The Lamb as Effigy or Three Hundred and Fifty XOXOXOS for a Spark Union With My Darling Divine

Sprain

There’s a reason why Sprain is your favorite band’s favorite band right now, and why, at their album release show at the Moroccan Lounge in September, the line literally wrapped around the block. It’s the same reason why the band played continuously, relentlessly, for more than three hours, exhausting their material and the crowd, and why, shortly after, the band abruptly called it quits. The Lamb as Effigy is the second and (for now) final album by Sprain, scions of the urgency and innovation springing from LA’s underground. It’s a record of endurance. Literally — from the full album title, to the 96-minute run time, to its eight tracks (two of which clock in at over 24 minutes each) — but more so spiritually: An articulation, symphonic in scale, of existential vertigo. 

This is a difficult album, rife with dissonance, screaming, paranoia, and oppressive stillness. It is often tremendously ugly. Less often, but all the more cathartic, are moments of consonant grandeur. Is this slowcore? Art rock? Post-rock? No wave? Noise? Minimalism? It’s “all of the above” and “none of the above,” masterfully orchestrated around its no-rules approach. The result is music that sounds aggressively of the moment and unlike anything else, liberated from the cultural feedback loops that make so much new art feel reactionary and safe. You have no idea where the record is going or what you’re going to hear next, but you’re along for the free-fall. In that sense, The Lamb as Effigy is a document of what it feels like to be alive right now: A reckoning of modern life’s paradoxes, crying out because we yearn for, demand, and maybe even believe in something better.

— Andrea Domanick (Digital Editorial Manager)

MOONSHOTS

The South Hill Experiment

Named for their DTLA Hill Street studio, The South Hill Experiment is a project from LA-based, Baltimore-bred brothers Baird and Goldwash, respectively artists in their own right who we've been tracking for some time now. Baird brings whimsy and eclecticism, while Goldwash provides an indie electronic funk-meets-Robert Wyatt vibe. The results feel like we're witnessing, indeed, an experiment, explorations for a soundtrack to a film that doesn't yet exist. A couple of tracks are bonafide breakout hits for KCRW: The sonically distorted “Chameleons” and “Gabo's Last Resort,” a lilting, piano-driven choir piece that's both mournful and majestic.

— Chris Douridas (KCRW DJ)

the record

boygenius

Mega-trio boygenius — the side project of Julian Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus — are each gifted confessional songwriters in their own right with knacks for melody and arrangement. Joining forces in 2018, the supergroup soon took on equally super accolades from critics and fans alike with their self-titled EP. This year, they released their long-awaited debut LP the record and were promptly rewarded with no fewer than seven Grammy Award nominations in major categories, including Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Best Rock Performance, and Best Alternative Album.

This is no coincidence, especially when you think about the breakthrough power of “Not Strong Enough,” on which each artist takes a verse. The individual appeal is distinct, but together, their friendship, rich harmonies, and emotional songwriting coalesce as one.

— Ariana Morgenstern (Executive Producer, KCRW Music and Today's Top Tune Curator)

Pastor's Paradox

Aruán Ortiz

Aruán Ortiz is fascinated with the history surrounding the great Martin Luther King, Jr. A brilliant pianist born in Cuba and raised in Brooklyn, Ortiz has done his research, and approached the speeches of Dr. King from many angles. The biblical references, the analogies, and even the rhythm of cadence used to deliver the messages are all tools and poignant strategies to synchronize thought and the crux of the message inside a socially acceptable package. The truth delivered in a box with a bow. Now let’s add music!

The compositions for Ortiz’s Pastor’s Paradox are all based on Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream,” the speech that immersed itself into the heart of our nation with a message of gold, causing love, fear, respect, disdain, self worth, and ill will for our fellow Americans. It is an intersection of avant garde piano, spoken word, cello, drums, and, not a replica of the time, but more like a peak into the looking glass of a Black man: the degree of stress and determination to merely exist with the tribulations, raising and protecting family, and existential brothers bonding together. The sound is piercing, determined and on the edge of possibility; colors that lean to the dark side in a search for eminent light. Don Byron on clarinet always brings the element of confrontation, a force to deal with, a voice asking the hard questions that need to be answered. Fleeting thoughts, but the stance is strong and determined.

Titles like “The Dream That Wasn’t Meant to Be Ours”, “An Interval of Hope,” and “No Justice, No Peace Legacy” give you a glimpse into perspective. The compositions lay down a cinema which separates you from these times, inserts your consciousness into the thick of those times, and then arrives in the present with questions about why changes and strides feel like trickery, the masquerade of a jester.

But, the movement is forward, the determination is still strong, the horizon is still in the distance and, so many years later, the unrequited dream is still our daunting reality. This music moves thought and the work should be theater. An excellent suite depiction of life's equality, “Movement 2023.” The saga continues!

