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Listen to FIDLAR, L.A.'s newest catchy punks.
FIDLAR's name stands for "F*** It Dog Life's a Risk" -- a ballsy mission statement from the L.A. garage band. That's not to say the group takes itself seriously: Its Bandcamp page genre tags include "drunk" and "El Pollo Loco." (Despite the best taco trucks in America next door, the band's got a thing for Mexican chain restaurants.)
On "Wake Bake Skate," the group bemoans the life of an L.A. skater: "I don't have a job and I don't have a phone/I don't have a life and I'm always stoned." The band's four-track DIYDUI EP is full of characters with, uh, chemically inclined hobbies, with "Max Can't Surf" tackling a would-be board rider who eats Del Taco and sleeps in when he should be out catching waves.
+ Read more about FIDLAR after the jump.
Check out the buzz on Rob A!
It's not every day that we get to do a "Buzz On" an artist who's already been nominated for a FREAKING GRAMMY, but welcome to that day, everyone. Though you might not know him by name (yet), New Jersey born singer/songwriter/producer Robert Allen, known to his fans as Rob A!, has been tearing up your airwaves since around 2008 -- that was the year Chris Brown's "Forever" went No. 1 and the year Rihanna's "Disturbia" went No. 1. It was also the year that Rob A! happened to cowrite BOTH of those songs. (No biggie or anything.) And we're not stopping there -- Rob A!'s also written records for Kelly Rowland, Usher, Omarion and Jessie J. Pretty sure he's the living definition of "killin' it" right now.
+ Hear more about Rob A! after the jump!
Get to know Swedish songstress Amanda Mair.
Fun fact: Sweden produces amazing pop music at, like, 20 times the rate we can do it here in the States. How do they do it? Nobody knows! But the reality is our domestic pop acts just can't compete with the flawless likes of Robyn and Lykke Li, so y'all lessers should probably stop trying, 'K? 'K.
The latest Swedish export to catch our eye is 17-year-old wunderkind Amanda Mair, who is basically the amalgamation of all of our favorite things about lots of other really amazing pop acts (think Marina + The Diamonds mixed with Belle & Sebastian), yet somehow sounds like nobody else in the game. Raised on an island outside of Stockholm, Sweden, she was discovered by über-hip record label Labrador (who launched the careers of fellow Swedish pop geniuses such as The Sound of Arrows and and The Radio Dept.) when she was 15, who then hooked her up with producer Philip Ekström of the dream pop band The Mary Onettes. With him, she's churned out several striking tracks, with startlingly mature and sophisticated lyrics and tight, instantaneous melodies; she's garnering attention from outlets such as Nylon, Popjustice, and The Washington Post.
+ Read more about Amanda Mair after the jump.
Punk rock could always use more girl power. The latest lady to step up to the plate is Jenna McDougall, frontwoman of Australian rockers Tonight Alive. The 19-year-old platinum blonde has a Hayley Williams-size voice and a style all her own -- she rocks leopard print like a boss in the band's "Wasting Away" video. The four-piece band is equally fierce, bringing a full-frontal assault of intricate drumming, thunderous low end and spiky guitar melodies that should make Paramore fans giddy. (Evidence: us, right now, jumping around the room and terrifying the cat.)
The band made its name Down Under with a pair of hard-hitting EPs, All Shapes And Disguises and Consider This, which earned attention overseas from Blink-182's Mark Hoppus and producer Mark Trombino. The results? Hoppus laid down guest vocals on the band's track "Thankyou & Goodnight" and Trombino (Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World) gave his legendary pop-punk expertise to the band's new album, What Are You Scared Of? during two months of L.A. sessions.
We'd say they're more than ready for their U.S. debut: Tonight Alive already killed it at last year's Bamboozle Festival and will be heading out on a national tour this spring, including a stop at cred-making Austin festival SXSW. What Are You Scared Of? drops on Feb. 14, and we can't imagine a better band to kiss off those Valentine's Day blues with -- or to make out to on the way to that romantic dinner.
+ Listen To Tonight Alive.
