breakneck drumming explorations on album opener “Loops” cushion a wandering melodica and highflying trumpet while Daedelus’s net of electronic magic is cast over the piece. Saxophone player and composer Ben Wendel’s academic interest in the idea of technological singularity—the melding of humans and technology into a single symbiotic entity—is poignantly articulated throughout the album, from the quiet corners of “Thought Not” and sincere melancholy of “Not Love” to the competitive ascent of “Drum Battle”. The two halves flourish as a whole, creating a refreshingly optimistic vision of humans and their increasingly ever-present technology. —Christina Gubala
lip-smacking, succulent fruit that never seems to have a bottom. “Standing In The Rain” announces that this a band that knows its way around a goddamn great pop tune. With a shimmering guitar lead reminiscent of Aztec Camera and Sonic Flower Groove-era Primal Scream, the song—despite its refrain of “standing in the rain where the sun don’t shine”—delivers a parting of the clouds. The record’s penultimate tune, “Til You Reach Your Last Breath” is the best of the batch: a sultry brunette of a song with just the right amount of psychedelic menace, but more importantly it’s uilt around the strongest lyric on the album. “Well my daddy once said to me / embrace this life with humility / don’t be conditioned by society.” I would urge Levitation Room to do just that: be less concerned with the burden of credibility, and embrace the much more romantic and rewarding act of emotional appeal. —Kegan Pierce Simons
these songs deserve. The opening track “Janus” is beautifully composed, starting out quite gently with soft acoustic guitars as Kivel hits his signature delicate pitch; then slowly and quietly a violin and soft brush drumming build to a crescendo around the four minute mark, letting the song crack open before closing back up again. Another great track immediately follows with the dream pop song “Violets,” the closest to some of Kivel’s earlier work but with a hint of Real Estate or Duck Tails. The bridge—with its soaring guitar riff—sells the song by itself. The rest of the album follows suit, with every song just as beautiful as the last. Some will introduce 70s folk elements; others get a little jazzy with improvised horns and piano key smashes—but it’s always a cohesive whole. Matt Kivel is really coming into his own here—this is an album that will please past fans and hopefully win new ones. —Zachary Jensen
world of self-doubt and fragility. A theme of finding strength in turmoil interlaces all 6 tracks on the EP. This is none so apparent than on the EP’s title track “Strange Darling”—arguably the strongest on the album. Miya is still finding her sea legs in music but you could already put her comfortably along side contemporaries Sharon Van Etten and Jenn Grant. I very much look forward to seeing what 2016 holds for her. —Ashley Jex Wagner
Scary Aquarius Daughter self-released
MOONCHILD Please Rewind Tru-Thoughts
LEVITATION ROOM Ethos Burger
When one is woozy, you look for an anchor in the sand or a leg to stand on. And when you’re trying to solve a puzzle, you look for patterns. Hieroglyphics emerging from the deep sea felt like a series of faint blips on the sonar. Such is this writer’s experience with Highland Park outfit Levitation Room’s full length debut out on Burger Records. The record wobbles from surf instrumental interludes to acid test blowouts to shoegaze-y pop gems. When the band digs its Chelsea boots deep into the soft loam of influences like Brian Jonestown Massacre on swirling, mercury-heavy tracks like “Cosmic Flower” and “Loved,” they enact a ritual that appeals to every garage rock lovin’ dude out there but ultimately feels hollow. VU-style leads and rhythmic but meaningless lyrics snarled from an upturned lip sound satisfying on first pass, but like a bag of Halloween candy, merely leave the listener with a stomach ache of covetous regret. But by the time side two rolls around, the band loses the shackles of trying to prove themselves and just gets down to the good stuff—the stuff that keeps the listener satiated, the bowl of ALBUM REVIEWS
MATT KIVEL
