Mar 23 - Loyal Lobos / MorMor / Leon Bridges / Maggie Rogers

I've been out traveling all week for work, and my sister was with me, which means after work we were doing stuff. So I didn't have much time to blog. But I'm back in Shanghai and there's a couple new songs that came out in the last couple weeks I want to share. Plus a couple songs I've been wanting to share since January and haven't yet. So I'm just gonna throw a bunch of songs up here for you today. And we'll go in chronological order of me hearing them.

Which means we start with Loyal Lobos. This is the project of Colombian-born Andrea Silva. She came to the US a few years ago and has now put out a couple singles, the first of which is The Fall. Actually listening to it now it's nice but a bit poppy. Maybe not as amazing as I thought at first. But it's been here to share with you for like 2 months so it's getting shared.

The other new artist whose debut I've been waiting 2 months to share is MorMor, the project from Seth Nyquist from Toronto. Where lots of good music comes from. And this one has stood the test of two months time. Still great. So here's Heaven's Only Wishful, his debut single?

Then there's the new songs from the old-ish artists. Neither is actually so old, but these are not their debut singles I'm sharing anyway. So Leon Bridges put out two singles a couple weeks ago, which are the first off his upcoming sophomore album, Good Thing, which will be out in May. Both are great, but Bad Bad News is definitely the best. A bit more clean and modern than his last album, but he's still got that classic sound. And this song's got a great groove. Looking forward to the new album!




And then last night I found out there's a song called Split Stones from Maggie Rogers. It's actually like 6 months old, but for some reason I'm just hearing about it. She shared this post-EP and called it a parting gift, saying she was going away for a while. So who knows what she's doing. Probably finishing college. Cause she's a tiny baby. But a very talented tiny baby. And this song is a great parting gift. Hopefully only a temporary one.

Mar 15 - Son Lux

I intended to keep writing about Australia today, but I'm out of time. Whoops. But I wrote about music so you can read that, at least. And I'll write about Australia again next time.

So after a couple of new artists, let's talk about a not so new artist - Son Lux. He/they have made it into the blog a few times over the last years, and the new album, Brighter Wounds, came out just before I went to Australia. It's a great one, and there are a couple of stand out tracks in particular. My favorite is All Directions. I especially love it from about 3:20, when it breaks down. Not sure you can really call it a breakdown, cause it's all pretty chill, but then it gets even more chill and beautiful and then picks up and goes a bit wacky, which most of his songs can do. And which I love. Also, when I saw him live, his drummer is insane. And I can just imagine him going totally insane and this song being incredible live.





Um yeah, so that's awesome. And so is Surrounded. Typical Son Lux, if you ask me. Just great stuff. Great album. That's my review. Two thumbs up.

Mar 13 - Haley Heynderickx

My life is finally starting to slow down. After the long week last week, I had visitors this weekend, so I was showing them all around Shanghai. This included long days, late nights, much booze, and not enough sleep. Even on Sunday night, actually, I didn't get enough sleep. I went to sleep at a decent hour, and then was up at like 4:30am for some reason. Super annoying. So yesterday was rough at hte office. But today was good, and from tomorrow things will really calm down. But my brain works today, so I can write a bit about my trip.

I went to Australia for Chinese New Year. Which I'm sure you knew. It was amazing. I was on the west coast, in and out of Perth with some side trips up and down the coast, and I absolutely loved it. Perth is a pretty cool city, not too big but pretty diverse and really chill and everyone is super friendly. Plus we were there for both Perth Fringe (I've been told it's like Edinburgh Fringe) and the Perth Festival, which means there was all kinds of arts and performances going on the entire time. My friend Shuk-wah and I were at multiple shows every night, and we saw everything from burlesque to circus to acrobatics to cabaret to comedy and more. And all of it is so cheap. I think the most expensive ticket we bought was like $18. They're all like 30-60 minutes, so nothing too long, and it is really hit or miss because there's a bunch of amateur stuff mixed in, but overall, it is awesome. The best acts I saw were probably this acrobatics thing called By A Thread, where 5 people used a single, long rope on 2 pulleys and did aerial acrobatics using each other as counterweights. It was amazing. And then there was this Comedy Dungeons and Dragons improv I went to. I have never played D&D, but I know the idea (it's a fantasy RPG where you have a character, there's a dungeon master who reads the story, you decide what you want to do in context, the dungeon master rolls to see if you can do what you want or not, and you just keep going trying to solve whatever mission there is to solve in the fantasy world). So imagine that, but with improv. It really doesn't sound like anything amazing, but it was hilarious. I was in tears. It was so good. I almost went twice. Which I could have because there are many different characters and worlds and missions and comedians who could have been doing it. But I didn't go again. Anyway, it was hilarious. Add to this Laneway Festival, a Lucius concert, and a Roger Waters concert (who I am not a huge fan of, not huge fan of Pink Floyd either, but my friend was in the show and got me tickets and holy shit it was an incredible show. Like maybe one of my top 5 concerts ever. Never seen anything like it. Imagine Justin Timberlake doing an arena concert in like 50 years, with all kinds of awesome visuals but also with amazing music and musicians, not just a bunch of pop), and you've got a fantastic trip. I'll tell you the rest later, because I have a lot of music to write about and I need to save some other things to tell you. So today you get Perth, next time you get more.

