Brit-rockers Peace first caught my attention at this year’s SXSW. While I was working at Lustre Pearle on Rainey Street, I heard infectious dance beats down the street at Clive Bar and made a mental note to find out who that band was. Alas, bombarded with end-of-festival breakdown, one too many celebratory drinks, and the topper, a missed flight home, Peace got buried in the chaos.
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Experimental hip-hop has been around for quite some time. Just ask LA producer Tom Wilson, who’s been tinkering with sounds from all over the musical spectrum since he grew up with the wave of fresh and aspiring hip-hop artists that dominated the early 1990s. But while these figures were influential to Wilson back then, he’s been working his way up the ranks over the last decade to become as equally influential to today’s young artists in the genre. His biography puts it perfectly: Wilson is “a pioneer in a faction of progressive producers pushing the envelope of modern music technology and sonic artistry.”
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Ten years ago Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello, also known as electronic artist Dntel, created an album that would not only become an instant hit, but that would also change the face of indie music forever.
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Formerly known as Coups2Cross, C2C is a French turntable collective comprised of Nantes natives Hocus Pocus’ 20Syl and Greem and Beat Torrent’s Atom and Pfel. Having listened to their debut release, Tetra, religiously for the last several months, I was bubbling with anticipation last Friday when I made my way to Coachella’s Sahara tent at 1:30 in the afternoon to catch their set.

They did not disappoint in the slightest.
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Once upon a time, trap music referred to a very specific brand of Southern-fried hip hop. No more. Now its 808-flavored goodness has leaked into the world of electronic music for better or worse. TNGHT definitely (definitively?) falls on the “better” side of the spectrum.
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When the eclectic Björk Guðmundsdóttir (better known as simply Björk) brings her “scientific musical” tour Biophilia to Los Angeles, she’ll leave behind another gift as well. In addition to her three LA performances, she is hosting a series of interactive workshops designed to teach students about the relationships between music, science, and technology. These workshops have previously been held in Manchester, Reykjavík, Oslo, Buenos Aires, New York, and Paris, and the Golden State tour dates of San Francisco and Los Angeles can soon be added to that list.
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I went to SXSW this year and saw thirty bands total. I had heard or researched a majority of those 30 bands before attending the Austin festival and came prepared with a list of artists I knew I wanted to see. I created a “safe” zone, if you will.
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There is definitely an element of right place, right time about Tokimonsta, known to her friends and loved ones as Jennifer Lee. This LA native is also a beats DJ in the middle of a super-inclusive scene that has already seen her headlining at Low End Theory (her last appearance there was just a few weeks back) and mixing with the Brainfeeder crew fronted by the ubiquitous Flying Lotus. As the city’s premier DJ, the timing seems about right to drop an attention-grabbing album.
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The Reflections, a Los Angeles-based duo comprised of Darian Zahedi and Jon Safley, delve into surrealistic backdrops anchored by Zahedi’s vocal lead and similar to those of Jonathan Bates’ Big Black Delta. Their dance-worthy bass lines in “Disconnected” resonate with supporting vocals and escalating percussion, reminding me of my love for post-rock progressions.
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