Here at KCRW, we get sent a lot of music — like, hundreds of tracks each week. But amidst the label kits, press releases, and streaming automation are a smattering of homegrown, D.I.Y. gems sent straight from our listeners, many of which are worthy of their own due shine.
Welcome to The Best Music You Sent Us, a new semi-monthly series to help you beat the algorithm. Each edition, we’ll be spotlighting listener submissions and under-the-radar artists that caught our ears, and that you need to know about. This week, we’re kicking things off with a mix of underground retro-future sounds from LA, depression disco out of Portland, a sensual jam inspired by Steely Dan (and smoothies), and more.
Immortal Nightbody is an artist from Los Angeles who combines lofi synth production, hip-hop delivery, and incisive lyrics for a sound entirely his own. His music feels both retro and cutting edge, and his self-directed music videos are uniquely stylized and surreal in their VHS-like haze. “Aufhebung,” off of his album “Sublime Objects,” is no different.
It’s late night music. Personal lyrics shrouded in darkness, but a hook to yell along to on the freeway after midnight with the windows down. The music video features Immortal Nightbody flanked by two katana-wielding women with the LA skyline behind them, as he holds a cigarette in one hand and swings a sword with the other. If that doesn’t sound like a good time to you, I don’t know what will. Immortal Nightbody’s newest EP, “to hate like this is to be happy forever,” which he describes as “some kind of desperate-ass inoculation against anxiety and misery,” is out now.
Portland-based artists Katy Ohsiek and Wil Bakula of Foamboy collaborated in the musical collective known as Chromatic Colors, before coming together as a duo to create jazz-inspired dance pop outfit Foamboy during the pandemic. Their song “Better” explores themes of seasonal depression, capitalism, and mental health, all over a funky, undeniably danceable disco beat. On the idea of pairing personal lyrics with sweaty, groovy rhythms, Ohsiek says “Why not? Let's mix this super upbeat music with my depression.”
“Better’ allows you to feel both seen by its lyrics and set free by its music. Its beautifully choreographed music video, directed by Monika Felice Smith(Olivia Rodrigo and Finneas), tracks a main character literally pulled to the ground, who nevertheless strives to pick herself up. Foamboy’s debut album “My Sober Daydream” drops Oct. 1 via Week in Pop. “Better” is streaming now along with the singles “Peach Smoothie” and “Backseat.”
