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Talkhouse

Founded in 2011, The Milk Carton Kids swiftly emerged as a major force in the American folk tradition, blending ethereal harmonies and intricate musicianship with a uniquely powerful brand of contemporary songcraft. 2013’s ANTI-debut The Ash &amp; Clay proved their national breakthrough, earning The Milk Carton Kids their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Folk Album. A second Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Performance followed in 2015 for the track “The City of Our Lady” from band’s acclaimed third studio album, Monterey, and 2018’s All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn’t Do was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
The Only Ones, the new record from The Milk Carton Kids is out now on the band’s ownMilk Carton Records imprint in partnership with Thirty Tigers.
(Photo Credit: Jessica Perez)

The Milk Carton Kids

Music

How The Milk Carton Kids Became Camp Counselors

Adam Schatz has recently released the improvised album Civil Engineering Vol. 1 and the Landlady album Make Up / Lost Time. See him on tour this summer, tickets and info at <a href="http://linktr.ee/landladyland" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://linktr.ee/landladyland&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1780425624327000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3vXy-qQUGj-lKK5bDfgzP-">linktr.ee/landladyland</a>.
(Photo Credit: Sasha Arutyunova.)

Adam Schatz

So You Didn’t Make The Year End List

With Mexican and Salvadoran roots in the San Gabriel Valley, East of Los Angeles, Angelica Garcia has spent the last few years creating a new, second family for herself within the welcoming community of Richmond, VA. The bond is christened with the announcement of Garcia’s signing to Spacebomb Records (Bedouine, Matthew E. White), and the release of her first two singles for the preeminent Richmond label: “It Don’t Hinder Me,” an anthem celebrating her roots that blends Wall of Sound pop and Southern rock, and “Karma The Knife,” a Reaggeaton-meets-dancehall earworm.
Like Lorde, Billie Eilish, and Rosalía, Angelica isn’t afraid to tear pages out of her diary and express emotions that might be difficult and oftentimes daunting to share. Garcia — who has recently toured with and supported acts like Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Natalie Prass, and Violent Femmes — sings about and pulls inspiration from her experience growing up in the predominantly immigrant Latinx communities of Southern California. The two new singles produced by Eddie Pendergast (a long time co-writer of Matthew E. White) showcase Garcia in her creative element, and herald the arrival of a bold and buoyant new voice in music.
(Photo Credit: Caitlyn Krone)

Angelica Garcia

Home Isn’t Just Where You’re From

Odessa is a Los Angeles-based artist. Her new album All Things was produced in tandem by Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Conor Oberst), Wilco’s Pat Sansone, and Spoon’s Jim Eno. The collection is both psychologically raw and emotionally mature, a graceful meditation on acceptance and perseverance that’s fueled by ethereal vocals and elegant string arrangements. It’s a work of catharsis and release, to be sure, but more than that, it’s the sound of a songwriter rediscovering herself, of an artist reclaiming the strength and promise she’d all but forgotten she possessed.

Odessa

Odessa Pushes Through the Low Points

Jackie McLean, frontwoman of Roan Yellowthorn, the musical project supported by partner and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Strack, delivers confessional indie rock with a singer/songwriter heart. The duo’s forthcoming new album, Another Life, is due out May 14 via Blue Élan Records. McLean wrote much of the set as a reflection on a childhood marked by frequent mental and emotional abuse that continued into young adulthood, oftentimes causing her to question her own reality and sense of self-worth, and the idea of alternate or parallel lives serves as a throughline. She channels her healing process and the rebuilding of her individual identity through laid-back &#8217;80s era synths and airy, often bright, dream-pop sounds helmed with the help of producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Kurt Vile, Waxahatchee).

Jackie McLean

How Motherhood Made Jackie McLean a Musician

German duo Georg Conrad and Marius Bubat — aka COMA — fuse dance music’s communal properties with an indie sensibility. Rich in melody and melancholy, COMA’s repertoire occupies an emotionally-driven corner of the electronic music spectrum, where dynamic soundscapes collide with heartfelt lyrics.
COMA may have their roots firmly in the city’s fabled club scene — they initially signed to Cologne’s established electronic label Kompakt in 2009 — but their effervescent, groove-tipped synth-pop blurs boundaries and strays outside the lines. Their new home of City Slang (Caribou, Gold Panda, Son Lux, Tindersticks) is the perfect fit for their hypnotic brand of indie-electro.
After releasing a steady stream of records that includes their 2013 debut In Technicolor and 2015’s This Side of Paradise, in recent years both Bubat and Conrad experienced a transformative time marked by a series of tragedies and milestones, including the loss of a parent and the birth of a child. COMA’s new album Voyage Voyage tells the story of these complicated moments through an equally complex sonic web, and casts a sweet and heavy-hearted glow on listeners.
(Photo Credit: Frederike Wetzels)

COMA

COMA Reels Us In with “Snurrebassen”

Created in 2016 by Taylor Graham and Justin Dupuis, Henna Roso is a musical collective from Tulsa, Oklahoma that has dedicated themselves to fighting food insecurity in America while creating and playing original music inspired by D’Angelo, Lettuce and Stevie Wonder. Known for the relentless stank-face groove inspired by Graham&#8217;s funk/soul sensibilities layered with the complex jazz chord structures and harmonies propelled by the extensive Jazz vocabulary of Dupuis, they weave together a sound rich in melody and an undeniable rhythmic funk.
(Photo Credit: Logan Miller)

Henna Roso

Henna Roso Makes Giving A Part Of Their Business Model

Ben Merlis is a vegan straight edge Hip-Hop hardcore punk rocker from Los Angeles, who thinks Pearl Jam is the worst thing that ever happened to music. He is also a writer for uDiscover Music, a publicist for ZZ Top, Experience Hendrix, ABKCO, and Roy Orbison’s estate, as well as the singer/guitarist for Surprise Vacation.

Ben Merlis

Ben Merlis’s History (and Future) of Hip-Hop

Jenna Putnam is an American visual artist, writer, poet, and recording artist. Known for her intimate portraits of friends, artists, and lovers, her work often blurs the lines of the documented and the staged, drawing a naked vulnerability from her subjects and creating a lasting connection with the viewer. She recently released her debut single, “Make War.”
(Photo Credit: Zooey Jolivet)

Jenna Putnam

Jenna Putnam on Turning Self-Destruction Into Something Beautiful

Craig Hendrix is a musician from Philadelphia, where he operates The Well recording studio. He’s best known for his work as co-producer and multi-instrumentalist with the band Japanese Breakfast, and has composed music for film, choir, and chamber ensemble. The Wu Tang Names Generator website authoritatively suggests he be referred to as X-pert Contender. In the past, he has performed at The White House (Clinton Era), The Oregon Zoo (by the elephants), and on a giant motorized rollerblade (with TV dad Alan Thicke). He is currently at work on a song that uses the same four notes as &#8220;Mary Had A Little Lamb&#8221; and expects it to be just as popular.

Craig Hendrix

Mid-Level Indie Band Touring Is My Favorite Sport

Multi-instrumentalist and producer Colin Croom made the leap from producing Twin Peaks’ second album, Wild Onion, to performing in the band itself, making his debut on 2016’s Down in Heaven. The band&#8217;s new album Lookout Low is out now via Grand Jury Music.
(Photo Credit: Cooper Fox)

Colin Croom

Twin Peaks’ Colin Croom on the Merits of Having a Studio Game Plan

Black Marble is the synth music project of LA-based artist Chris Stewart. His fourth full length record Fast Idol is out now via Sacred Bones. 
(Photo Credit: Ashley Leahy)

music essay