Escape Artists

MOSES SUMNEY

Though the topic of Aromanticism, the L.A.-based singer-songwriter’s excellent debut album, may eschew the traditional notions of romantic love, his work has earned him the ardent devotion of many. It’s easy to understand why: While Sumney’s music is smart and soulful, it’s his voice—graceful and glimmering, adroitly volleying between tenor and falsetto—that is irresistible.

TUNE-YARDS

Since releasing her debut album in 2008, Merrill Gabrus, aka Tune-Yards (her project with partner Nate Brenner), has been crafting music that defies categorization. Her latest, I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life, is part sonic experimentation, part social observation. She’ll be on tour this summer and, come fall, will share the stage […]

LOLA KIRKE

Fans of Mozart in the Jungle, Amazon’s classical music dramedy, will recognize Lola Kirke as whipsmart oboist and aspiring conductor Hailey. And the actress’ (she can also be seen in the recent film Untogether opposite her sister Jemima) musical proclivities extend off-screen: The longtime singer-songwriter will release her debut album this year.

First Aid Kit

Though their sound is pure Americana (they count Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, and Townes Van Zandt as muses), Klara and Johanna Söderberg, the stylish sisters behind First Aid Kit are, in fact, Swedish. On their fourth album, Ruins, released earlier this year, their bucolic harmonies get an assist from Wilco’s Glenn Kotche and R.E.M.’s Peter […]

Jessie Ware

London-born singer Jessie Ware has lived many musical lives: she’s collaborated with everyone from SBTRKT to Chance the Rapper, featured on Nicki Minaj’s The Pinkprint, and written songs with Ed Sheeran.

Belly

Formed in 1991 by Tanya Donelly, she of the shimmering vocals, after leaving the Throwing Muses, Belly released two albums in the early ’90s before disbanding until 2016 when they reunited for a series of shows. Now, the innovators of whimsical alt-rock have a new album slated for April 2018 and a UK tour to follow in June.

Sophie B. Hawkins

The story goes that the New York-born vocalist was inspired to write her landmark hit, “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover,” after being fired by Bryan Ferry; her debut album it appeared on, Tongues and Tails, would nab her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. The prolific Hawkins just released her seventh album and is at work on a musical.

Zola Jesus

Okovi (Sacred Bones), the fifth album by Nika Danilova, who has recorded under the name Zola Jesus for the past decade, is her most powerfully personal effort to date. Recorded in the remote woods of Wisconsin after a series of traumatic experiences, the result plumbs the experimental sonic territory she has become known for, but with a new rawness and depth.

Angel Olsen

“I dare you to understand what makes me a woman,” Angel Olsen posits suggestively, her voice and the music swelling in time on “Woman,” a track from last year’s revelatory album My Woman which shimmers against a backdrop of ’70s rock. Here, Olsen gathers songs by both women and men that celebrate love and the […]

Anna Sui

Anna Sui once said, “every collection, I always think, is this cool enough to wear to a concert?” A onetime regular at iconic New York music meccas like Mudd Club, her designs feel like a rock n’ roll fantasy sprung to life. Sui is celebrated this year with an exhibit at London’s Fashion & Textile […]

Jess Rotter

An avowed vinyl head, music plays a role in all of Rotter’s projects, from t-shirt label Rotter and Friends, a sartorial ode to her music idols, to the tour merch she designs for Cat Stevens, Mavis Staples, and the Grateful Dead. Her first book, I’m Bored (Hat and Beard Press), an idiosyncratic array of illustrations, […]

Tabitha Denholm

VMA-nominated director Tabitha Denholm has worked with artists like Florence and the Machine, HAIM, and Jessie J, among others. A frequent contributor to Nowness, Dazed, and I-D, Denholm is also the founder of Women Under the Influence (womenundertheinfluence.org), an organization dedicated to spotlighting female directors.

Liza Richardson

A DJ for more than three decades (tune in to her on L.A.’s KCRW) and music supervisor for more than two, her song placement wizardry can be seen in The Kids Are All Right, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and HBO’s The Leftovers, where she’s weaved in Wu-Tang, Simon & Garfunkel, Christian rock, Rihanna, and the […]

Henry Rollins

Rollins is punk rock incarnate. The former frontman of Black Flag and Rollins Band no longer makes music but he’s still at the mic. Activist, podcaster, columnist, and occasional model (see: I am fanatic in #mycalvins), his spoken-word shows are blistering critiques of everything from politics to pop culture. Rollins, who created a wrath-focused playlist, […]

