Percussive producer Nicola Cruz orchestrates polyrhythms based on his Ecuadorian roots. The five tracks on his new EP are equally bound by electronica as they are his signature organic sound. “Subtropique” is a perfect example.

Nicola Cruz: ‘Subtropique’

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Composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist are among the descriptors for the artist known as Sly5thAve , who declared that his new album, Liberation, “exploded out of me. I couldn’t write it fast enough.” The result is layered with lush orchestral arrangements, innovative improvisation, and blessed with hip-hop production. Let’s turn to the title track, through which you can hear the meaning of the word.

Sly5thAve: ‘Liberation’

Brooklyn-based indie-popping Yot Club , the creation of Ryan Kaiser, has a new album, Rufus, filled with inner thoughts turned into melodies like “Human Nature,” a toe-tapping earworm fixated on the acceptance of someone you once knew who has now turned into a stranger.

Yot Club: ‘Human Nature’

Not gonna lie, we are HUGE fans of the LA-based band of brothers The South Hill Experiment, born at the end of 2022 and named after their studio on South Hill St. in DTLA. 
 For their new EPSouth Hill & Friends, the band opens up their borders to get in the sandbox with some of their friends to play with new sounds. “Little Monk” features Karriem Riggins on drums.

The South Hill Experiment: ‘Little Monk (Feat. Karriem Riggins)

Dulcet-toned vocalist Lizz Wright celebrates 20 years as a recording artist with a new career-defining album, Shadow. Wright drafts five new songs to showcase alongside some of the great classic songwriters, including Cole Porter, Sandy Denny, and Candi Staton, and enlists friends like Angelique Kidjo and, on Today’s Top Tune, Meshell Ndegeocello on bass and Brandee Younger on harp for “Your Love.”

Lizz Wright: ‘Your Love” (Feat. Meshell Ndegeocello and Brandee Younger)

LA tongue-in-cheek rockers EELS gear up for their forthcoming fifteenth(!) studio album, EELS TIME!, early this summer. One thing you can count on is whimsical lyrics and an unmistakable sound. “Goldy” starts with a nod to The 5th Dimension’s Marilyn McCoo.

Nicola Cruz: ‘Subtropique’

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