Credit: Soft Swells
Soft Swells are a band of New York expats turned proud Californians -- they named the group after the ocean, after all -- though the music's more rugged than you'd expect from the City of Angels. On single "Every Little Thing," Soft Swells channel the Technicolor guitar-pop of Summerteeth-era Wilco, balancing high-flying synthesizer parts against guitars straight from the garage and frontman Tim Williams' borderline-twangy vocals. Guitarist Matt Welsh's former band, Phonograph, spent some time touring with the long-lived Chicago group, so it's no surprise the elder act rubbed off -- Williams, too, sounds more Midwestern than Brooklyn-bred.
Wilco’s not the only influence: "Lifeboats," which the group's previewing in acoustic form on its Facebook page, offers a gentler side, full of intricate guitar picking that nods to Fleet Foxes' swaying folk. Before meeting up with Welsh, Williams was releasing well-polished indie-rock albums for Dovecoat Records, but Soft Swells' shambling sound feels like a more natural fit for the singer's emotive pipes.
The band's the latest addition to L.A.'s impressive indie-rock scene, which includes unsigned jammers Lord Huron and the rusty anthems of Apex Manor, among like-minded acts. (And you probably thought all Cali had was Kardashians.) We’ll admit, it’s pretty easy to get distracted from rocking with all this sunshine and trips to In-N-Out, but Soft Swells are staying focused: The duo's self-titled debut album is due Feb. 28 on Modern Outsider Records. Save it for your next beach day.
+ Listen to Soft Swells.
How many MCs can rap "I'ma ruin you, c***" in a Mickey Mouse sweater and pigtails? Just one. That's what Azealia Banks does in New York celebration "212," a song that drops the c-word a half-dozen times and announces herself as a "rude b****." Then she sings! It's pretty nuts!
You could think of her as an NC-17 Nicki Minaj -- both went to LaGuardia High, the Manhattan performing arts school -- but Banks says she's her own woman. She actually says she switched her style up after Minaj's success: "I really forced myself to change my ideas," she told the Village Voice. "I can't do what I originally planned to do because, for whatever reason, this woman is already doing it."
But you'd have a hard time mistaking the singer-rapper for anyone else. The fresh-faced artist, whose smile is practically too big for YouTube, has been evolving her style since she starting rapping at age 16 -- four years ago. No biggie. Her sound has ranged from the minimalist, Neptunes-influenced hip-hop of "L8R" to a chilly, totally serious synth-pop cover of Interpol's indie anthem "Slow Hands" to the double-time rapping of "Runnin,'" which flosses with an on-point flow.
If that doesn't make her sound like she's already running the world, Banks just signed to Universal, sold out a U.K. tour, booked a slot at Coachella and (deep breath!) worked on her next video with Nicola Formichetti, Lady Gaga stylist/BFF. She's basically our hero. BRB, ordering some Mickey Mouse tops.
+ Listen to Azealia Banks. (Language NSFW.)
Imagine Ke$ha without the heavy eyeliner, Dev with longer hair and a rapping version of KT Tunstall -- you almost have yourself Chicago-born K.Flay. Oh, and throw in a dual degree in psychology and sociology from Stanford University. I KNOW.
K.Flay fans call her a writer of hip-hop and pop, but where K.Flay really kills it is on the vox: This girl can saaaang. But she can also spit rhymes like a total boss. And probably due in part to that highly pedigreed education of hers, K.Flay's rhymes are intricate and especially thoughtful. On her track "Doctor Don't Know," for example, K.Flay skillfully combines her sense of humor with real-life issues: "Yeah, it's fun to be carefree/Till you're clinging to the edge just barely/I have less sex than a mathlete/Wanna know the deal, don't ask me/Last night I called the doctor and he said to me/'No matter what you try to do you're gonna die eventually.' " You try successfully referencing mathletes and mortality in the same stanza... I rest my case.
Though she's still considered "on the come-up" K.Flay's already shared the stage with some seriously famous peeps: Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and 3OH!3, to name a few. She just came off a tour with Theophilus London, and she's dropping her Eyes Shut EP Jan. 31. Whoever said college degrees don't get you anywhere anymore obviously hasn't done their homework.
