February in Los Angeles has been a literal deluge of welcome rain that we’re nonetheless unaccustomed to in these parts—thus the watery motif with the art. Extending that theme into the aural realm, we’re also awash in excellent new music in the new year.
This month’s mix tape starts off with some quietly beautiful pop that explodes into pulsing rhythms courtesy of Montreal’s KROY before hitting one of our favorite of a number of new, excellent songs from Newcastle upon Tyne’s Joy Atlas. Side note, here: it only happens once in a blue moon, but there are times when we hear new music and it brings us to an blindingly blissful halt in our tracks. Music from bands like Efterklang or Boxed In or Micachu + the Shapes or Sylvan Esso or Purity Ring or Braids—music that seems so perfectly written just for us and that we’re hooked on from the very first listen. We know very little about them, but Joy Atlas seems to be the newest entry in this very short list of bands—we highly recommend keeping an eye on them.
Moving on, we’ve got a track from another UK-based band blending melodies with hyper-rhythmic drums + bass, the Dutch Uncles; more dreamy, 80s-inspired Brit-pop from Treasureseason; a dip back into deep glitch with Clap! Clap! (AKA Cristiano Crisci); some nice deadpan bedroom pop from Jonathan “Yoni” Wolf’s WHY?; some solid, sleekly done R+B from LA’s own Syd; a catchy pop song from Nashville’s Bantug; the first track from the just-released EP by one of favorites from 2016, Sydney’s Middle Kids (whom we just caught at the Echo this weekend and blew our collective socks off); a wonderful song from London’s Wyldest (their whole EP is great; you should check it out); a subtle dance track from another London band, Little Cub; a sprawling, epic number from Scandinavian artist Skott; a fun one from Oslo-/Madrid-based duo BLØSH; a slow-burning-yet-beautiful song from Canadian artist Bernache; and we’re ending out with great song from Brooklyn-based trio Half Waif‘s just-released EP.
And, a reminder, if you’re ever playing a Mixcloud mix below or on our page and wondering who you’re listening to, just click the Show Tracklist button to find out.
Now dive in, my friends.
