Tkay MaidzaTkay Maidza
After moving to Los Angeles, she collaborated with rap luminaries such as JPEGMAFIA, Baby Tate, and Kaytranada. She has supported stars like Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Lizzo and received recognition as one of pop’s brightest new voices by media outlets including Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
Named one of the most anticipated albums of Fall 2023 by Pitchfork and LA Times, and receiving early praise from NY Times, People, The Needle Drop, Stereogum, The FADER, and more, Sweet Justice embodies the beautiful contradictions of Tkay’s art.
Cory HenryCory Henry
In 2021, Cory’s album Something to Say was nominated at the 2022 Grammy Awards for Best Progressive Album and as a co-writer and producer on Kanye West’s Donda and Eric Bellinger’s New Light. Other collaborations include: Imagine Dragons, Rosalia, Smino, Lucky Daye, and many more.Cory was previously a member of Snarky Puppy, and during his time in the band he garnered three Grammy Awards!
Most recently Cory’s latest masterpiece, Operation Funk, has garnered attention from fans all over the world as he delivered sold out shows in Israel, Spain, Amsterdam, Australia, and throughout the United States along with playing most of the major music festivals.
Cherry GlazerrCherry Glazerr
Rochelle JordanRochelle Jordan
Produced by KLSH, Machinedrum and Jimmy Edgar, Jordan defies categorization to create a project full of slinky, dancefloor-packing burners that channel her UK roots – reminiscent of childhood nights spent listening to her brother’s two-step hymns from the other side of the wall. These are songs of experience: grappling with depression, homesickness and struggles with an industry that rarely has room for true originals – especially ones who write all their own music. Nonetheless, they are unmistakably songs of triumph.
Kaelin EllisKaelin Ellis
On top of the public releases, he has also worked on music behind the scenes with Monte Booker, BROCKHAMPTON, Channel Tres, Lido, Masego, Domo Genesis, Fana Hues, Mick Jenkins, Tkay Maizda, Danny Brown, Noname, JID, Kaytranada and more that will hopefully see the light of day in the near future.
Water From Your EyesWater From Your Eyes
That’s the sentiment that animates Water From Your Eyes on their new album, and first for Matador, Everyone’s Crushed. On the follow-up to the Brooklyn duo’s 2021 breakthrough, Structure, Rachel Brown (they/them) and Nate Amos (he/him) find silliness and fatalism dancing in a frantic lockstep, using heart palpitating rhythms and absurdist, deadpan lyrics to convey stories of personal and societal unease. Described by Brown as Water From Your Eyes’ most collaborative record ever – and, as such, a kind of reset for the pair, almost like a debut, despite technically being their sixth – it’s a swollen contusion of an album: experimental pop music that’s pretty and violent, raw and indelible.
Everyone’s Crushed maps the liminal space between humor and darkness, between cracking up and freaking out. In the album’s closing moments Brown speaks in direct terms, “Clap those hands/Buy my product/There are no happy endings/I’m spending/I’m spending.” It’s playful and totally serious, punky bordering on anarchic, and a resolution to the record’s opening sentiment – “I just wanted to pray for the rain/Wishful thinking for sunny days.”
SnõõperSnõõper
But don’t take our word for it; here’s Henry Rollins, at-length on the magic of Snõõper:
In the briefest of descriptions, Snõõper is a band who, in a 33 1/3 rpm world, make 45 rpm music they play at 78 and it completely works.
Even at this incredible speed, Snõõper (the kinetic duo of musician Connor Cummins and visual/video artist, Blair Tramel) is super precise instrumentally and skillfully melodic vocally, even though, again, they’re flooring it almost the entire time. The overall effect is a megadose of extremely cool and unique songs that while at the speed of tomorrow, would lose their overwhelming fun factor if played any differently.
Frost ChildrenFrost Children
Even in a slower tempo, Frost Children are still operating at hyperspeed. “Tribeca / Hudson Yards / Bedford Ave & 7th,” repeats “Bob Dylan,” where cultural touchstones about “the new Jack Harlow bowl at Sweetgreen” become personal anecdotes about smoking cigarettes in the West Village and thinking about what’s next until the song and the city cave in on itself.
