[SONG OF THE DAY] The Kickdrums - "Bubblegum"

OG SKOA fam Alex Fitts known as The Kickdrums to the rest of the world has been so busy making other people sound good that it’s been close to 2 years since he’s released anything of his own. Fortunately for us, not only do we finally have something to follow up “Love Is Fine”, but Fitts has also announced that he’ll be dropping an EP, La Playa, later this spring. The new track, “Bubblegum”, fits well into the realm of The Kickdrums signature sound, but it’s a little bit more airy and easygoing than anything he’s released in recent memory. Something tells me that the location where the track was recorded has something to do with it given that it was made in a small beach town in southern Spain called Estepona.

Taking the time out from his Brooklyn home base has very clearly done him some good. “I was trying to explore new and different combinations of music for me as a producer/singer,” Fitts explained, “At times my music may sound like a band, but it's really just me with a drum machine and some instruments.”

Good to have to back, bb. Keep ‘em coming!

[SONG OF THE DAY] Mason - "Drowning In Your Love (feat. Jem Cooke)

Amsterdam producer Mason very casually launched a banger into the universe on Friday and I wish I had been more adequately prepared because “Drowning In Your Love” packs quite the glittery disco punch. The track features vocal stylings from London singer-songwriter Jem Cooke, who from the looks of her Spotify profile has been on her hustling A-game because she’s got hella features. Def going to be keeping tabs on her whereabouts ESPECIALLY when Mason has nothing but wonderful things to say about her on Facebook.

And with that, your Monday has briefly transformed into feeling like a Friday. You’re welcome.

Fri May 24 - Drop Hong Kong
Sat May 25 - Pepper Shenzhen China
Sun May 25 - Vinyl House Shenzhen China
Th May 30 - Octagon Tokyo Japan
Sat June 01 - Soap, Seoul S-Korea

[SONG OF THE DAY] Tom Aspaul - "Back 2 Earth"

Photo by Alice Rainis

After collaborating with Twitter fam Pat Lok on one hell of a bop, the baddest witch in all of London has returned with a new track of his very own, “Back 2 Earth”. I am so grateful that the world has Tom Aspaul because he is single handedly advancing The Slay Agenda™ on the daily all the while being the authentically beautiful and tender soul I’ve come to know him to be. Earlier today he shared on Instagram that over the past few months that he’s been in a rut of sorts and wasn’t sure if he was going to go on as a musician but that the process of releasing “Back 2 Earth” managed to shake that very unbecoming vibe off of him. As he detailed to Insta fam, “It’s very poetic that a song about self-care and self-belief would be the one to lift me out of this rut innit?”

Can you imagine a world without Tom Aspaul actively singing in it? Personally, I would very much prefer not to. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life.

I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and I’ve decided that the reason why I love Tom’s voice so much is because something about the way he sings always makes me feel like I just got a really sweet text from someone or like the caffeine finally hit. You cannot feel bad listening to Tom Aspaul. It’s just not possible.

Also according to the same Instagram post, we’re “not gonna believe what comes next!”

dis me now: 👀👀👀

[SONG OF THE DAY] Emotional Oranges - "Someone Else"

LA’s mystery collective Emotional Oranges have returned with another sampling from their forthcoming debut 8-song compilation, The Juice: Vol I, which drops on May 10th. Following up, “Built That Way”, their latest “Someone Else” is the first time that the group collaborated with someone outside of their team. This time around the group teamed up with Dante Jones of THEY., ,who produced the track. The song is all about openly telling your partner that if you’re unhappy in the relationship that they can simply find someone else.

Shortly after The Juice: Vol I drops the group will kick off their Chill Baby Chill tour on May 20th in Toronto. Tickets are sold out for most dates but def going to be worth trying to go check out.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Young & Sick - "No Good"

photo credit: Galen Oakes

Just this morning I was bopping “Jet Black Heart” this morning and thought to myself, “ugh yo Young & Sick is so good. When is that EP coming out again?”

