Featuring underground artists of every genre.
"Your Enemy" is SHAR's latest single, released in February this year. The track begins with ambient industrial sounds, which mutate into an atmospheric layer as the composition builds. A synthy bass sound pushes the song along, accentuated by kick and snare hits, waiting for SHAR's vocals to enter. When the vocals do come in, they are accompanied by keys, causing the track promptly bloom into lush harmonies. "Your Enemy" gives off some serious trip-hop vibes, resembling a stylistic blend of Massive Attack and Glasser. Listen to this track when you find yourself wanting to relax and deal with the nuances of a love/hate relationship.
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Who are your biggest influences; who inspires you?
I'm influenced by everything from Rage Against the Machine to J.S.Bach. Phantogram, Bjork, Sia, Led Zepplin, Queen, The Glitch Mob, I would say i'm influenced a lot by any music that has a very dominant emotive quality. If I hear it, and it makes me feel something, then I like it! Why did you start making music? I started making music I think because I have like tons of feels haha. Music has been the thing in my life that has been a total outlet and like so foundational, it's always there for me, I can always depend on it, and it's so fun. It's like my best friend, or like a whole community I'm in - but all my friends are waves. Your EP "Century of Self" was released in February this year, what influenced the sound and songwriting for the tracks? This EP is really a collection of singles that were all written over about a year, with the exception of one track, Pangea. I had written that song years previously, but it suddenly felt relevant in my life again. Since I had never really been able to capture it well in a recording I thought I'd try reworking it. Ultimately I was really happy with how it came out! As far as the sound of the EP overall I'd say I'm really interested in the convergence of analog/organic sounds and digital/electronic sounds. That intersection is really interesting to me so I continue to try new things, bringing together "real" instruments with virtual ones but still maintain that emotional connection that I feel is so central. I write, play all the instruments, sequence all the sounds, produce and mix everything on this record. What's your songwriting process? I usually start on guitar, I've been playing guitar since I was a child and it's super easy for me to get my feelings or inspiration out of my head or my heart, then through my body and instrument, then into the air that way. It's really easy for me to write whenever I'm feeling really strongly about any particular thing, then I just channel that feeling like a lazer and music comes out of me. I usually start with just like some chords that feel right and then the melody develops around the chords, words start coming in to describe what I'm experiencing and then through lots of iterations the lyrics form. I really spend a lot of time on lyrics even though I think most people really don't care that much what I'm saying. It's important to me and part of making something that is true and real, which I feel like is really important culturally right now. Then I kind of deconstruct it and start recording sounds and creating beats and stuff - sometimes from start to finish it's the same general vibe - but other times what I started with on guitar sound legit nothing like the final thing. Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music? I would say almost all of my lyrics and music have hidden meanings, or things that are so particular to the story of the song that they would be a little puzzling to try and figure out. I've done lots of things that way I guess when I stop to think about it, encoding meaning in the lyrics is really fun for me, I've even hidden meaning in binary code in lyrics before. What are your future plans for your music? I want to continue to create and explore that intersection of the real and the virtual, I see the genre I'm trying to create as kind of an expression of augmented reality, where I'm using computation to enhance the landscape of sounds in real time. I'm constantly looking for ways to be more emotive on the digital side, and create my own human/computer interaction devices and setups so I can interact with the sounds physically. I also want to get better at sharing what I've made because I put so much effort into it! I think there's nothing better when I hear some music that happens to be just right for the moment, and makes me feel fully alive, so if I could ever share something that does that for someone, or just helps them through their day, I'd be mega stoked. I need to get better at social media and promotion things - I'm awful because I spend all my time creating stuff and thinking about creating stuff then it's hard to have energy left over for that part - which I think happens to lots of us! So super grateful to be on your blog! What are you interested in that most people haven’t heard of? The visual art, poetry, performance art, and music of all of my friends! 
"Hebedo" is the second single released from Apoptosis, and it showcases Liyv's ethereal voice and her talent composing experimental soundscapes. The track begins with some skittering electronic sounds over a deep synth and playful keys, pulling back as Liyv's vocals add new depth. I can't help but think of Megan James' (of Purity Ring) vocal stylings as I listen to "Hebedo" - spritely and playful. The song takes quite a few turns in it's short duration, making the experience feel much longer than in reality. I can only compare the track to a piece of origami, a piece of paper deliberately folded to create something three-dimensional. Put Liyv's music on and take a long walk - I guarantee she'll add a bit of magic to your day.
Keep up with Liyv
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Her song, "Chambers," from her upcoming EP of the same moniker, demonstrates her ability to merge genres to create a humid, dreamy atmosphere. The track begins without waiting to showcase the lush soundscape with creamy synth and 'verbed-out vocals. A simple drum track and bass are added, serving to deepen the sonic experience - becoming more intricate and groovy as the sounds erupt, overflowing as the song comes to an end.
Keep up with Rosie Tee
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Videocean does a good job of harnessing the energy involved in the disco era, which is something that I can't help but find charming as it can be difficult to recreate such tracks with all the technology we now have available. There's something to be said about feel and vibe, and paying attention to detail, which is something that I look at a lot when I listen to music. In this day and age it can be very easy to slap things together, and if an artists doesn't take that time to really listen to sounds and listen to their voice, they can really miss the mark.