The dual records represent a time capsule of that moment, shorter in length than a DJ set but perfect for commuting to work or a party, where it’s okay to feel everything at once. “The sound keeps changing because our lives keep getting brought to different settings,” they explain. It’s the listener’s choice which one they want to lean into at any given moment.
McKinley DixonMcKinley Dixon
Like the conductor of an orchestra, Dixon organizes a fleet of live instrumentation across these songs, from keys to strings to gentle bass. “I really tried to write beautiful words with every song,” Dixon says, a feat that is commensurate with the beauty of the music and subject matter.
Sometimes rough and other times delicate, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? is a journey into the psyche of McKinley Dixon, with all of the attendant peaks and valleys. “I’m aiming for making my stories accessible,” he says, “while also still keeping it to the heart of what I love.”
WomboWombo
The trio of Sydney Chadwick, Cameron Lowe and Joel Taylor sound more comfortable than ever, guiding the listener through a cohesive framework of peculiar hymns in a language only they can translate.
Lead single “Slab” was inspired by a book Chadwick read about disassociation, and came from improvising lyrics in the band’s basement practice space.
“In Situ” imbues some of the compelling live energy that permeates the band’s sets, while “Wolfe Ave 40” is perhaps the broadest departure yet from Wombo’s catalog, an intimate ditty written on Chadwick’s nylon string guitar. It’s in these quiet moments of revelation that Wombo shine the brightest: like awakening from a dream, glimmering with hope and reset intention.
FrikoFriko
Friko’s music is complex and dynamic, flickering between explosive rock, chamber pop, and serene sonics. It becomes even more pronounced in their live performances, where a crowd frenzied by wailing guitars finds itself minutes later collectively holding its breath, enamored by hypnotic strings and Kapetan’s emotive vocals. As the band plays out sweeping melodies, held up by thrashing guitar and punchy beats, it feels as if Kapetan sings to you. Crooning about stories you know, memories you had but have somehow forgotten.
Ritual DeviceRitual Device
Along the way, Ritual Device shared the same stage with Fugazi, Tool, Vic Chesnutt, Helmet, L7, Unsane, Jawbox, Tad, Royal Trux, Girls Against Boys, Tar, Wool, The Offspring, Rancid, Unrest, as well as touring with the Jesus Lizard. They also served a stint as a second-stage band for Lollapalooza in 1993 where they were named ‘ugliest band on the tour’ by E! Entertainment News.
Ritual Device, known for their brand of violent, scary music and intense, chaotic live shows, reunited in 2014 for one show. Come 2024, the band has decided to play a few more.
Plack BlaguePlack Blague
NightosphereNightosphere
Like a nocturnal highway stretched out between Midwest cities, Nightosphere exists in an expansive, open realm marked by subtle changes in landscape and punctuated by sudden bursts of noisy, explosive urgency. This vitality is powered by Brittany and Claire, who exchange guitar/vocal and bass duties throughout live performance, and Hop, who looms powerfully over the drumkit. Through hypnotic compositions, the Kansas City-based trio weaves together the structures and sounds of slowcore, post-hardcore, and shoegaze into a vast emotional tapestry.
Nightosphere formed in early 2022 and quickly got to work contributing to the lively Kansas City scene. They toured the Midwest twice that same year, in August and October, strings of performances they prepared for by releasing the singles Foxfire and Faim Dévorante. Together with Flooding and Abandoncy, Nightosphere put out a 3-Way Split EP in February of 2023. This year also marked the group’s full-length debut, , which came out in April. The album was recently featured on Destroy//Exist’s 2023 Albums of the Year List and cited by Chat Pile as one of their 10 Favorite Albums of 2023. In September, they headlined an East Coast tour and subsequently supported Chat Pile and Nerver on their 2023 US tour.