— LeRoy Downs (KCRW DJ)

The Comeback Kid

Marnie Stern

A lot of great albums came out this year. Most remarkable of them for me would have to be Marnie Stern’s new LP, The Comeback Kid. Not only is it excellent, but it comes after Ms. Stern went radio silent for ten years after releasing her equally-excellent Chronicles Of Marnia in 2013. After that long, I thought she had just moved on to other things. She was, in fact, gainfully employed as a musician on Seth Meyers’ late night television show, which perhaps kept her away from creating her own work. The Comeback Kid isn’t as much a return to form as Marnie just picking up where she left off. The coolest part is there’s absolutely no diminishing of her great talent. I just hope she doesn’t wait so long until her next album, lest she have to title it The Cicada, and I’ll have to listen to it between naps in an assisted living facility.

Music is really good right now. I’d go as far as to say Independent Music hasn’t been better than it has been in the last ten years or so. I think more bands and artists are starting their own labels, making their own records, and seemingly not nearly as concerned with getting their music on radio or video channels, thus making their mindset and music truly independent. The bottom line is there’s never been a better time to go to the record store or the show than right now. Platforms like Bandcamp make it relatively easy to check out music without having to risk your savings. Happy listening.

— Henry Rollins (KCRW DJ)

Raven

Kelela

It’s been six long years since we had last heard from Kelela, with little of the drip-drip-drip of features and loosies (or even social media posts) to which we've become accustomed from stars feeding their fans in the modern media age. But rather than seeing Kelela’s influence wane since 2017's Take Me Apart, it felt like the world was finally getting up to speed with what she had thrown down. Dropped in February, Raven set the tone for a lot of the sonic trends that followed and helped define the music of 2023. From dreamy, atmospheric soundscapes to incorporating more club-friendly rhythms like drum ‘n’ bass (a genre that had a big moment in 2023), dancehall, and Baltimore club, Kelela shows masterful dexterity in synthesizing all sounds from across the spectrum and making them her own. The LA artist has always had a keen ear for forward-leaning productions and collaborators on the cutting edge, but Raven feels more like a carefully-crafted sonic journey than just a collection of great tracks, setting a new high-water mark for one of the most exciting artists of the past decade.

— Travis Holcombe (KCRW DJ, host of FREAKS ONLY)

when the poems do what they do

aja monet

The debut album from surrealist blues poet aja monet is a refuge from the endless scroll of mindless content. A deep dive into an ocean of feeling. Monet wields words like a weapon, igniting passion that moves the listener to new levels of understanding.

Monet follows in the tradition of classic Black poets like Gil Scott-Heron, Sonia Sanchez, and Amiri Baraka. She portrays the Black experience with references to Black joy, ice cream trucks, love, resistance, justice, the Middle Passage, double dutch, and dimples, to name a few.

When reading poetry on the page, the writer’s voice is more of an imagined vision. But when you combine the art of spoken word and jazz, it elevates poetry to a new and purely Black art form. Monet’s spoken word breathes life into each poem. She pours passion into the meaning of her words with a cadence switch, using the emphasis of repetition (“pay fair wages, pay fair wages”), speeding up her flow, or slowing down to accentuate each syllable of a word. The sound of her voice is rich and deep, like the “ancient, dusky rivers” Langston Hughes describes in his poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." It’s a voice that calms the mind until it’s open to receive, one that speaks directly to the spirit of the listener.

Her voice is her instrument, her words are the notes, tapping in tandem to her backing jazz band’s heartbeat drums, howling horns, resonant upright bass, and the keys that dance atop it all.

— Tyler Boudreaux (KCRW DJ)

Zango

WITCH

Many artists intend for their work to be enduring while also reflecting the times. But few manage to achieve this balance quite as distinctly as WITCH (We Intend to Cause Havoc) with the release of their album Zango.

To comprehend just how compelling Zango is, it’s imperative to revisit their origins. WITCH’s journey began in the early 1970s, when a freshly independent Zambia was in the midst of building a new national identity. Zambia’s musical landscape flourished, giving birth to Zamrock, which paired traditional rhythms with the psychedelic rock and funk sounds of the West. It was electrifying. WITCH emerged as a pioneer of the genre, giving voice to a newly liberated generation. But these golden years would be short-lived; Zambia’s sudden economic downturn, coupled with the AIDS pandemic, threatened to put the band on an indefinite hiatus.

But WITCH’s story was far from finished. Nearly four decades after the release of their last studio album, Kuomboka, the band returned with Zango, a ten-song masterwork featuring original vocalist Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda alongside a fresh lineup of musicians from across Zambia and Europe. While Zamrock remains its anchor, Zango incorporates a host of other textures and rhythms. Psychedelia and hip-hop fuse perfectly on “Avalanche of Love,” featuring fellow Zambian artist and rapper Sampa the Great. Keith Kabwe, Hannah Tembo, and Theresa Ng’ambi round out the collaborators on the album, on which space-funk, psych-pop, and disco also make sonic appearances. The result is a body of work that sounds innovative and contemporary, while conjuring the past that gave rise to Zamrock in the first place.
Zango is stunning, and proof that the band’s musicianship endures the test of time: Half a century and counting.

