After more than twelve years of global touring, eleven albums, countless collaborations, label-head tastemaking and vital artist-incubator in the USA’s most critical beat-making cities (SF, Chicago, NYC), Eliot Lipp’s status as an electronic music pioneer is known to scene connoisseurs and weekend warriors alike. Lipp’s omnivorous tastes are apparent, from the obvious funk and myriad manifestations of hip-hop though less explicit reference points as jazz fusion, folk and techno. His well-earned reputation as a producer’s producer stems, in part, from his craftsmanship. Never content with well-worn breaks and effects, his work incorporates a fetishistic love of analogue gear with sampledelic flourishes, intricate rhythmic patterns and more than a few leftfield surprises. But his melodic instincts and tunefulness are what have earned him such wide appeal, his songwriterly connection to music’s storytelling possibilities, even without words.

((( los angeles, california )))

The Regrettes are Lydia Night’s latest project with friends Genessa Gariano (guitar), Sage Chavis (bass) and drummer Maxx Morando. The Regrettes have been tearing up the LA club scene playing with Kate Nash, Peaches, Bleached, Deap Vally, PINS, La Luz and Summer Twins leaving L.A.’s jaded rock critics to write such things as “Everybody was floored by The Regrettes—the new poster children for local teen garage rock.” and “The Regrettes rocked with a ferocity and penchant for hooks that schools most indie rockers twice their age. They will surely run an empire in ten years tops.”

((( los angeles, california )))



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^ Big Dipper is the raunchy big boy bear of internet rap. His unique sound and catchy wordplay challenge typical hip-hop tropes, and his fat boy style brings all the boys to the yard. Big Dipper’s live show has been performed all over the world; and with almost 2M views on his youtube channel, he is best known for his viral music videos: LaCroix Boi, Drip Drop, Meat Quotient, and Skank. Big Dipper was named one of Hip Hop’s Queer Pioneers by DETAILS magazine and has been profiled by VICE , Red Eye Chicago, the Huffington Post, Out.com, Chicago Reader, and more.

((( new orleans, louisiana )))

Redefining the possibilities of modern music, The Russ Liquid Test fuses the raw vitality of classic funk and the inventive sound design of electronic production. Songwriter/producer and renowned brass specialist Russell Scott heads up the New Orleans-based band. Guitarist Andrew Block and drummer Deven Trusclair round things out, with each providing a distinct musical background deeply rooted in the New Orleans jazz scene. A kinetic energy infuses each track by the Russ Liquid Test. Giving way to a mixture of funk/jazz/electro, The Russ Liquid Test evokes a kaleidoscope of textures, senses, and moods.

((( montreal, quebec )))

Montreal’s Milk & Bone create melodies that are both dreamy and harrowing. Made up of electronic textures and layered synths, Lafond-Beaulne and Poliquin’s sonic universe distinguishes itself from the electro-pop genre thanks to their perfectly-paired vocal colours. Their mesmerizing harmonies explore the darker aspects of love, friendship and lust. Their tightly-knit bond, palpable in their creative process and throughout the album, is a key part of their live shows. Milk & Bone’s debut album, Little Mourning, got the attention of The Guardian, NYLON, V Magazine, The Globe and Mail and Interview Magazine, and was long-listed for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize. The band won the 2015 Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada “Breakthrough Award” and was nominated at the 2016 JUNO Awards for Breakthrough Group of the Year. They were also nominated at the Canadian Screen Awards for Achievement in Music – Original Song for Podz’ movie King Dave, and the film’s popular theme song, Natalie, has over 4 million streams on Spotify. Milk & Bone’s new album, Deception Bay, comes out Feb 2nd, 2018 via Bonsound.

((( los angeles, california )))

Starcrawler are a Los Angeles rock & roll band formed one year ago when Arrow de Wilde first met Henri Cash on the high school yard in Echo Park. The rhythm section of Austin Smith and Tim Franco came soon after, found on the streets of Hollywood. They play rock & roll music heavy and loud and their incendiary performances resemble the children of the Cramps, the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs, and Alice Cooper. Starcrawler’s self-titled debut album will be released on January 19th, 2018 via Rough Trade . Recorded by Ryan Adams on analog tape at his Pax-Am studio, the 10 songs on the album prove that yes, they ARE making rock and roll exciting again.