Peaches

This electroclash iconoclast has been playing provocateur since the ’90s, breaking through with 2000’s The Teaches of Peaches and “Fuck the Pain Away” (a onetime Liz Lemon ringtone). Outspoken LGBTQ pioneer, performance artist, director, and occasional actor (she appeared recently on Orphan Black and Transparent) her last album RUB (I U She) featured Kim Gordon and […]

Will Sheff of Okkervil River

Okkervil River’s newest album Away (ATO records) opens with a prescient track: “Okkervil River R.I.P.” A sea change has occurred for singer Will Sheff since the last release three years ago: Band members moved on and he lost his grandfather, his idol. Away, which also features the enchanting vocals of Marissa Nadler, is a deeply personal […]

Weyes Blood

Natalie Mering has been performing under the moniker Weyes Blood since the mid-aughts when she went solo after years spent in the noise and experimental rock scenes. Mering’s latest album Front Row Seat to Earth (Mexican Summer), fuses expansive electro-folk with dreamy vocals that recall ’70s songbirds. The result, modern with a twinge of nostalgia, […]

An Ojai Dinner Mix by Dmitri Siegel of Sonos

Sunny Ozell’s Spring Fever Playlist (and Crostini)

A playlist and crostini recipe that think spring.

Chaka Khan

“She sings like my horn,” Miles Davis said of Chaka Khan, the queen of funk.

Pat Cleveland

Had the term ‘supermodel’ been around in the ’70s, Cleveland would have earned it.

Alice de Buhr of Fanny

Before The Runaways, The Slits, and The Go-Go’s, there was Fanny.

Mick Rock

His surname would foreshadow his destiny as one of music’s greatest image-makers.

Rickie Lee Jones

One of the most important singer-songwriters, period, Jones burst onto the music scene with a self-titled debut that immediately cemented her cred and remains as powerful today as it was when it was released in 1979.

Wild Belle

Funk, reggae, soul, jazz, electronica; they have all figured into the oeuvre of the Bergmans, the Chicago-born brother-sister duo that make up Wild Belle.

Escort

Modern and disco seems at first like an oxymoron, but that’s the musical MO of Brooklyn-based band Escort (the core group has three players, but their stage shows have featured an entourage of up to 17).

Dungen

Psychedelic rock may have its roots in the ’60s and ’70s, but Stockholm-based group Dungen has been redefining and broadening our perceptions of the genre for the past 16 years.

Here We Go Magic’s Fall Dinner Mix

The band’s new album “Be Small” is a big deal.

Laura Cantrell’s There’s a Little Bit of Country in NYC

Laura Cantrell’s country mix for city nights.

Twin Shadow

Though you can hear twinges of the ’80s on Eclipse (Warner Bros), the latest album from George Lewis Jr., a.k.a Twin Shadow, the sweeping synth-pop effort—created by the one-time New Yorker in his new home city of L.A., he even recorded some tracks in the Hollywood Forever cemetery—remains firmly rooted in modern times.

RUBAN NIELSON OF UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

Qualify Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s distinctive sound as 
a color and it would be kaleidoscopic. Leading the sonic charge is visionary frontman Nielson, whose psychedelic leanings 
are both clear and compelling. 
Their new album, Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar), is out in May.

HOLLY HERNDON

That the trailblazing California-based sound artist and composer seems to take an academic approach to electronica is no surprise: Herndon is currently working towards a phD at Stanford. On her inventive new album, Platform (4AD), the incorporation of voice gives her electronic meanderings a distinct emotional nucleus.

A Mix By Our Favorite Brooklyn Crooner Paul Loren

Look up the word crooner in the dictionary and you’ll find: “a male singer who sings slow, romantic songs in a soft, smooth voice.” The definition couldn’t be more apt for Brooklyn-based singer and all-around dapper and debonair gentleman Paul Loren whose most recent release, Selections from Leisurely, is pure listening pleasure. You can also […]

Turn On, Tune In With a Mix by the Franks

Anyone who has ever had the great fortune of dining at one of the Franks’ (that would be Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli) New York restaurants (either of the Frankies Spuntinos or, our personal favorite, Prime Meats) likely knows that the pair not only understand good food, they also understand good music. And since the […]

A Mix for Fondue Nights by Surrender the Spirit

A Mix for Fondue Nights by Surrender the Spirit Couples that create art together have always earned our respect, and, in this week leading up to Valentine’s Day, it feels fitting to highlight one such duo. Premonition, a dreamy collection of tunes with a ’70s vibe, is the first EP and, actually, the first entree […]

Warpaint

Only two albums in (2010’s critical darling debut, The Fool, and this year’s utterly enchanting eponymous follow-up), this all-female, California-born band has already amassed a fervent following. Warpaint’s singular sound—at once dark and illusory and seriously beautiful—is best illustrated in their live performances where it has ample room to wander and drift.

