Blacks& - Tonight

Today, Los Angeles band Blacks& (pronounced Black Sand) released their debut EP, A Ghost That Follows Me. The sounds are the sounds of summer - sun drenched, soft bobbing-as-the-waves rhythm, the kind of simplicity that makes something stronger.It’s exciting to see projects like this popping up in my own city. Not surprisingly, the band members stem from a line of other great projects including Sea of Cortez, NazcarNation, and POLLS. 

You can pay whatever you want for the new EP at their bandcamp. And be on the lookout for Blacks& live, should be coming around in May sometime!

Maston - Engrams

I’ve earlier introduced you to Frank Maston, the ‘one man psychedelic pop band’ with his orchestral circus-trip song Young Hearts. He’s a Los Angeleno with a knack for that woozy psychedelia you only hear in your dreams, or when you manage to time travel to the 60s. 

Luckily for us, it looks like Young Hearts was a part of a larger whole. A larger whole that was surprisingly dropped last night without warning. Voyages is a six song EP full of Maston’s signature sound. It’s an impressively immersive sound for a one-man production, and will have you making tie dye and frolicking through the sunny pastures of your subconscious in no time. Expect a full LP to follow sometime this year

Dream Panther - Dorsey’s High

I have the pleasure today, of bringing you the first listen of Dream Panther’s upcoming EP, Beyonce’s Child. It’s set to release sometime this spring, and I can tell you from the tracks I’ve heard, they are setting the bar with this one. Dream Panther is the writing power of LA’s Gusto Cat, and the recording/performing power of Gusto, Greg and Nick. They’ve been called post-gangster wave, which if you don’t believe their level of gangster, just check out the NSFW artwork for this track. 

Dorsey’s High could be an homage to their high school. The sound of half-forgotten basketball games. The rich nostalgia this song weaves, almost makes it seem as if you’re back, years later, wondering the halls of your high school. Except now, everything is smaller, demystified. What had once been your entire world, you now see, was such a small part. 

Download Dorsey’s High

Keep an eye out on Dream Panther’s soundcloud / visual tumblr / facebook

Fantasy Island - Lost and Found

This new Los Angeles project first impressed us with it’s release of Avenue about a month ago. It was a bit more rowdy than the above track, Lost and Found, hot off the presses. Starting as if we just missed the beginning, and ending just as abruptly, this track is like catching the middle of a dream. It bounces in your subconscious with nuanced melodies enough to totally lose yourself. And by the end of the one minute, fifty seconds, you awaken…found. Lost and found.

Fantasy Island Soundcloud