Videocean hits the bullseye and I'm interested to hear more, as I imagine the disco flare maybe a part of their overall sound. "Genes" by Videocean will make your palms sweat, your hips wiggle, and give you a great energy to start your day, finish your road trip, or experience change in your life. It's movie music and I'm all in.
Keep up with Videocean
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MADI's "Dirty (Word)" begins with a kooky vocalization and a swelling, high pitched synth, suddenly dumping the listener into a pounding beat. Interestingly, there is percussive vocalization used in tandem with the beat between Maddie's vocal lines. The track turns sweeter with spritely arps and a buttery bass line, revisiting the pounding beat and heart of the lyrics: "don't you care to understand? can't you see there's nothing dirty about me."
I really love this track. MADI makes me imagine a collaboration between Amanda Palmer and St. Vincent - which is simply kick-ass. The trippy video is a delightful bonus. 
After the first verse, the song modulates to a twisted progression that does a wonderful job of taking the listener to a momentary uncomfortable place. I imagine, for many, the transition from this state of being to the next can be stressful and Tesha pulls that stress to the forefront, if only for a moment, and it helps to convey the emotion of the song. It's an artist's responsibility to accurately pull emotion out of the listener.
Tesha's "Funeral" gives listeners the impression they are gliding up the river Styx, Charon slowly tugging forward towards eternity. "Funeral" is more than an appropriate listening for the underworld. Wonderfully crafted, intimate, and focused, this song should find a home in one of your playlists immediately. 
Speaking of Cholly's voice, it is gorgeous. One of the most fun things about this song from a musicianship and arrangement standpoint is the number of turns the composition takes. This song would be a lot of fun to spin or remix. I love Cholly's sense of groove and timing, how the artist weaves her way through the arrangement of the piece, pushing and pulling different emotions, flashing different stress. The full experience of this song, from finding it in my inbox until now, is why I enjoy doing this work.
Keep up with Cholly
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"23/IOU" is Turner's latest track, packing together two emotionally vulnerable dark pop tunes. Her signature husky vocals sound as if they should belong in a rock or jazz project, but are sonically refreshing over electronic music. Hanging over angsty synth and energetic arpeggios, her vocals are kissed by autotune here and there, giving them an electronic edge for emphasis. I'm particularly in love with the second half of the track, "IOU," finding it playing on repeat in my head as I try to fall asleep at night. I'm totally engaged and look forward to the forthcoming music video.
Who are your biggest influences; who inspires you?
I get great inspiration from seeing people being themselves and just living their life for themselves. I feel like 'Billie Eilish' is doing a lot of that lately, I really like her. The music video for 'When the party's over' was just wow, one shot! Like, it was one shot! Also the fact that she came up with the whole Idea herself was really nice to hear. Artist, Lucas David is v cool. I think some people are under the impression that its no longer cool to be a stereotypical, pretentious artist type but his authenticity makes it transfixing. Grimes will always be a big inspiration to me because I am all about that DIY approach and if there is anyone who knows about that it's Grimes. Your debut EP "Adolescent Content" was recently released, what influenced the sound and songwriting for the tracks? The sound always shocks me when I hear it, because it never makes sense in my head with my interests and Influences but I just let it all happen organically and I love it! The songwriting was as a whole was all based around people in my life, myself included, either being an angsty teenager or acting like like one hence the name 'Adolescent Content' You've also released a new music video for the single, "Taste of Your Love." How was that conceptualized and completed? The concept for the music video didn't come about until the song was finish. They never do. With music videos it's funny because my mind will be totally blank for ideas until I know i'm ready with the track and then it all just comes gushing and floods my mind. I think a lot of it is like a subconscious visual. Like, I don't sit down with a script and relate it to the lyrics or anything. I think because my songs are honest and true to my life so are the ideas for the videos. It's the same story, yano? I filmed the entire video in my mothers kitchen and during filming I actually got a nasty knock to the head but as soon as I recovered from that I dove straight into the editing.
What's your songwriting process?
I have spurts of inspiration, be it a riff on guitar or a tune in the shower. Then I tweek and tweek and tweek. It takes me ages to work on a song if I'm being completely honest. Took me almost a year to finish 'Taste of your love' adding this removing that while doing the same with a bunch of other song at the same time. I've only ever written one song in one sitting and it's my absolute favorite song! I had a very dramatic summer and obviously a lot of built up emotion so I just word vomited it all in one go! It was really strange actually. So, I suppose you could say it varies all the time. Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music? I don't think so. I'm very much a 'what you see is what you get' kinda person. I tend to wear my emotions. My friends can always tell how I feel. Even if I tried to hide it I couldn't. I could write a really cryptic song but I guarantee you I'd have to explain why its so cryptic and hidden hahaha so it would be a little pointless. Let's just cut to the chase. What are your future plans for your music? To make more of it! Tell us something quirky about yourself. I love writing during a full moon. 
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