Today's Top Tune

The New York Times calls Carlos Niño “the spiritual force behind LA’s eclectic music scene,” and it’s true. A radiant being, he is also the co-producer and co-writer for André 3000’s New Blue Sun. But today, we’re focusing on his own new album, Placenta, a celebration of “the doulas, midwives, and birth workers who help bring life into this world.” The track was written around the birth of his second son, a whole 25 years after the birth of his first born Azul Niño and is also one of his regular artistic collaborators. Who knows, maybe 25 years from now, this little kid will work on dad’s music too. Let’s take a listen to “Love to All Doulas!.”

When Brooklyn’s Big Crown Records was a nascent label, one of the first artists that founder El Michels Affair signed was The Shacks, and in fact, Shannon Wise was only 17 at the time and they had to wait until her 18th birthday to sign the contract. Along with Max Shrager the duo made a lot of music together, toured the world, were placed on impactful, global ad campaigns and released their debut album but, alas, the band broke up in 2020 before finishing their sophomore album even though they were very prolific and wrote many good songs. Thanks to the label, the new compilation Big Crown Vaults Vol. 2 offers unreleased tracks, including the very beautiful “Gentle.”

Songwriter and storyteller Jensen McRae was born and raised in Los Angeles and thinks of herself as “one house down from the girl next door.” Her magic power is forging songs from the smallest overheard snippet or phrase that ignites a concept. Take the song “Massachusetts,” which began as a social post shared in real time before its completion. That in turn led to covers, interpretations, and even the track’s eventual title.

We have a new song for you from the canyons of Southern California, courtesy of our old friends Beachwood Sparks, who are known to echo the cosmic fervor of The Byrds’ legendary sound. “Falling Forever” invokes a motley of melody threaded by harmonies and comes from their forthcoming album Across the River of Stars, produced by longtime fan and The Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson.

No one knows how many incarnations our spirits have, but we do know we’ve got one shot at this life, so it’s important to live as authentically as possible and to realize when to quit. Amsterdam singer-songwriter VanWyck takes a crack at the idea of leaving the past behind and moving into a brighter future on “Towards The Sun,” an ode recorded in one take with the drummer playing percussion on an old suitcase. It’s from the forthcoming LP Dust Chaser, out late September.

New York psych-pop quadrivium (a place where four4 things meet) Crumb have issued their third studio album, AMAMA, a sonic excursion riddled with frenetic drumwork and oodles of shape-shifting bits. Experimental by nature, “Side By Side” takes us on a wild ride.

Lido Pimienta’s “He Venido Al Mar,” or “I’ve Come Down to the Sea” in English, was written for the protagonist in the film Calladita aka The Quiet Maid, a story of a hard- working Colombian migrant working for a wealthy family. It’s a story that resonated with Lido Pimienta:

Boston-based trio Tiny Habits formed at Berklee School of Music in 2022 and have just released their debut album, All For Something, written collectively and individually across a dozen songs that lean into an array of emotions and scenarios. Radiant harmonies and their collaborative way of working together ensures that “Wishes” embraces anyone experiencing a sense of loss.

Dubbed as the “Diva of the People,” Gavin Turek has been feeling good and thinking it’s time to dust off her “Disco Boots,” stepping out into her signature dance-funk sound with a lot of, ahem, soul (sole?). You will find the track on her forthcoming follow-up to her debut album Madame Gold.

Mexican rock legends and social ambassadors Café Tacvba are back with their first track in seven years. “La Bas(e),” or “The Base” in English, is a song to foster unity, liberty, brotherhood, and human rights for immigrants. The song is inspired by a Mexican children’s game and aspires to a world where humanity looks out for one another.

Conor O’Brien is a poet who writes and records his musings into song as Villagers. This troubadour’s sixth album, That Golden Time, is chock full of dazzling melodies, pristine instrumentation, and inspiration from philosophers, poets, and playwrights. They all merge to become part of his fabric, abound on songs like “I Want What I Don’t Need.”

Spanish indie artist Pedro Balaña, aka The Boy From The South, left his work in London finance to dive into music making in the studio. While composing on his trusty guitar — the only instrument he owns — Balaña learned by doing and improvised on whatever other instruments were available as the clock ticked away on valuable studio time. Let’s launch “Space Party,” a track that conjures early Beck and Talking Heads.

Jakarta-born, LA-based singer-songwriter NIKI has a flirty new song to share, “Too Much Of A Good Thing.” It’s a perfect gift for your new crush and is our first peep into her forthcoming album, Buzz, to be delivered in August.

After releasing Blue Skies in 2022, the Chicago trio known as Dehd decided to turn a writing session into a road trip and filled their van to the brim with recording equipment, camping out in an Earthship in New Mexico to work as long as their solar panels kept their electricity on. And then onto the next adventure — the quiet of the Puget Sound. Eating, breathing, sleeping and their purpose, writing, turned into their album Poetry.

Last year while at SXSW, Liz Nistico — aka Revenge Wife — had a melodic dream that she translated into a song with collaborator NZCA Lines. The result is “Myth of a Salesman,” inspired by the Daft Punk song “Something About Us.” Their new track takes place in Los Angeles and speaks about love, change, and being alright in the present moment — with the added bonus of a lovely flute solo by an artist we play, but have been sworn to secrecy to reveal (if we told you, well, we’d have to kill you).

Some 30 years and soon-to-be 14 albums into their sonic journey, UK-based Tindersticks have a new collection of songs, Soft Tissue, set to drop in September. Their signature brooding melodies are still on track, as you hear on “Falling, The Light.”

Austin-based Charley Crockett is on the short list for Artist of the Year at the Americana Music Association Award at Americana Fest in Nashville in September and he’s in great company.

LA artist Jessica Pratt has been rounding up fans for a dozen years as a talented songwriter armed with an acoustic guitar and a soft-yet-penetrating voice. On her fourth album, Here in the Pitch, Pratt opted for “big panoramic sounds that make you think of the ocean and California” via nine songs that incorporate a range of instruments like the glockenspiel, timpani, baritone saxophone, and flute alongside her hypnotizing vocals. “Life Is” delivers a panoramic scope.

Ok, we get it. LA has a lot of characters who are easy to poke fun at, and now they’ve got an anthem all their own. Written in our fair city by Australian electronic duo Flight Facilities, “Days of the Week” features cheeky lyrics by Aramis Johnson of Enumclaw. “What started out as a joke during a three-hour studio session with Aramis of Enumclaw has turned into one of our guiltiest pleasures: A modern-day ode to Los Angeles and the people who make it shine,” the band tells KCRW.

You may know Cor.Ece as the LA-based, Grammy-winning co-writer on Beyonce’s mind-boggling Renaissance album, but here he intersects with Brooklyn-based DJ, songwriter, and producer Bad Colours for a heart-thumping, propulsive beat on their new project, Been Here Before. The mix is powerful, laden with soulful house and disco, as exemplified on the album’s opening banger “Say Yea.”