I know Rhye’s identity, but I’m not talking. The reason for the anonymity isn’t mere self-conceit, it’s savvy. Once the faces get revealed, the game will get real. They’re slotted as soul, but you won’t conflate them with their Innovative Leisure labelmate, Nick Waterhouse. This is pop music, so commercially viable that the recordings from […]

Nosaj Thing’s music is never an accident. You can’t imagine that his songs could bond any other way, but they never feel calculated. Pianos recall his classical education. Codas never dissolve into chaos. Everything is meticulous and properly alphabetized. Between that and his obviously singular ear, he might be the best pure songwriter of the […]

Immaculately constructed psych-pop in the vein of ? and the Mysterians, 13th Floor Elevators, the Nuggets comp, and The Byrds circa “Eight Miles High.”  The Allah Las are from Los Angeles and record for the Innovative Leisure imprint, which is lights out at the moment. This song is some smoked-out 60s beach cruiser music — […]

Part of me would rather be water boarded than hear another retro soul song from a young white kid in a skinny tie. So I ignored Nick Waterhouse when I first heard about him, even though he came co-signed by one of my favorite labels, Innovative Leisure, home to Mexicans with Guns, Hanni El Khatib, […]