Janus Driftless Recordings Matt Kivel has been an unsung heroes of L.A.’s independent music scene for me for quite some time now. His ability to turn such delicate and simple sounds into heartwrenching songs is quite simply remarkable. His first two albums played with different variations of style, starting first with a soft and subtle acoustic collection on Double Exposure, working with minimalist sounds and highlighted his soaring voice. His follow up Days of Being Wild added in a lo-fi dream pop element and dronedout loops and effects to the mix, which gave his music much greater depth. His latest release Janus takes the best of what made his first two albums work so well and expands on it. First and foremost, the lo-fi elements have been dropped for a much cleaner and well-produced sound. While the crackle and hiss of lo-fi recordings may enhance the sound of some groups, having this crisper sound allows every note to come through in a way
MIYA FOLICK Strange Darling EP self-released
“Today I talked to so many strangers,” Miya Folick’s crystal clear voice echoes above a single melancholy guitar on the opening track of her debut EP Strange Darling. Within the first stanza you are enveloped by her infectious sense of frail confidence and by the end of the album the cathartic release is palpable. It is hard to believe the chanteuse only recently picked up a guitar and began writing songs. Born into a Buddhist household in Santa Ana; Miya tried her hand at theater and dance in New York before returning to Southern California and settling in Los Angeles. During a period of isolation and loneliness the words and music that would become her debut offering poured out. Her dark and brooding lyrics on “What I Have To” show a wise and complex young women yearning for self-discovery. On “I Got Drunk” a hopeful refrain breathes confidence into the piece while her words pull you deeper into a
SEND MEDICINE
You don’t have to look far to see that there are some amazing things going on with jazz and jazz-inspired music right now in Los Angeles, from the heavy hitters splashing onto the world stage and getting the recognition they deserve to cameos in some of the mainstream’s biggest albums. Needless to say, it’s an exciting time for jazz and Tru Thoughts is a label that’s right in the thick of it. Moonchild is a recent signing to the label and a great addition to the L.A. jazz scene. Combining elements of R&B, hip-hop and jazz, Moonchild makes chilled-out sounds that can easily blend with any of the aforementioned genres. The three-piece used horns, wind instruments and keyboards in their sound, switching up during songs to provide a breadth of variety. Opener “All the Joy” is an R&B-influenced track with a clean and simple beat and atmospheric sound that highlights Amber Navran’s silky smooth vocals. The first single “The Truth” highlights the group’s strengths, matching hip-hop-influenced rhythms and wailing trumpet solos to smooth vocals and spacey harmonies. Many of the other tracks are just as beautifully composed, with a personal favorite being “Nobody,” which has a Erykah Badu-meets-Norah Jones vibe that is really enjoyable. —Zachary Jensen
Filled with acid-dream lyrics and melty guitars, the newest effort from Canadian transplants Send Medicine has something for everyone. Scary Aquarius Daughter is a heady mix of psych, blues, folk, and surf—a winning combination that’s an eight-track album in the truest sense of the word. Ranging from the bluesy “July Eyes” (which sounds like The Black Keys and Allah-Las had a Mellow Yellow baby) to the Cosmic American Music of “Baby’s Coast” (with its serious “No Expectations” slide guitar action) the album remains united by Julian Hacquebard’s breathy, detached, go-with-the-flow vocal style. With his lackadaisical delivery of lyrics like “I take all my pills with a spoon / I leave on a boat too soon / away from all this gloom (“Once Twice”), it’s clear that Send Medicine is indeed medicinal, a feel-good hit of druggy nostalgia with a beach goth twist. One of the stand-outs, “Tall Flowers” is about as 60s as it gets without Nixon campaigning for office. It starts out sounding like Zeppelin’s “Bron-Yr-Aur” in reverse before becoming a psych-folk stunner complete with backwards Hendrix riffs and woozy harmonies. While the influences may be obvious and familiar, the songs still feel fresh, a testament to the group’s songwriting abilities. Paying homage to their new home in Southern California, “Way To The Sea” comes off as sage surfer-dude advice delivered over a very Dick Dale mix of surfy guitars and “Miserlou” trumpets, while “Fourth of July,” a nice little sidewinder of a song with a pretty great riff, sounds so much like a Growlers ditty that you half expect to hear Brooks Nielsen’s scratchy voice seeping in. For a laid-back listen filled with ear-worm guitar and poetically beguiling lines like “Walkin’ through the night in a Patsy Cline way,” give Send Medicine a try. It goes down easy. —Madison Desler
61