RECENT ARTICLES

Los Angeles-based musician-producer-songwriter, Terrace Martin, didn’t grow up in a safe place. Born in 1978, Martin came up in very dangerous areas of Southern California. He was forced to make his own safe places, while never truly feeling protected. Music became his safe place. It became his time machine, too. It became the keyhole through which the entire universe began to unfold. It was also the thing that bonded him with now longtime friend and collaborator, Snoop Dogg. Martin met the rapper over 22 years ago. Ever since, they’ve held together through love of life and song. This shared, heartening bond is the hearth that continues to warm Martin’s creative soul. It is the furnace for his speeding locomotive of production. And it was the model for the musical supergroup he co-founded – Dinner Party – and the band’s latest album, Dessert.

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Many music fans can remember where they were when rumors of Jay Z’s The Black Album began to swirl on early blogs in 2003. One of the most notable aspects of that particular record’s announcement was the inclusion of the then-underground producer, 9th Wonder (born Patrick Denard Douthit). At the time, Jay Z was one of the biggest names in entertainment (still is). For the rapper to reach to the underground to bring up 9th Wonder was remarkable – a bridge to a new generation’s sound. Ever since, 9th Wonder’s career has taken off. His appreciation for music validated by fans all over the world. But, perhaps first and foremost, that validation began with family – his mother, his older brother. And that familial inspiration continues to permeate 9th Wonder’s music today, including in the songs he makes in the supergroup, Dinner Party, which released its latest record, Dessert, on Friday.

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Today, important notions of mental health, support systems and self-love are in the public consciousness more and more. And rightly so. As they say, you can’t put someone else’s oxygen mask on without first putting on your own. Miami, Florida-based R&B artist, Savannah Cristina, has taken that idea to new and scintillating heights. Cristina, who released her anticipated EP, Self-Care, earlier this month, thinks of her songs like contained, miniature therapy sessions. Instead of paying someone for a 30-minute Zoom consultation, Cristina says, just put on one of her new tracks and lose yourself in the necessary revelations and the repetitions of self-confidence and personal appreciation.

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If you’d only just met her, it might be hard for you to believe that accomplished New York City-based EDM singer and songwriter, Lachi, grew up shy. The charming, loquacious, effervescent personality, who can soar and glide on a dance track, grew up quiet, resigned. She didn’t always want the spotlight on her but today she’s making up for lost time with enough sonic power and force to get any other like-minded wallflowers within earshot out of their chairs or off their relaxed poses and onto the dance floor to show their stuff. Lachi’s latest musical endeavor is the perceptive, candy-sticky track, “Messages,” which we’re happy to premiere here.

“It wasn’t until college that I opened up,” Lachi says. “I gained confidence through joining different music groups and sharing my talent.”

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Every morning, Albuquerque-based songwriter, Heather Trost, puts on a new record to fill her home with sound. It’s a habit she and her husband, Jeremy Barnes, who plays in the band, Neutral Milk Hotel, have started and sustained during the months of quarantine. But it’s also one borne of a life enriched early on by music. Trost, whose parents regularly played albums in the house growing up, learned to love vinyls from Bach or The Beatles. Now, she and her hubby, spin an array. Each one is like a bridge or portal to another space. This idea delights Trost, who relishes delving into sonic textures, as evidenced by her latest single, “Jump Into the Fire,” which we’re happy to premiere today. The song, which dances and splashes, is from her forthcoming LP, Petrichor, out November 6th on Third Man Records.

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At a young age, records transported Kurt Vile. The soon-to-be professional songwriter would, as a kid, play his father’s albums over and over again. There were standards like John Denver but there was also the personal favorite, Rusty and Doug, two brothers who recorded mostly in the 1950s. Vile loved their brand of Louisiana-infused early rock ‘n’ roll. Listening to his dad’s albums, Vile would imagine he was a singer in the bands. Those early, foggy memories were, in actuality, some of the earliest proverbial building blocks of Vile’s creative and musical foundation. From there, he would go on to co-found the band, The War on Drugs, and build a fruitful solo career, which continues with the release of his latest EP, Speed, Sound, Lonely KV, which was released Friday.

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Zimbabwe-born, Australia-raised artist and musician, Tkay Maidza, grew up playing tennis. Her parents were metallurgists – academics who worked in the field of mining and chemistry – and, as a result, the family moved around Australia often, from Perth to Whyalla, in search of new and better opportunities. Maidza had to learn quickly to rely on herself. That’s exactly what she did – socially, academically and athletically. But, at some point, she outgrew the game. She needed a new focus. That’s when music entered the picture in earnest. For Maidza, music had always been around the family, now it was her turn to try her hand. By making the choice early on to dive into music headfirst, Maidza kick-started a career that will yield her fair share of precious things like gold, silver, platinum and diamonds.

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