Josh Hoyer & Soul ColossalJosh Hoyer & Soul Colossal
PROBLEMSPROBLEMS
In the vein of groundbreaking artists like DEVO and the Talking Heads, PROBLEMS refuses to be confined by traditional genres or norms. Keen’s unique and highly personal vision pushes the boundaries of pop music, expanding its expressive capabilities in ways that are truly awe-inspiring. PROBLEMS has a new album “Enter The Annals” out 5/10 on The Record Machine.
Keo & ThemKeo & Them
Their latest venture, 2023’s “This Time Around,” emphasizes eclecticism, showcasing the band’s burgeoning metamorphosis. The tracks, from the moody neo-soul vibes of “Sijui” to the funk and nu-jazz grooves of “Fool Me Once” and the explosive fuzzed-out guitars in “Anxiety,” illustrate a stylistically varied journey that is embedded in the soul of the band. While collaboration defines the effort, Keo’s lyrics act as the glue, weaving extremely personal stories.
Universe ContestUniverse Contest
The better half of the last decade have found Joey and Tim-Tam held together if not more often than not led by local legendary dickheads Jordan Ellis on electric strings and snacks, Jacob Ledbetter on bass and cliff diving, and Jordy Elfers on skins, flutes of the like and positive feedback.
The WildwoodsThe Wildwoods
United by a passion for folk/Americana, the trio’s influences range from Watchhouse and Nickel Creek, to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Their music, though comfortably under the folk/Americana umbrella, weaves intricate chord structures and emotional textures that defy genre boundaries. Together, their harmonies resonate with artful sincerity, drawing inspiration from nature, their shared experiences of growing up in Nebraska and life on the road.
HAKIMHAKIM
Rudy Love & The EncoreRudy Love & The Encore
Mad HoneyMad Honey
A Ferocious Jungle CatA Ferocious Jungle Cat
Jeff In LeatherJeff In Leather
Social CinemaSocial Cinema
Whereas Get Along showcased the quintet’s ambitions to bring its sound to new, more stylistically dynamic, and fresh territories, new EP Stay Numb is a loud and proud assertion of the band’s DIY ethos and the wallop of its no-frills rock roots not only intact, but stronger than ever.
KillusonlineKillusonline
Ex LoverEx Lover
Pagan AthletesPagan Athletes
Ivory DazeIvory Daze
Doing Just Great is the first statement of the band’s intent and sonic identity. Hanging over the EP’s six tracks is an unmistakable Puget Sound haze, and in 2023, ‘90s angst is as relevant — and as justified — as ever.
But like their grungy progenitors — particularly Cobain and Co. — Ivory Daze aren’t afraid to stretch into multiple veins of downcast alternative rock. “Violet” is tender, with Harms’s vocals that cascade in cathedral reverb and guitars that bloom like the best of Duster and Hum. Two songs later, “Parasite” drips in nu-metal nihilism with a downtuned riff nasty enough to make you make that stank face for three-and-a-half minutes. Lead single “Drowner” comes with a drop-D riff from heaven and Nelson’s innate grasp of groove (try not to nod your head to the chorus).
Soon enough, you will have heard of Ivory Daze, and its members will barely be of drinking age. The scary thing is — the band is only going to get better.
The CredentialsThe Credentials
Keep For CheapKeep For Cheap
Bad Bad MenBad Bad Men
GhostlikeGhostlike
Since their inception, Ghostlike has been on a relentless pursuit of musical evolution. The band made a significant mark on the local and regional music scenes with the release of their debut EP, “Empty Thoughts,” in 2022. This was quickly followed by their sophomore EP, “Seek,” in 2023. Both EP’s showcase the band’s ability to juxtapose dreamy, reverb-laden melodies with explosive, emotionally charged energy, earning them a dedicated following and critical acclaim.
Wicked BonesWicked Bones
Cold GlockCold Glock
DJ H6artbr6akDJ H6artbr6ak
With a passion for her queer and Latin roots, h6artbr6ak brings a sweltering mix of heart-pounding rhythms and seductive sounds that contribute to expertly curated DJ sets with multiple styles of techno from around the world. This can range from hard techno, hard baile/tribal, J-core, and more.
Flannel LewisFlannel Lewis
NOWHERENOWHERE
The Cavves
