After last July’s one-off single “Bob Seger,†Minneapolis’ perennial hip-hop duo Atmosphere are back with their eighth full-length album “Southsiders,†their first since 2011’s “The Family Sign.†It was recorded in Oakland and their hometown, and is set to be introspective and “a very detailed look at my life,” according to rapper Slug. Its first […]
Illustrated is the “EDM†project of Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Sean Layton. The use of quotes on “EDM†is because his style is hard to nail down, often genre-hopping through a plethora of textures within a single track. This is evident in his remix of Dr. Dre’s “Forgot About Dre,†reminiscent of the Castlevania […]
L.A.-based apparel brand Unraveled injected a little rock ’n’ roll into the monthly Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk last week, staging the first Unraveled Music Festival. Orchestrated across four venues within blocks of one another, the festival partnered with businesses such as a clothing store, gallery and salon to host live music from an eclectic […]
Los Angeles-based instrumental producer Mndsgn (pronounced “mind designâ€) has been making beats for more than five years, collaborating with such artists as Danny Brown and Jonwayne, and has played Boiler Room TV and Low End Theory. In the fall, he released “Breatharian†on the Fresh Selects label, a conceptual beat tape about someone who believes […]
The music Alloysious Massaquoi, ‘G’ Hastings and Kayus Bankole create as the Edinburgh trio Young Fathers reflects their sum of their Liberian, Nigerian and Scottish heritage and diverse melting pot of influences. After releasing the EPs “Tape One†in 2011 and “Tape Two†in 2013, they have just put out their debut album “Dead†via […]
Midwest-bred, Los Angeles-based artist Lawrence Rothman cites influences including Charles Bukowski, Cindy Sherman, house and R&B, which when taking in his work, really permeate through both his sound and his visuals. So far, he has only released the “Montauk Fling,” featuring the B-sides “Fatal Attraction” and “#1 All Time Low,” a seductive track brooding with […]
In the vein of Philadelphia’s the Roots or Minneapolis’ Heiruspecs, Los Angeles’ the Concepts are a hip-hop band backed by live instrumentation and a full band. They are fronted by MC Keith Kilgore, and rounded out by Zane Guindon on guitars, Justin Lenoir on drums and percussion, Kyle Newman on trumpet and flugelhorn, Nick Vanetta […]
The Los Angeles crew Clipping claim to “make party music for the club you wish you hadn’t gone to, the car you don’t remember getting in, and the streets you don’t feel safe on” – an incredibly apt description for the avant-garde noise-rap that the trio of Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes have […]
After a banner year recording and touring with cohort El-P as the dynamic duo Run The Jewels, Killer Mike returns to his last solo album, 2012’s widely-praised “R.A.P. Music,†and presents a video for the excellent deep cut “Ghetto Gospel,†also produced by El-P. Directed by Carlos Haynes and Trevor Kane, we find Mike donning […]
Equal parts Brooklyn, Detroit and Los Angeles in origin, the trio Tiny Hearts makes music that is equal parts electro-soul, jazz-hop and synth-pop, like a cross between Poliça and Portishead. Composed of vocalist Dede Reynolds, composer/producer Tim K and producer Waajeed (one of the founding members of Platinum Pied Pipers and Slum Village), the three […]
