Have you ever drifted asleep at the bottom of a dried up well, but when you woke up you realized that you’d actually been floating on a crude bamboo raft on a murky urban river, the bends and bows of which had deposited you on the beer-sticky parquet floor of the dive-est night club in your town?

When this does happen, Paul A. Rosales–performing under his own name or as Wonder Wheel–will be crafting a sonic wicker lounger upon which you will be tempted to dance and, eventually, melt.  Rosales’ sound is an excavated pop, stripped of it’s syrup and shine, leaving behind a lustre of echoing vocals that spiral around the fuzzy color wheel of lo-fi synths and beats that Rosales manipulates with the terrifying dexterity of an artist whose bodily extremities can materialize the nightmares and sex fantasies that lurk deep within in his–and our own–sub-conscious. Honing his chops through collaborations with R. Stevie Moore, Rosales cuts some bomber tracks.

See for yourself in this video for “Crimes”

“Crimes” is currently available as a 7inch single on Care in the Community Recordings. It’s also the first track on his debut full-length, Wonder Wheel I –a welcome addition to our summer indie rotation.

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Bethany and Amanda comprise Pocahaunted. They look so happy – kinda like The Carpenters (if Richard was a girl and who knows) – however most of Pocahaunted’s music is buried in a murkier, ambient sort of dark primitive experimental sound. Bethany describes it as, “Talking Heads meets Cocteau Twins thrown into a blender after smoking a lot of weed.” Karen, are you listening? Fresh from L.A. Pocahaunted comes to The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz this Tuesday, July 27th at 9 PM.

Plan ahead, heads. They have the KZSC stomp of approval. (more…)

Michael Gaither, local singer-songwriter, is live RIGHT NOW on KZSC’s Backroads program. He’s a writer of entertaining and often humorous songs that reflect on everyday experiences. Tune in until 2 pm to catch the performance and interview.

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We just got this record in from Crustacean Records:

It’s the new release from Screamin’ Cyn Cyn & The Pons, “Damn Girl.” Behind the plastic-gem bedazzled gold acrylic nails is a band that appear not to take themselves very seriously. If they are serious about anything, it’s penning irreverent and offensive songs that poke fun at just about everything: trophies, hairdos, and cats that dig pop culture icons. This record may not be for everyone–our world music director describes it as “painful.” Hey, sometimes punk hurts, but this punk tickles. Check out the lyrics to track eight, “POTO”:

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Heyyy did you catch the Maps & Atlases show at Kuumbwa on Sunday? I did! Those Chicagoans whumped and warbled their way into the hearts of the assembled believers. If you’re in southern CA, head’s up! They’re headed your wayyyy! If you ain’t gonna to catch ‘em on this go around, big ugly yellow couch will hook you up, my friend. Check out this clip of Maps & Atlases performing “Solid Ground,” the fourth track on their new record Perch Patchwork (Barsuk).

Solid Ground by Maps & Atlases from Big Ugly Yellow Couch on Vimeo.

As you can see in the video, these guys have really impressive musical talents and beards.  A question for you, though:

This beard:

Impressive, or no?

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