+ Listen to K.Flay, and watch her O Music Blog WTF Wednesday video below.
Get More: K. Flay, MTV Hive, Watch More Hive Videos
If you want to be the coolest person at Starbucks this week (and next month/next year/forever), you're going to need to pour some Michael Kiwanuka into your life. With a voice that sounds like it's been frozen in carbonite since 1967, the 24-year-old British soul man has drawn comparisons to American greats such as Otis Redding and scored a record deal with Interscope. He's also toured with Adele (hang on, make that HE'S ALSO TOURED WITH ADELE) and was the recent winner of the BBC's influential Sound of 2012 poll, topping 2011 breakthroughs such as Frank Ocean, Skrillex and A$AP Rocky. I think this calls for a "Boom goes the dynamite!"
But Kiwanuka's music speaks for itself. Rather than channel Redding's rhythmic, upbeat style, Kiwanuka's songs are gentle tapestries of acoustic guitars and string arrangements woven to cradle his sublime vocals. It's the sort of classic, crooner-era sound musicians from M. Ward to Norah Jones have brought back before -– but never quite like this. The faded photos that cover his Home Again and I'm Getting Ready EPs echo the vintage feel; title track "Home Again," with its simple plea for a better day ("Home again, home again/One day I know, I'll feel home again") feels timeless from the opening notes.
Michael Kiwanuka's full-length debut is due in March, with the singer set to tenderly invade bonkers Austin new music festival SXSW the same month. His conquest of your latte-sipping hours begins right now.
+ Listen to Michael Kiwanuka.
The music of The Heaven Switch is all about getting down to earth. L.A. songwriter Ryan Calhoun's pop-rock project offers electric guitars, Ahab-size hooks and a whole lot of heart: "Don't care that you're messy," he sings in "Trainwreck." (Dude clearly hasn't seen our desk.) But he seems like a sweetheart: "I'd knock out Mike Tyson, too/Right in his dumb tattoo," he sings in "Raise A Flag." That's devotion. Also, a really bad idea: Mike Tyson was a professional boxer! File that under: The things you never forget after watching "The Hangover" 10 times.
Chances are The Heaven Switch has already pushed your buttons: Calhoun's songs have been in "One Tree Hill," "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," "Real World" and "Real Talk, Every Other Show You Watch." (We may have made that last one up.) His melodic sound touches on the upbeat anthems of vintage Matchbox Twenty and Plain White T's, with whom he shares producer Bill Lefler -– as well as Mike Green, who’s worked with Beyoncé and Paramore. Calhoun shows his softer side, too, going acoustic for mid-album future chart-toppers "Fault Lines" and "Someday."
The scary thing is he almost pawned off his music career: Ryan had to sell a truckload of gear to pay the bills after a relationship went sour. (We're here for you, Ryan! As long as you don't mind the giant piles of laundry on the couch, but you did already say you were cool with it, right?)
While we're cleaning up, The Heaven Switch's self-titled debut drops Jan. 24.
+ Listen to The Heaven Switch.
Credit: Bryan Sheffield
Cider Sky is having the best year of their lives. The ethereal indie/pop duo formed by Canadian singer Simon Wilcox and London-born songwriter Shridhar Solanki are not only selling out shows left and right, but their song "Northern Lights" was chosen to appear on the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 soundtrack. Oh, and did we mention that "Northern Sky" was the very first song the band ever recorded? Right, forgot to mention they're superhuman, too.
In the whimsical "Northern Lights," Cider Sky sings of an impossible love turned real: "Every time I close my eyes I can touch the colors around me/Suddenly I realize everything I thought was impossible is here/And my heart sings in a world so incredible/And everything burns much brighter." If you don't speak "Twi-hard" that's code for: "holy crap, functional human-vampire relationships actually do exist."
But there's more to this band than just their "Twilight" fame. The duo has recently released their debut EP, King, a six-song collection that features a perfect blend of twinkling pop songs with roots in soulful folk. Songs like "Glowing In The Dark" ooze with quirky charm yet remain lyrically and melodically poignant.
+ Listen to Cider Sky.
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