Arts

Blue Ocean Fertile State (Slumberland Records) 3.5/5 Oakland-based indie electronic pop band Blue Ocean’s debut album Fertile State is a 12-track journey.  This is the kind of album you’ll want to hear when in need of a return to those nostalgic, ’80s-like synth tunes—it reminds the heart of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” or Erasure’s […]

It’s October, and here in Victoria that means it’s time for the Antimatter [media art] film and media art festival. One of the movies screening at the fest this year is from Los Angeles-based filmmaker Zhuoyun Chen; Only If You Could See a View Above the Clouds is inspired from a difficult period of transition […]

Lightheaded Good Good Great! (Slumberland) 3.5/5 Good Good Great!, the debut album from New Jersey indie rockers Lightheaded, is a unique blending of mostly ‘80s- and ‘90s-era indie-pop sounds, with some Phil Spector and Curt Boettcher production influences sprinkled in for good measure, in a similar schtick to other retro-inspired indie groups like Paramount or […]

A Beacon School yoyo (Grind Select) 4.5/5 A Beacon School is the work of multi-instrumentalist New Yorker Patrick J. Smith; on his debut full-length yoyo he fuses rock and techno beats into mellow yet upbeat dream pop. What struck me first was the melodic vocals, which is one aspect of the dreamy sound, along with […]

Local soul/trip hop artist Jaxxee’s debut single “Gone” is thematically profound and deeply personal. The song—which dropped in August, followed by the release of “so tired” this month—offers listeners a story about Jaxxee’s life journey, with a glimpse of hope. “[It’s about] letting go of relationships that don’t serve us,” she says, “and, I believe, […]