Alt-folk singer-songwriter Asha Wells performing live on Lower Grand Radio on 2/1
New releases this week: Post-SoundCloud pop punk by Ricky Lake (Text Me Records), French jazz fusion covers by The Breathing Room, and highly lovable indie pop by Indianna Hale
“Like any watery surface, this drifting allows the artist to reflect and refract the infinity complexity of the world that surrounds them. A welcome place of rest.”
Those are some words we wrote last year reviewing Asha Wells’ Water Words, one of our favorite indie albums of 2023. So of course we’re delighted to hear that next week Asha Wells returns with a three-song EP, Tears of a Clown.
The day before the EP comes out, Asha Wells will be joining us live at the Lower Grand Studio in Oakland to perform songs old and new. It’s always an intimate experience in the studio, and this is our first live recording of the year, so don’t miss it!
Hear Asha Wells perform live on White Crate’s show on Lower Grand Radio this Thursday, February 1 at 8:30 PM PT. Tune in here.
If you ever want to dig into the archive of our live recordings from LGR—including performances by local Bay Area artists Dani Offline, Blues Lawyer, Briana Marela, and more—check out this playlist on Mixcloud.
— White Crate
MELODIC FIST PUMPING
“This group of songs speaks to loss, but to beauty in loss.”
— Ricky Lake in the San Francisco Chronicle
Emo rapper Ricky Lake’s album Altered was one of our favorite alternative rock releases from the Bay Area in 2023, and now he’s back with a new five-track EP. Tundra digs deeper into post-SoundCloud pop punk, presenting a set of catchy, melodic, fist-pumping anthems for the local dive bar mosh pit. These could have been hits on Live 105 back in the day, but instead they’re reimagined innovations for the genre-fluid underground.
Like the previous release, Tundra arrives on SF’s Text Me Records, which has recently released a string of music from great local artists, including Pallaví aka Fijiana (who has a new album on the way), Nocean Beach, Louie Elser, and La Doña. Just another community-minded crew contributing to the renaissance of musical creativity in the Bay.
— Ronny Kerr
PSYCHEDELIC WORLD PREMIERE
Not sure when it happened, but easy listening yacht rock vibes are officially back on the menu. Featuring songs sourced from a 1975-1977 run of releases by French fusion group Cortex (L’Enfant Samba, Vol 2, and Troupeau Bleu), Bleu, Vol. 2 is a new collection of smooth jazz covers by The Breathing Room. Recorded live at Santo Recording in Oakland, the all-instrumental suite suits the band perfectly, as they have a similar lineup to Cortex’s original studio members. Shimmering cymbals, groovy entrancing keyboards, tight Brasilian-inspired basslines, sashimi-grade guitar solos, and that big bold sax front and center take you on a psychedelic journey across the high seas of your mind. It’s definitely a trip, and one the easy listener will have no trouble taking again and again.
— Ronny Kerr
SHAPESHIFTING INDIE POP
Better late than never. Indianna Hale released Yesterday’s Glitter back in September, but I just finally listened to it. And then again. And then again. And then again.
Produced by Jason Cirimele and released by Pennsylvania label Perpetual Doom, Yesterday’s Glitter travels the far expanses of what indie pop can be. Every song shapeshifts with new textures: doo wop vocals, pedal steel guitar, silky synths, the crisp snaps of a drum machine. Throughout the 12 songs, fuzzy guitars, sweet harmonies, rich basslines, and the high quality of Indianna’s songwriting wriggle right into your ear and never let go.
— Elliot Engel
SHOW RECS
Our top show recommendations for the coming week:
[hip hop] Justice for the Bay: A Benefit for Environmental Justice for Bayview ft. Deuce Eclipse, Monk HTS, TheMobsJEDI, Myles Davis, T-Venom, DJ Earth Angel — Jan 26 at El Rio
[electronic] Floating Points, Jessy Lanza, Hagop Tchaparian — Jan 27 at Gray Area
[experimental] 55 Castles, Godgifu, Talk Show, IDHAZ — Jan 27 at Thee Parkside
[rock] Sour Widows, Living Hour, Princess520 — Jan 27 at Thee Stork Club
[classical] Kronos Quartet: Five Decades — Jan 27 at Bing Concert Hall
[club] UFO!, Soeneido, DJ Sep, MF Mama, Bonesurf — Jan 27 at Victory Hall
[club] b0nitababy, sfcowboy — Jan 27 at Arcana
[club] Vitamin1000 ft. @@, Skiis, Adware, Clearcast, Vertigo, Keishaboy, Mothbot, and more — Jan 27 at TBA warehouse
[folk] Ismay (album release), Kelly McFarling — Jan 28 at Sweetwater Music Hall
[rock] Juan Wayne, Healing Potpourri, Spacemoth, Swiss — Feb 1 at Rickshaw Stop
[americana] The Coffis Brothers play Tom Petty — Feb 1 at the Chapel
[country] Freight Train Lady, Katsy Pline, Sarah Coolidge — Feb 1 at Thee Stork Club
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