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Julian Lage • Modern Lore
Mack Avenue • released 2018-02-02
High-order guitar instrumentals more concerned with melody and expression than pyrotechnics. Truly ear-opening.
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Mestizo Beat • Jaraguá
As the name successfully implies, this outfit is a heady blend of Chicano funk and other sources. Pumping bass lines that could drain the Baltic Sea in minutes and horn stabs that could be entered as evidence in a court of law fill out the package.
The Fearless Flyers • Tailwinds
“Fearless” is a good word to use for this fully-formed funk outfit, as are “fierce,” “fiery,” “finessed,” “futuristic,” and so many effing others. A blend of precision and groove that does well on repeat.
Wine Lips • TV Dinner
Like the whoomp from pouring too much firestarter on and throwing the match in, this band is in your face, exciting and a bit scary at the same time, with its snarling guitars, sneering vocals, and the heft of every possible item in the garage.
Meridian Brothers + Mexican Institute of Sound • Ruido Tovar
Camilo Lara teams up with some influences from the southern hemisphere to bring about this collection of decidedly cumbia-inflected tracks. The sounds lean heavily towards the casiotoned but are expertly counterbalanced with orchestral decorations.