And today you get some music. Good music. I have got someone amazing for you today. I actually found Haley Heynderickx a while ago, when her single Oom Sha La La got some traction. It's a cute little song, but wasn't enough to get me hooked. And then I heard this song Worth It, and that made me pay attention. At that point she didn't have much else out, just a couple singles and an EP, but she has just released her debut album I Need To Start A Garden, and I am obsessed with it. So first, have a listen to Worth It and let's see if you feel the same way.





Eh? Eh? Amazing, right? So Heynderickx (which I can only assume is not her real name) is a Filipino American from Portland, Oregon. I think she's Filipino America, she might just be Filipino. Which doesn't matter except to say that this is the 2nd Filipino making wonderful music who I've come to know about recently (the other being Jay Som) and maybe we need to pay a bit more attention to these Filipino Americans. But anyway, as you already heard, she makes kind of folky, rocky, Americana music a la Angel Olsen. Except I think she's so much better than Angel Olsen. Anyone who likes Angel Olsen should also like Haley Heynderickx, but in my opinion, much more. And people like Angel Olsen a lot, so I hope that happens for Haley. But then you've gotta throw in a little Regina Spektor or Joanna Newsom quirk to really capture Haley's sound, and you've got a great mix. That really comes out in Show You A Body, which is by far my favorite song on this little album. I could listen to it over and over and over. And I have. The whole album, in fact. Because it is wonderful. Short, only 8 tracks, but 8 damn good tracks.

And because I just went back on YouTube to see if there were better links and found a new link for The Bug Collector, I'm also going to put it on here. Because I also love this song. It's the 2nd track, but it's kind of like the real opener, because No Face (the actual opener) is very short, blends right into this one, and makes this one feel like the first track. Plus I love the way she uses subtle trombone on the album to just create warmth and depth and you really get that in this track. I know it's only March, but if this album does not make it into my Top 10 (honestly, probably Top 3) for the year, then you know it is a damn good year for music.

Mar 8 - Loma

Goodness, it has been a long time since I've been here. It's been a crazy month. I was in Australia on vacation (which was amazing) and then I went straight back to Bangkok to run a conference (which went very well, thanks for asking) and then finally came back to Shanghai where things have been non-stop with late meetings and work dinners every night and my sister now living here and also friends coming to visit from tomorrow. Just craziness. And work has been nuts also. So my brain is a bit fried. I will tell you about Australia, but later.

For now, I have so much music to share. So much good stuff. I've got 6 drafts lined up and waiting to go. And we're starting with the best, which is Loma. It's the best in terms of they're making my favorite music out of everyone who I'm going to tell you about (and will very likely be in my top 10 this year), but also they make beautiful, calming, soothing music. For example, Joy, which is beautiful and calming and soothing.





Now don't let the first song fool you. Loma does not make happy music. They make sad and distant and haunting music. It's still beautiful and calming and soothing, but it is not joyful. Even Joy, which you would think is joyful from the name of the song, is not. Somehow, they're comparing the loss of love and night falling and fire engulfing everything to a million waves of joy. But damn if they don't make it pretty. They are much more obvious in their general music ethos with the next song, I Don't Want Children. Yeah, fun stuff, right? But so good.





So now we're really into the haunting part. And I should probably tell you about the band also. Because I first heard them and liked them, and got even more excited when I read about them and figured out who I was listening to. And I Don't Want Children may have given you a clue. It's Cross Record. I found Cross Record in 2015, fell in love, put them in my Top 10 in 2016, and then they disappeared. But now they're back with a new name and a new configuration.

To retell the story, Cross Record was a husband and wife duo who moved from Chicago to a farm in rural Texas and made an album together. And that album was beautiful and haunting. Then, they started touring with this guy Jonathan Meiburg and they hit it off musically and decided to collaborate. So they started making music together as Loma. During which time the husband and wife duo of Cross Record split up. But kept working together. And then their eponymous debut album was the result. It doesn't have the same kind of building, explosive moments as Cross Record made, but the detail on this one is impressive. They would just record noises outside the house they were working in, and they got them all into the album. Listen for dogs and crickets and floorboards and all kinds of stuff. There are a lot of similarities to Cross Record, but it's subtly different. Shadow Relief is a great place to hear them. First, you can hear that the voice is different. Emily Cross, the singer, brought her voice down a step, so it sounds familiar but not the same (although it's close on I Don't Want Children and a few other songs). And then you've got the build. I keep expecting this song to explode in the same way Steady Waves did. But it never does. But it is still fantastic. And I love the little vocal bit when she says "I can see you're miles away." So good. Gives me all the chills. This whole album. I've listened to it many times. It makes me calm and happy. Which I need this week. I love it.