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Rarelyalways thrives on asserting himself in the lines that exist between genres. Born in London to a West African family, he excelled in music from a young age, absorbing gospel, R&B, and – especially – jazz in the process. Accepted into the BRIT School, he’d swap gigs depping on double bass in a jazz septet with heavy rock concerts, constantly challenging himself. As he grew as a songwriter, Rarelyalways came to stand for something defiant, a specific spirit within his chest.
After creating quite the buzz on his debut album in 2023, Rarelyalways returns with a new single "Paid," early 2000 UK Grime fused with horn lines inspired by John Coltrane as both lyricists go back-to-back
The kings of California cool, Allah-Las return with another laid back summer chiller that takes you on a journey from Malibu to Montego Bay incorporating sunshine sounds of dub, reggae, funk & jazz. From the archives of the Zuma ‘85 sessions, a small sampling of oddities and lost recordings left on the mixing room floor.
Cool Band Alert… “a veritable buffet of dancefloor-ready sounds, from bubbly disco rave-ups and gritty underground club bangers, to stretched out slow jams that ache with sincerity.” Bandcamp
“A delightfully deranged party girl whose bleepy vintage synths, sleazy chug and tireless disco keeps things weird in the right way” The Guardian
“Gelli Haha is ready for her close-up. The LA artist’s debut LP is for fans of weird and whimsical pop concoctions, offering 10 tracks that would feel at home in either a contemporary art exhibit or a discotheque.” The Boston Globe
“well worth your attention” KCRW
“… an album of such effervescence it is practically a geyser” The Quietus
Gelli Haha’s stellar debut album Switcheroo is here. A shapeshifter, a sonic acrobat, a performer with one foot in the cosmos and the other in arthouse theatrics, Gelli Haha (pronounced Jelly-Haha) is a space for pure creative chaos that exists somewhere between Studio 54 and Area 51. Gelli’s music thrives on duality: playful but profound, tongue-in-cheek but sincere. Switcheroo is the soundtrack to the Gelliverse, a sensory adventure sphere created by Gelli.
With a shared taste for off-kilter pop and vintage gear, producer Sean Guerin (of De Lux) joined Gelli in turning freshly-formed demos into a high-voltage experiment, abandoning meticulous structure for something freer and more electrifying. Every song on Switcheroo makes use of a myriad of recording toys; wacky analog effects, such as the Eventide Harmonizer, MXR Pitch Transposer, and various Electrix units, fashion an intentionally flawed and strictly silly texture throughout the album. Switcheroo is an exercise in letting go, an inside joke turned theatrical spectacle.
L’Eclair, the electrifying and genre-hopping Swiss ensemble formed and led by Bulgarian brothers Stef and Yavor Lilov, have released Cloud Drifter, their hotly anticipated debut – stream/buy here. Meticulously crafted over the last four years, Cloud Drifter marks a departure from L’Eclair’s signature instrumental music, featuring vocals from a wide slate of frequent collaborators – including Pink Siifu, girl named GOLDEN, Gelli Haha, INES and more. Having toured with the likes of The Cinematic Orchestra and WITCH–including writing and recording for the latter’s 2023 and forthcoming 2025 albums–and produced for wide-ranging artists including Varnish La Piscine and Allah-Las member Maston, the Lilov brothers have assembled a vast network of likeminded musicians. Across Cloud Drifter, they keenly curate a cohesive vision incorporating many disparate contributions.
The album includes the previously released single “REPLICA M001,” a jazz-infused collaboration with storied rapper Pink Siifu as well as lead single “ODESSOS,” a driving and atmospheric album highlight that transmits the infectious energy of the band’s live shows, featuring vocals from Phoebe Coco and A Ghost Column, the explosive, high-energy instrumental synth anthem “VERTIGO,” and the cheeky, upbeat Gelli Haha collaboration “RUN.”
L’Eclair will embark on a North American tour this fall, including stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Tickets are on sale now here.
L’Eclair has built an international fanbase thanks to its impressive command of rhythm, dynamics and electro/acoustic alchemy, which has nodded equally to vocal-free titans such as Can and Tortoise, expansive, spacey and blissed-out jams (2021’s Confusions) and more stripped-down, feel-good and genre-jumping destinations (the 2018 debut Polymood). Two live sessions for KEXP have accumulated nearly 900,000 views combined, beaming L’Eclair onto the playlists of adventurous listeners around the world.
Jonah Yano surprises fans with a new song produced by Mk.gee “Homerun 2021”.
The two first began working on this song back in 2021 after a stint where Yano stayed with Mk.gee in LA, often revisiting the instrumental from their first jam session and writing lyrics on a drive home after returning to Montreal. It’s a sonic reminder of that time in Yano’s life and his friendship with Mk.gee, who added his enigmatic production and guitar tones to compliment Yano’s tender voice.