Aaron Schuppan, Liam Somerville & Luc Hansen. The band allows you to step into their world as the group brings a prelude for summer days & evenings of infinite abandon while soaking up the celebrations of spring.
Green Gerry shared a fun listen to the bubbling & motorik single “Reflex Action” featured off the new album Today How To Hail Beauty available April 20 through Like Young Records. The Athens, Georgia artist operates on a wildly different axis of creativity & reinvention that blends musical conventions in a big blender of styles pureed together.
Feverbones delivered a listen to the single “Rules” featured of the just released album Dream Talk available today from Austin Town Hall Records. The track moves like spring cloud patterns that exhibits a bouquet of warm & breezy feelings that bring collective strings of thoughts that pass gently by the mind’s eye.
Bringing you the Text Me Records roundup, we present the duo of Lip Set, Studio_Dad (Patrick Brown) & Felicia Douglass who shared a listen to the spicy & adventurous Saucy EP. The party starts with the organic grooves of “Devices”, the luxurious leisure of “Beggin'”, to throwback jams like “Downtown 93”, that are then rounded off with “Anything” that works with a limitless palette of atmospheres.
Drew Banga & WADE08 dropped the single “Had To Do It” that rolls back in the whip cruising with confidence & calm. Narratives about putting in work versus the others that just press play vicariously is delivered in a track made for bouncing from east to west in the Bay with your crew in a sedan.
MÒZÂMBÎQÚE will have you chasing convection cycles via the evocative new single “Chasing Weather”. The sound follows the shifts in the phases of fog, rain, cloud formations & other such epiphanies witnessed when gazing at the ever-changing ceiling-screen called the sky.
Old Smile, aka Tom Herman, shared the new EP titled Same Dream Simple Life that elaborates upon the east coast artist’s expansive creative streak. The song “Worn Out Day” retires the doldrums of the day for the invitations of the evening, sorting through the notions of bound ties on “In a Bind” that leads to the sleep state swimming beauty of “Sleeping Personality” that gently drifts you to the lands of dreams & joys.
