jinsang

California beat maker jinsang combines jazz cuts over chilled out beats to create some killer, smooth, grooved-out tracks. His latest release, solitude., is 26 tracks of pure groove. The more I listen to it the higher it jumps up my favorite releases of 2016 list.

His entire catalog is available to buy on his Bandcamp page for only a measly $7 bucks! Trust me that’s $7 bucks well spent my friends. Below are a few tracks from solitude. and a new one he just put up on his Soundcloud page. Check them out, then go get your hands on some of his music. Enjoy.

 

Magic Shoppe

Jangly, reverbed, lo-fi, psychedelic, fuzz are just some of the adjectives I would use to describe Boston’s Magic Shoppe. Their newest EP, Interstellar Car Crash, is a wall to wall psychedelic gem, sure to alter your state of mind with it’s reverbed guitars and hypnotic vocals. Check out “City Alight (Yeah)” below for a taste.

Interstellar Car Crash is out on February 5 through Optical Sounds, I highly recommend it.

Magic Shoppe – City Alight (Yeah) from Interstellar Car Crash (2016)

Magic Shoppe FB

Magic Shoppe Bandcamp

Platinum Boys

Laurent from Six Tonnes De Chair just sent me this single from Milwaukee’s Platinum Boys. They play a grubby brand of lo-fi, power pop that’s right up my alley. You can check out the stream of the A side, “Confessions”, below. You can get this 7″ from Six Tonnes De Chair or their full EP, Junior Varsity, from Forged Artifacts. Enjoy.

Lasso

Lasso is the solo (mostly) project of Tucson multi-instrumentalist/beat maker Andy Catlin. He covers about every genre imaginable throughout his seven release discography, including psych, pop, electro, hip hop, pop and rock. His newest release, Into The Lasso, is a kind of groovy, psych-pop meets hip hop beats hybrid. Check out the Money Mark-like album opener “Pepper”, it’s a great example of what this guy can do.

Into The Lasso is available now from Lasso’s bandcamp page. While you are there be sure to check out his other releases, you will not be disappointed.

Lasso – Pepper from Into The Lasso (2015)

Woolen Men

Portland, OR 3-piece, Woolen Men, bring their lo-fi brand of punk rock, on sophomore release Temporary Monument, and shove it right in your face. By the time you can catch your breath you are 6 songs in. The tempo is slowed a bit on the organ-driven track “After The Flood” (below) which makes it one of the standouts on the album.

Temporary Monument is out now and available via Woodsist Records. Go buy this record!

Woolen Men – After The Flood from Temporary Monument (2015)

Band and The Beat

Band & The Beat is the new project of husband and wife duo Tracy Shedd and James Tritten. Using only analog synthesizers and an analog drum machine, they have created quite the infectious dream-pop sound.

Dig on the warbly synths and lo-fi vocals of their first single “Buoy” below. Hopefully there will be many more songs from these guys in the future. Enjoy.

Band & The Beat – Buoy (2015)

Be sure to catch Band & The Beat on tour in a city near you:

Oct 14 . Durham NC . The Pinkhook . w/ Jphono1, Schooner (solo)
Oct 17 . Raleigh NC . Slim’s . w/ Jason Herring & The Mystery Plan
Oct 18 . Chapel Hill NC . Local 506 . w/ Nuns (Oklahoma)
Oct 19 . Knoxville TN . Pilot Light . w/ Bark (mems. of Tim Lee 3)
Oct 20 . Nashville TN . The Basement – 8:00pm – New Faces Nite
Oct 20 . Nashville TN . The 5 Spot – 10:00pm – $2 Tuesday
Oct 21 . Nashville TN . The Basement East – New Faces Nite
Oct 22 . Athens GA . Flicker
Oct 23 . Charlotte NC . Petra’s . w/ Jason Herring & The Mystery Plan
Nov 1 . Durham NC . Duke Coffeehouse . w/ Free Pizza (Boston MA)
Nov 7 . Chapel Hill NC . The Cave . w/ Tim Lee 3

New Boss

We shared Virginia’s New Boss a while ago from their split release with Borrowed Beams of Light. I really enjoyed their side of the split and was thrilled to find their newest release Twee Boogie Vol. 1 & 2 in my mailbox.

Twee Boogie Vol. 1 & 2 is a fun, poppy-as-hell 13 tracks that will make you want to (as the title suggests) boogie. Check out the synth-driven pop goodness of “Since You Been Gone” (below) for a taste. Twee Boogie Vol. 1 & 2 is available now on cassette from Funny / Not Funny Records. I highly recommend it.

New Boss – Since You Been Gone from Twee Boogie Vol. 1 & 2 (2015)

New Boss FB

Triptides

I have been a huge fan of Los Angeles’ (by way of Indiana) indie pop band Triptides since I stumbled across their Bandcamp page a few years ago. But for whatever reason, I have never shared them on the site. Shame on me!

Their latest release, Azur, is ten songs deep of shimmery, hazy, psych-pop gold. A perfect soundtrack for lounging around with your favorite beverage on a warm summer night. “Hideout” (below) is a great example of the Triptides sunny, surf-pop sound. Azur is available now on vinyl via Requiem Pour Un Twister or on cassette via Lolipop Records. Enjoy.

Triptides – Hideout from Azur (2015)

Triptides on FB

Wet Trident

One of my favorite albums from last year is Lubec’s debut THE THRALL. So when Eddie (Lubec’s singer/guitarist) reached out to me about his new band Wet Trident I was all ears.

Wet Trident’s debut, Power Fails and Other Foreign Delights, does not disappoint. It’s chock full of angular guitars, vocal melodies and pounding drums – all candy for the ears. Check out “Miserably Visible” below, it’s sure to make any fans of Superchunk sit up and take notice.

Power Fails and Other Foreign Delights is out now and available digitally and on cassette (via Like Young Records) from Wet Trident’s Bandcamp page. Enjoy.

Wet Trident – Miserably Visible from Power Fails and Other Foreign Delights (2015)

Monster Rally and Jay Stone

After a long holiday break, I feel refreshed and ready to start bringing the hits again. For the first post of 2015, I am stoked to be sharing a couple tracks from the upcoming Monster Rally & Jay Stone collaboration, Foreign Pedestrians.

Monster Rally’s hazy, exotic beats mixed with Jay Stone’s razor-sharp vocal delivery are a match made in Heaven and hopefully the first of many collaborations between the two. I can’t recommend this album enough. You must buy it now. Foreign Pedestrians is possibly the best album of 2015.

Foreign Pedestrians will be released on January 27 through Gold Robot Records.

Monster Rally & Jay Stone – Cognac (w/Brandon Rayson) from Foreign Pedestrians (2015)

Monster Rally & Jay Stone – Recollection from Foreign Pedestrians (2015)