— Francesca Harding (KCRW DJ)

More: WITCH: KCRW Live from HQ

Volcano

Jungle

Jungle’s fourth album, released in August, injected some much-needed soul into 2023. Through collaborations with Erick the Architect, Channel Tres, Roots Manuva, Mood Talk, and Bas, and catchy grooves like “Dominoes” and “Coming Back,” this is, as the band proclaims, its “most honest record to date.” Not to mention the absolute banger, “Back on 74,” which broke the band into a mainstream consciousness that previously eluded them. Now on the other side, Jungle lands comfortably and securely amongst the canon of ambitious pop-adjacent innovators like Sault, Khruangbin, and Janelle Monae. Volcano is just a perfect listen from start to finish.

— Jose Galvan (KCRW DJ)

More: Jungle: KCRW Live From The Basement (MBE, 2018)

Flowers At Your Feet

Rahill

After leading the Brooklyn surf-garage group Habibi for the past decade, Rahill Jamalifard ventures into personal reflection on her solo debut Flowers at Your Feet, exploring coming of age as a first generation Iranian-American. The album is extremely versatile, blending familiar influences of hip-hop, soul, psych, r&b, jazz, and, of course, vintage Iranian music. Underscoring it all is timeless production and co-writing from Alex Epton (FKA Twigs, Arca) and other notable collaborators, including Beck and Slauson Malone 1.

Opener “Healing” is a perfect palette cleanser, immersing the listener into the soundtrack of her childhood and family with voice memos of her sister and mother. “I Smile for E” pulls the thread further, an ode to her late aunt — the rock of her father’s family — that features a sample of the matriarch singing the words “in honor of you” in Farsi. A voicemail transports us into the chaos of an automobile auctioneer in “Ode to Dad,” on which Rahill reflects, with such softness, the hefty expectations and influence of a blue-collar Iranian immigrant parent who wants the best for their child. There is, of course, love had and love lost, but the focus is more on the artist’s own growth, intuition, and evolution, relishing the simple and familiar things in life that bring her joy, like the sport of "Futbol." “Note to Self” is a fitting finale to the LP, diaristic with lyrics that are simple-yet-captivating, just like the album’s namesake.

— Nassir Nassirzadeh (KCRW DJ)

More: Rahill: KCRW Guest DJ Set

everything is alive

Slowdive

Nearly a decade on from their surprise reunion at Primavera Sound 2014, Slowdive has now been back in operation for longer than their influential original run in the early ‘90s. The shoegaze pioneers’ self-titled 2017 album was received like a miracle, as much for its legitimate excellence as for the fact that it broke a 22-year recorded silence. In the face of such an enthralling rebirth, any subsequent release was bound to suffer by comparison.

Enter everything is alive, the UK band’s fifth album. Suffice to say that it will never — could never — have the novelty shock that its predecessor enjoyed. And the recent explosion (dare I say glut) of dreampop bands will make some of its textures feel at least superficially familiar. But for those with ears to listen, everything is alive is positively ravishing. The album bursts with color and detail, from the arpeggiating synths of “shanty” to the punchy drum programming of “kisses” (a clear pop highlight). The vocal interplay of Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead still feels like the source code for a million halfhearted replicas. And the band as a whole plays their gorgeous new creations with an infectious and surefooted confidence. Everything is alive is the sound of a band finally taking their rightful place in a musical culture they helped to create. And nothing could be more satisfying.

— Myke Dodge Weiskopf (Senior Producer, KCRW Music)

Silver

Say She She

It could be easy to sink into the funky, discodelic grooves and harmonies of Say She She’s Silver without doing a deeper dive into the power and soul of this Brooklyn trio. Yes, they love Grace Jones, ESG, The Supremes, Talking Heads, and Chic as much as we do, but here is their particular brilliance: Say She She swings and updates these sounds, all while rewarding those who listen closely with something more beneath the surface. Take the dance floor jam, “Norma.” The trio wrote it collectively in the aftermath of learning the Supreme Court was going to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Or catch the Tom Tom Club vibes on “Forget Me Not,” which pays tribute to New York arts activists Guerrilla Girls. That said, the badass women of Say She She aren’t scared to pen a chorus or two simply to let it all go on the dance floor or lounge with a lover. See: “C’est Si Bon” for the former and “Passing Time” for the latter.

Say She She’s debut, Prism, was No. 6 on KCRW’s Best Albums of 2022. In 2023, they set out to prove a point: They charmed America on CBS Mornings (complete with love from their hero Nile Rodgers), made their Hollywood Bowl debut, and toured the world nonstop. You’ll find them on more personal KCRW DJ year-end lists than any other artist this year, and among our highest played… by a pretty wide margin. They’re also in the top-tier of our most-played artists this year across the board As the ever wise Anthony Valadez once said, “Say She She has set their bar skyward.”

— Anne Litt (KCRW Program Director of Music & DJ)

More: Say She She: KCRW Live from Apogee Studio