Today's Top Tune

LA-based singer-songwriter Mondo Cozmo creates a lean indie-rocking wall of sound on “Wild Horses.” It’s a track that exudes the promise of inimitable confidence throughout his forthcoming fourth album It’s PRINCIPLE! (due Aug. 30 via Last Gang Records).

Parisian pop stylists L’Impératrice took a very French approach to making their album Pulsar:  “We really take time to make things good” said the group's founder, Charles de Boisseguin, with a smile. Taking this time to make sure that every decision in this set of songs captured their spirit both onstage and off really shows.  Pulsar is also their first to feature guest vocalists including Maggie Rogers, Erick the Architect, and on “Danza Marilù” — an anthem for women of all ages to move freely on the dancefloor — the voice of Neapolitan singer Fabiana Martone. 

From the first notes of their golden brass, mambo ensemble Orquesta Akokán have you hooked! You don’t need to be a dancer to feel like you are in Havana, sipping a Cuba Libre, when “Con Licencia” is piped out of the soundsystem. 

Pioneering disco diva and queer icon Sylvester once said, “I suppose everyone’s dream fantasy for living your life the way you want it is to go to the opera.” And it was a lifetime dream come true when the doors opened at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House in 1979, as thousands of people lined up outside to catch one of the year’s hottest shows sold-0ut shows.  

If you have a new crush you’d like to get a little closer to, think about putting on Brooklyn-based Zsela’s debut album, Big For You. Rooted in intimacy, her honey-toned voice will melt even the coldest of  hearts when you hit play on “Not Your Angel.” 

Today, Pearl & The Oysters announce their upcoming album, Planet Pearl, which promises to be a hypnotic vision quest conjuring moonlight, tropical waters, exotic botany, and buzzing things in flight, set for release on September 20. 

Shapeshifting artist Toro Y Moi takes the plunge into rap-rock, Soundcloud rap, and Y2K emo on his eighth full length album, Hole Erth. But that’s not all: The album’s title comes from the counterculture publication Whole Earth Catalog, of the late ‘60s and early 70s,. The magazine carried the tagline “access to tools” and offered everything from how-to guides to cultural analysis and self-reliance tools. It spoke to everyone from hippies to technology-heads, which helped lay the groundwork for Silicon Valley’s ethos, and is attuned to TyM’s catalog. 

You may remember the band Quivers from our Global Beat Australia segment in 2021. Now they are getting ready to share a new album in August. “Oyster Cuts” is their tight title track and our first glimpse. You can feel the tension of grief and gratitude in their singing, encased by a looping riff, swirling synths, and the drive of percussion. 

Harmonics is the third collection of songs by Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, who opens the floor to an introspective approach to dance music on “Follow You.” But that’s not all you’ll find on the new album: There is a wide palette of sounds and collaborations, including a track with Eno Williams of Ibibio Sound Machine, Jungle’s Tom McFarland, UK Jazz artist Alabaster DePlume, to name a few. 

Let’s rewind to 1975: It’s a beautiful, warm Southern California night in August, where the stage is set for a remarkable evening with the multi-platinum-selling band America at the Hollywood Bowl, backed by a symphony orchestra conducted by the legendary Sir George Martin. It’s a big night for the band, a packed house full of fans, friends, and family, when they nervously launch into this never-before-heard version of “Ventura Highway” (Live).