music recs

Saint Motel (stylized in all caps) is an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, whose music has been described as everything from "dream pop" to "indie prog." The band consists of A/J Jackson (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Aaron Sharp (lead guitar), Dak Lerdamornpong (bass), and Greg Erwin (drums).

The group initially came together while Jackson and Sharp were attending film school in Southern California. The duo later met Lerdamornpong at a sushi restaurant where he worked near campus and Greg who went to a school nearby. The band emphasizes visuals in addition to its music; their 2009 debut EP, ForPlay, included a video for each of the six songs.

The band's first full-length album, Voyeur, debuted at No. 18 on the alt specialty radio charts and six of its eleven songs charted on the Hype Machine Charts. The album was praised by journals ranging from The Washington Post to Daytrotter. KCRW Music Librarian and DJ Eric J. Lawrence wrote, "They have attacked [the debut album] with gusto on Voyeur, adding dynamic touches to their rock-solid core of songwriting," and, "Overall the album is a satisfying package from start to finish."

Bleachers is an American rock band from New Jersey and the official stage name of songwriter and record producer Jack Antonoff. Antonoff has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won six Grammy Awards, including the 2022 Grammy for Producer of the Year. Bleachers' rock music is heavily influenced by the late '80s, early '90s, and the high school-based films of John Hughes while still using modern production techniques. Their debut single "I Wanna Get Better" was released in February 2014, followed by three studio albums: Strange Desire (2014), Gone Now (2017), and Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night (2021).

While on the road with his band, Fun, Antonoff began working on a new project during his time in different cities. For about a year he kept the project a secret until February 18, 2014, when the first single "I Wanna Get Better" was released along with the launch of Bleachers' website, social media profiles, and a selection of tour dates. News of Bleachers was first publicly announced in a Facebook post by Brooklyn music studio Mission Sound in May 2013.

Haim is an American rock band, based in Los Angeles and comprising three sisters, Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim. In addition to their primary instruments, each is proficient in several others. The group's pop sound on their studio work stands in contrast to the more rock-oriented sound of their live shows.

Chvrches are a Scottish synth-pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving from the synth-pop genre, Chvrches also incorporate indietronica, indie pop, and electronic dance into their sound.

New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Later, critical consensus favored "new wave" as an umbrella term involving many popular music styles of the era, including power pop, synth-pop, ska revival, and more specific forms of punk rock that were less abrasive. It may also be viewed as a more accessible counterpart of post-punk.

A Prairie Home Companion is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed Live from Here. A Prairie Home Companion aired on Saturdays from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota; it was also frequently heard on tours to New York City and other U.S. cities. The show is known for its musical guests, especially folk and traditional musicians, tongue-in-cheek radio drama, and relaxed humor. Keillor's wry storytelling segment, "News from Lake Wobegon," was the show's best-known feature during his long tenure.

Distributed by Minnesota Public Radio's distribution arm, American Public Media, A Prairie Home Companion was heard on 690 public radio stations in the United States at its peak in spring 2015 and reached an audience of four million U.S. listeners each week. The show borrowed its name from a radio program in existence in 1969 that was named after the Prairie Home Cemetery near Concordia College, in Moorhead, Minnesota. It inspired a 2006 film of the same name, written by Keillor.

Bryan Fryzel (born January 17, 1983), better known by his stage name Frequency, is an American music producer and musician from Rockville Centre, New York.

Frequency was born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1983. While attending Oceanside High School, he began to DJ at school dances and house parties. He also began experimenting with production. While still in high school, Frequency met 6th Sense, a MC from Pelham, New York. Soon thereafter, the two of them formed a group, The Understudies, alongside 6th Sense's friend and mentor Mr. Tibbs. The Understudies then signed a record deal on Freshchest/High Time Records, where they released the 12" single, "Now & Then" b/w "Bananas" in the summer of 2004. Later that year, Frequency went on to work with several artists he had met in New York's independent scene: from Wordsworth ("Shoulder," "One Day" and "Don't Go" on Mirror Music) to Oktober (“NYC” on Projekt: Building) to Tonedef (“Give A Damn Remix” on Archetype) to El Da Sensei (“Natural Feel Good” on The Unusual).

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–1960s Americana. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for six Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century."

Raised in upstate New York, Del Rey moved to New York City in 2005 to pursue a music career. After numerous projects, including her self-titled debut studio album, Del Rey's breakthrough came in 2011 with the viral success of her single "Video Games"; she subsequently signed a recording contract with Polydor and Interscope. She achieved critical and commercial success with her second album, Born to Die (2012), which contained the sleeper hit "Summertime Sadness". Del Rey's third album, Ultraviolence (2014), featured greater use of guitar-driven instrumentation and debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200. Her fourth and fifth albums, Honeymoon (2015) and Lust for Life (2017), saw a return to the stylistic traditions of her earlier releases, while her critically acclaimed sixth album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), explored soft rock. Her next studio albums, Chemtrails over the Country Club and Blue Banisters, followed in 2021.