((( new york, new york )))

Yonatan Gat and his band are doing something you will not see anywhere else. The power trio sets up on the floor of every venue from giant clubs to basements—DIY style among sweaty dancing bodies—playing intricate improvisation sets that channel “everything from Afrobeat grooves to Middle Eastern folk melodies to straight up rock n’ roll noise, sometimes all within the span of one song – weaving the global smattering of styles seamlessly together like the great jazz musicians of the ’60s”. // “In the much-missed Monotonix, guitarist Yonatan Gat was the anchor, but his music since is clearly the product of a frenzied, restless spirit. Here, Gat and company touch on everything from bossa nova to soukous, Tortoise-style jazz-rock to the head-swimming spazz-outs of Ponytail.” – Pitchfork

((( los angeles, california )))

“Sacramento, California electronic duo Rituals of Mine is the symbolic rebirth for singer/songwriter Terra Lopez and producer Dani Fernandez. Formerly known as Sister Crayon, the pair has been performing together since 2010. Although Lopez created Sister Crayon, Fernandez joined the fold and they released two albums (2011’s Bellow and 2013’s Cynic) of beat-focused dark synth that was inspired by trip-hop and ’90s hip-hop. While recording the third Sister Crayon album, Devoted, in 2015, a series of tragedies befell Lopez: the deaths of both her father and her best friend. After the twin losses, the pair decided to change their name, both as a way to put their loved ones to rest together with the name they knew in life, as well as to brand themselves with a moniker that fully belonged to both women. They signed with Warner Bros. and continued work on Devoted. Along with producers Wes Jones and Dave Clauss, Lopez and Fernandez also called upon the mixing talents of Tom Coyne (Led Zeppelin, Adele) for recording sessions in St. Augustine, Florida. Writing credits for the release also included contributions by Omar Rodriguez Lopez (At the Drive-In, the Mars Volta) on the title track. In 2016, they released “Ride or Die,” influenced by the sounds of Portishead and Massive Attack. Before the release of the LP, they would further build their audience with opening stints for Deftones and Tricky.” ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi

((( los angeles, california )))

For years, Sonny Smith has built his own brand of indie-folk and rock & roll, growing into a cult favorite along the way. To those who know his work, he’s an incredibly prolific creator, with a dozen albums to his name and a handful of related projects — including multiple stage plays, a full-length musical and his nationally-recognized art installation, “100 Bands” — under his belt. A longtime fixture of San Francisco’s arts scene, he’s managed to fly just beneath the mainstream’s radar for decades, while still releasing a string of acclaimed records with labels like Fat Possum and Polyvinyl. On his newest record, Rod For Your Love, he gets back to basics. Produced by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach and recorded in Nashville, Rod For Your Love roots itself in old-school, guitar-fueled rock & roll. These are love songs built for the garage and the dance floor, with big-hearted melodies and thick harmonies. It’s the stuff you might’ve heard in the 1960s, back when groups like the Kinks and the Velvet Underground were making left-field pop songs that celebrated the form while still bending the rules. With stacked vocal harmonies that sweep their way throughout the track list, Rod For Your Love nods to the past while still moving forward. It’s a classic-sounding album that still belongs to the 21st century. Sonny Smith will release his new album, Rod for Your Love, on March 2, 2018, via Easy Eye Sound.

((( boise, idaho )))

Clarke and the Himselfs is Heart-Warming Rock and Roll. One self, psych rock band, Clarke performing live with a drumstick in hand, guitar strings under her thumb, vocals that cut right to the point with a Moe Tucker rhythm laid underneath, with C&TH, she takes basement rock fuzz, pop precision, molten neo-psych, weirdo gutter punk while singing exception art/psych damage pop songs. C&TH re-amalgamated in 2011 at Grandmas House, in Boise, Idaho with three shows where Clarke performed, for the first time on drums, guitar, and vocals, with Demmi Netson as an addition on percussion. Before this interval, there were 11 self-recorded multi-tracked C&TH albums spanning from 2004-2011, with live performances taking a different shape than they did with the 2011 incarnation. Shortly there-after Clarke moved to New Orleans where she would write the bulk of the material that became ‘Clarke and the Himselfs’ (Curly Cassettes, 2013) and ‘Clarke and the Himselfs II’ (Heart in Box, 2014). OLIVIA JEAN ((( nashville, tennessee ))) Olivia Jean began her career in Detroit, Michigan with her surf-inspired solo act Idée Fixe. In 2009, Olivia Jean signed with Third Man Records and moved to Nashville, TN where she, Ruby Rogers, and Shelby Lynne formed The Black Belles. The Black Belles released their self-titled debut album in 2011 on Third Man Records. Olivia Jean’s “What Can I Do?” from the Black Belles debut album was used as the theme song for Elvira’s Movie Macabre. The Black Belles performed on The Colbert Show as Stephen Colbert’s backing band. In 2014, Olivia Jean released her solo debut album on Third Man Records titled “Bathtub Love Killings.” New Noise Magazine described her sound as “That of an unsavory love triangle between Patsy Cline, Nancy Sinatra and Siouxsie Sioux, with a melancholy croon that is unmistakable.” Olivia Jean’s cover of “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks, was used for an Yves Saint Laurent advertisement. In support of her debut album, Olivia Jean toured with acts such as The Pixies, Jack White, and Jenny Lewis. Olivia Jean has toured as a guitarist and bassist for Jack White, Wanda Jackson, and Karen Elson. Olivia Jean has also been featured as a session musician on recordings for artists including Wanda Jackson, Kate Pierson of The B-52’s, The Secret Sisters, Jack White, John C. Reilly, Karen Elson, and Tom Jones. Olivia Jean is currently recording her second solo album.