Totally forgot it dropped on Friday. No worries tho. Crisis averted and all of that. It’s A Storm has been ingested into my chest cavity and HOOOO BOY THERE ARE A LOT OF FEELS GOING ON WITH THIS RECORD.

Life, you see, it’s not a breeze. It’s a storm.

If you wanna shimmy your way through your complicated feels about life, this is the absolute perfect soundtrack for that.

Word on the street is that the LA producer allegedly has more in the works so I promise to be more diligent in checking in on his whereabouts.

[SONG OF THE DAY] NVDES - "Stupid Dope"

After dropping their debut LP Vibe City Utah late last year LA’s NVDES are back and have dropped what will soon be the anthem for sativa smokers everywhere on Saturday, April 20th, 2019 and every 4/20 thereafter. This shit is high energy and the perfect length for someone whose regularly adequate attention span is….suddenly impaired.

Best know if you follow my personal Instagram that I will be doing stoned lip sync videos to this on Saturday. Happy to compete to see if anyone can outdo me as I will be leveraging as many of the wild ass indie IG filters that I’ve acquired over the past few months as I can. 🥴

[SONG OF THE DAY] Wrabel - "love to love u"

photo credit: Yazz Alali

Holy wow wow wow wow wow y’all bae-bel made a BOP!

The evolution of Wrabel since stumbling into his Sideways EP in 2014 has been one of my absolute favorite things to witness to date. These days though it feels like the more he’s taken ownership of who he is as both a human person and an artist that he’s able to fully realize and harness his musical superpowers. As he told the folks at Idolator in a recent interview, “I’m just taking really deep breaths, and doing whatever I want.” As it turns out, since last we checked in on the lil cutie crooner he parted ways with Epic, started his own label, Big Gay Records (!!! yes bb!! 😍), and just released his first track on his own, a bop that absolutely won’t stop, “love to love u”.

Favorite quote from the interview where he talks about the song:

“[…]I think I started opening my mind to the thought that, ‘Ok, maybe you don’t have to sit at the piano and write a sad song.’”

Bruh 😂😂😂

Growth looks so good on my dude. I’m so happy he’s happy.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Miss Eaves - "Exposure Kills"

Just in time for the sun to start coming out and ridding folks of their seasonal affective disorder Brooklyn badass Miss Eaves dropped her latest EP, appropriately titled SAD, which actually stems from her personal struggles with the disorder. Worry not, the internet, for in true fashion for the multimedia artist and rapper, she’s packaged up her experience with her signature witty lyrics and playfully catchy beats.

I can’t get over how perfect this EP is. Like really, I have mad kindred spirit vibes with Miss Eaves on this from start to finish. Opening track, “Exposure Kills” is the ultimate anthem for freelancers everywhere and is essentially the dancetastic way of saying “fuck you, pay me”. While I don’t consider myself to be an introvert by any means, I was definitely the embodiment of “Homebody” on more occasions this winter than I’d like to admit. Then there’s “Left Swipe Left”, which I will be spamming to every one of my girlfriends who are as fried on dating apps as I am.

Today marks the kickoff of her month+ long tour along the east coast before hopping over for some dates in Europe. Def go out to catch her live and grab a Thunder Thighs pin or 20.

MISS EAVES ON TOUR

April 10 Philadelphia, PA at Bob & Barbara’s
April 11 Pittsburgh, PA at Mr. Roboto Project
April 12 Guelph, ONT at Kazoo Fest
April 13 Chicago, IL at Caliwaukee
April 14 Madison, WI at North Street Cabaret
April 16 Forth Wayne, IN at The Brass Rail
May 3 Portland, ME at Space
May 4 Winooski, VT at Walking Windows
May 5 Boston, MA at Once Lounge
May 9 Manchester,UK at Soup Kitchen
May 11 London,UK at Hope & Anchor
May 16 Wrexham, WAL at Focus Wales
May 22 Dresden, DE at TBA
May 23 Berlin, DE at Badehaus
May 24 Munich, DE at Orangehouse (Feierwerk)
May 26 Frankfurt, DE at Kunstverein Familie Montez
May 29 Amsterdam, NL at Vrankrijk