5 Songs To Discover In April: The ‘What We’ll Miss’ Version

Speaker 1: 00:00 Musicians in live music venues are facing continued uncertainty with no signs of shelter in place, orders being lifted anytime soon. Live music shows are all postponed or canceled for this month and beyond, but the new albums these shows were designed to promote are still out in the world. Just waiting for you to listen. Joining us now as KPBS arts editor, Julia Dixon Evans. Hi Julia. Well, I know you brought a few songs for us to check out from shows that were supposed to happen this month. Why did you put this list together? Speaker 2: 00:32 Yeah, so I recently started this feature on our site, kind of like a monthly playlist of a few songs to check out from touring acts or locals, whoever has great new music with putting on your radar. I've been anticipating a lot of this stuff for April, long before the pandemic shutdowns and cancellations and it just kind of still felt really important to honor the stuff we're missing and to spend some time rocking out at home since we can't go out to see this music live. Speaker 1: 01:01 All right, well let's hear about the first track you recommend. Tell us about this band. A tennis [inaudible]. Speaker 2: 01:07 Yeah. It's hard to talk about tennis without using words like timeless or dreamy. That singer Elena Moore's voice evokes this mix of the 50s and the 70s but they still have this modern lo-fi synth aesthetic to it. There's a sad edge to this track nature. Lev, I'm kind of a sneaky, dark side packaged in a love song. It was released in mid February. Their newest album is called swimmer and it's fantastic. Speaker 1: 01:38 Okay. All right. Let's listen to need your love by tennis. Speaker 3: 01:47 Need to be [inaudible]. Strange bit of Speaker 2: 02:04 quarantined serendipity. It was recorded at home alone in their studio. Speaker 1: 02:09 Okay. Moving on. Who is yeast? Tell us about their song that you recommend. Speaker 2: 02:14 So you guess a New Jersey raised Filipino American, he cut his teeth in the DIY scene in Miami, eventually landed in LA and his 2009 album ID were like, I don't know where it's really short. The whole thing's under 17 minutes, but it doesn't mess around. Every second is packed with this spellbinding blend of hip hop, indie, pop, R, and B. So the song I picked too fast, it has this refrain of it won't last. It's ironically the albums, longest track and it's this low key track about love. Speaker 3: 02:55 What do you smell? I said, do you love me? She said, if your name's Bay, so Sue FAS knives. Speaker 2: 03:23 He was supposed to play soda bar this weekend. Speaker 1: 03:26 All right, next you have a debut album by a new group of a couple of music and performing veterans who are heart bones. Speaker 2: 03:34 Yeah. They're kind of a super group featuring Harmar superstars. Sean Tillman and Sabrina Ellis from a giant dog. They're both known for their wild theatrical when performing. Speaker 1: 03:46 All right, let's have a listen to some of this time. It's different by heart bones. Speaker 3: 04:10 [inaudible] Speaker 2: 04:11 headphones has a lot of power and raw motion in their work and the new album is showy and tough, but it's also a little bit sweet this time it's different is the albums opening track and it's kind of a crash course on harp loans. They postponed their April 13th show at soda bar, but it's really great, the album to listen to you. Speaker 1: 04:35 All right, next up is nom D. tell us about nom D. Speaker 2: 04:39 yeah. Chicago [inaudible] just released a new album on April 3rd and opening track flowers to my demons is pretty eclectic. It pulls from his wide range of influences and tastes like rap, hip hop, pop, um, his Nigerian immigrant parents music to name a few, but it still feels really unified and solid. The tracks, first minute, it's kind of this raw, no frills acoustic guitar part Speaker 4: 05:16 [inaudible] this microphone [inaudible] Speaker 2: 05:26 but then it just keeps building layers of vocals and percussion. Shyman non-bias a drummer and it shows, so watch for his and scheduled. So Debar shows sometime in the future. Speaker 1: 05:38 And finally you have a local track, a San Diego alternative jazz group. Kelly Kelly was supposed to perform this week. Tell us about [inaudible]. Speaker 2: 05:47 Yeah, it's a project of San Diego musician Lexi Palito and they were supposed to play at the whistle stop this week. Their most recent Alabama 2000 nineteens agency is a gold mine. Tens of whimsy. And the jazz elements are approachable and kind of edgy and weird at the same time. The lyrics read like storytelling and poetry and the opening track. Then Dennett really showcases pelitos enchanting vocal range and the theatrics that she brings to the stage. Speaker 1: 06:20 Well good. Let's listen to done done it by [inaudible] Speaker 5: 06:24 very in a vessel full of anesthetics and not exceed Quicken pain was Liam [inaudible] and consistence is procedures. Traditional nine live the mystical edge across state update [inaudible] and the Gutsel dizzy with the open door. It's a pity it's a pet. It's a pretty pitiful pet. Oh, I got a two step. Ah, Speaker 1: 07:03 all right. Like a poetry reading as you say. Now, what's the best way to listen to these songs and support these artists today? Speaker 2: 07:11 So I'm as big a fan of a tidy Spotify playlist as anyone, but on the web article for this, I link to artist's band camp's page. Um, because changes in their recording industry the last couple of years they've met the, for a lot of artists that are performing and the touring is their primary source of income. And streaming revenue is pretty much, um, just for the top tier of artists. So with all these performances canceled, consider buying tracks from band camp rather than streaming. Speaker 1: 07:45 Okay. I've been talking with KPBS arts editor, Julia Dixon Evans, who writes a weekly arts and culture newsletter for the San Diego region. You can sign up at kpbs.org/newsletters and thanks, Giulia. Speaker 2: 07:59 Thank you so much.