Daniel Kessler of Interpol

The widespread success of 2002’s Turn on the Bright Lights nudged Interpol into the position of helping to define the New York sound of the early aughts. A number of albums and band shifts later, the group’s latest, El Pintor, was released in September. Along the way, guitarist Daniel Kessler developed a side passion for food and is now […]

Simone Pace of Blonde Redhead

Forged in New York in the early ‘90s, the dynamic trio—vocalist Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace—have, over the years, amassed a devoted fanbase and released eight albums. Their ninth, as-yet-unnamed effort, is on the way this year.

Bryan Devendorf of the National

This Cincinnati-born band has been ceaselessly making music since forming in 1999. Last year’s stunning Trouble Will Find Me may be their most ambitious album to date. Devendorf, the band’s drummer, is revered for his wildly inventive style.

Sharon Van Etten

The Brooklyn-based singer- songwriter’s honest, emotionally charged approach earned her widespread acclaim for 2012’s Tramp. And that appealing vulnerability remains on her latest, Are We There (JagJaguwar); out this May, it’s an intimate, confident, and hugely listenable album.

DIANE BIRCH

The singer-songwriter with the lilting, soulful voice that seems to defy her age first caught the public’s ear with her 2009 debut Bible Belt, a series of thoughtful sweeping ballads. On her latest effort, Birch’s rhapsodizing feels even more emotional and, in turn, powerful. Her new album, Speak A Little Louder (S-Curve Records), was released in October.

DEVIL’S ADVOCATES

An evil genius on your plate should be paired with something equally hellacious on your stereo.

Au Revoir Simone

The Brooklyn-born trio (Heather D’Angelo, Erika Forster, and Annie Hart) are known for their wispily beautiful harmonies, electro undercurrent, and keyboard flourishing. And on their latest album, they are more self-assured than ever, experimenting with new sonic territory to infectious result. Move in Spectrums (Instant Records) was released in September.

Cameron Crowe: Summer Nights

Got a bbq or dinner party on the schedule this weekend? Or just planning to find yourself a shady spot to drink beer and eat watermelon and wile away the afternoon? Either way, some summer-ready tunes are definitely in order. And we have something that fits the bill courtesy of director/ editor/ legendary musichead Cameron […]

Cameron Crowe: Summer Days

Got a bbq or dinner party on the schedule this weekend? Or just planning to find yourself a shady spot to drink beer and eat watermelon and wile away the afternoon? Either way, some summer-ready tunes are definitely in order. And we have something that fits the bill courtesy of director/ editor/ legendary musichead Cameron […]

Tracey Thorn

Part of cult-favorite early ‘80s all-girl band, Marine Girls, and one half of seminal British electronic duo Everything but the Girl, Tracey Thorn’s hauntingly beautiful voice and singular songwriting talents have been beloved for three decades. Her latest solo effort, Tinsel and Lights, a Christmas-themed album, was released in October.

Ira wolf tuton of yeasayer

Since forming in 2006, Yeasayer (Tuton is the band’s bassist) has been adeptly blurring the genre lines to create atmospheric, electronic-driven music heavy on innovation. Their latest album, Fragrant World, released in August, offers an engaged futuristic take on synth-pop sounds.

Spring Dinner Music from The Beagle

The Beagle, the hotly-anticipated new London eatery headlined by much-loved chef James Ferguson (formerly of Rochelle Canteen) may not officially swing open its doors until April 8th, but as of this week they are accepting reservations online (see beaglelondon.co.uk). To celebrate, we asked owner Danny (on the left, above)—he is opening The Beagle with brother Kieran, […]

A Dine-In Valentines Day Mix by Anders & Kendall

Nothing says I love you quite like a delicious meal, particularly if it’s of the home-cooked variety. And since many of you will be spending your Valentine’s Day eve in meal-prep mode, we are covering the entertainment. Or rather, Anders Parker and Kendall Meade, aka Anders & Kendall (andersandkendall.com), are. The talented avant-folk duos’ distinctive […]

Thieving irons

The Brooklyn-based band led by Nathan Martinez has a foot in folk and classic Americana, and is recognized for their soul-stirring lyrics and virtuosic rock meanderings. Their second album, Behold, This Dreamer!, is out in June.

bethany cosentino of best coast

The proudly California band are the forbearers of a new breed of sunny, low-fi surf pop, beloved for their catchy riffs and lead singer Bethany Cosentino’s signature yearning vocals. Their second album, The Only Place, was released in May.