Morgan Taylor Reid is a Grammy Award nominated music producer, singer-songwriter and recording artist based in Los Angeles. As an artist, Reid's music has been licensed for television including his song "Brighter" that was featured in the Season 7 finale of Grey's Anatomy, his song "Simply Human" featured on House (Season 8, Episode 9 FOX) and his song "Where Do I Even Start?" featured in Season 8, Episode 8 of Grey's Anatomy. After being featured on Grey's Anatomy, "Where Do I Even Start?" reached #74 on the Top 100 Alternative Songs on iTunes.

As a songwriter and record producer, Reid has worked with several artists including the Backstreet Boys. Reid wrote and produced five songs on the Backstreet Boys album In A World Like This including their single "Show 'Em (What You're Made Of)". Reid also produced their holiday single "It's Christmas Time Again", which he wrote with Backstreet Boys members Nick Carter and Howie Dorough along with songwriter Mika Guillory.

Horizons (Welsh: Gorwelion) is an arts scheme and music festival launched jointly in 2014 by BBC Cymru Wales and the Arts Council of Wales to develop new independent contemporary music artists. It is curated by BBC presenter Bethan Elfyn.

The scheme hosts a yearly showcase, but also displays its artists through slots at major domestic and international festivals, as well as securing studio access at the likes of Rockfield and Maida Vale.

In February 2014, the scheme launched and first took part of the National Eisteddfod in Llanelli, promoting artists including musician Chris Jones on the Llwyfan Perfformio.

In May 2014, Horizons was named as 'Horizons 12' and announced the first twelve artists for the inceptive event. Over 300 applicants were reviewed by the scheme, and among the final artists were:

Garrett Clark Borns (born January 7, 1992), better known by his stage name Børns (stylized as BØRNS), is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

Born and raised in Grand Haven, Michigan, Børns began performing in his youth. In 2012, he released his debut album, A Dream Between, through REZidual Records. His first major label release was the Candy EP (2014), through Geffen and Interscope. The EP peaked at number two on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The Dopamine tour followed, preceding his debut studio album of the same name in 2015. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number 24 in the US and generating numerous singles include the platinum-certified, "Electric Love". Børns then embarked on tours with artists including Charli XCX, Bleachers, and Halsey, as a supporting act, along with a set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2016. His second album, Blue Madonna, was released on January 12, 2018. The record spawned several singles, including "God Save Our Young Blood" with Lana Del Rey, which charted on the US rock chart. To further promote the LP, he headlined the Money Man Tour (2017–18) and supported Del Rey on her LA to the Moon Tour.

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, known professionally as Lorde, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and introspective songwriting.

Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds, by Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals) and Gwilym Sainsbury (guitar/bass).

Their debut album An Awesome Wave was released in May 2012 in Europe, and in September 2012 in the United States, and won the 2012 British Mercury Prize. Sainsbury left the band in early 2014. Their second album, This Is All Yours, was released on 22 September 2014 and went straight to number one in the United Kingdom. In February 2022 the band released their fourth studio album The Dream and are currently playing as a trio.

The band's actual name is the triangle-shaped symbol Δ (the capital Greek letter delta). The band often makes references to triangles (for example, the song "Tesselate" mentions "triangles are my favourite shape", and they make triangle symbols with their fingers during concerts), which they say is just due to it being a visually appealing shape.

The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer George Daniel.

Grouplove is an American alternative rock band that was formed in 2009 by Hannah Hooper, Christian Zucconi, Sean Gadd (bass), Andrew Wessen, and Ryan Rabin (drums).

Afternoon Records is a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The label was founded by Ian Anderson and Michael M. Sandstedt in 2003, the year Anderson graduated from high school. He wanted to create a platform for his high school band Aneuretical and others. Afternoon Records is distributed by Warner Music Group.

The Neighbourhood is an American rock band formed in Newbury Park, California, in 2011. The band is composed of vocalist Jesse Rutherford, guitarists Jeremy Freedman and Zach Abels, and bassist Mikey Margot. After releasing two EPs, I'm Sorry... and Thank You, the Neighbourhood released its first full-length album I Love You. on April 23, 2013, via Columbia Records. The album was preceded by their 2012 single "Sweater Weather"—their sole single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 14 in 2013 and resurging in popularity a decade later through radio airplay, TikTok, and Spotify.

Coin (often stylized as COIN) is an American pop rock band formed in 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. It currently consists of Chase Lawrence (lead vocals, synthesizers), Ryan Winnen (drums), and Joe Memmel (lead guitar, backing vocals).

The band originally released two EPs in 2012 (Saturdays) and 2013 (1992). They subsequently gained mainstream attention in 2015 with the lead single "Run" from their self-titled debut album, which was produced by Jay Joyce and released later the same year by Columbia.

The group gained further success in 2016 with the lead single "Talk Too Much" from the band's second studio album, How Will You Know If You Never Try, which was released on April 21, 2017. The song was their first to chart on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.