beabadoobee - Beatopia

Bea makes more out of her '90s nostalgia on Beatopia.

Crying - Get Olde / Second Wind

I don’t know whether the point with Crying’s sound is to send people on a uniquely nostalgic trip back to the 90s, provide the weirdest backdrop for vocalist Elaiza Santos, or even a secret mission to get the world head banging to the Mario theme tune--but whatever it is, it’s working. Get Olde / Second Wind is a double EP from the lovable three-piece group and will hopefully be a project that might get them the recognition they deserve. Although slightly repetitive and contained in some places, the fast-paced, electric, 8-bit pop sound props up the faint melodic vocals in a tightly woven, energetic package. Just don’t get too into Crying in a public place, people might give you looks.

- Fin Worrall

Blondes - "Elise"

Electronic dance duo, Blondes, hailing from New York bring some funky grooves that make you want to dance like you're on the opening intro to some 90s sitcom.

That is partly has to due to with the music as well as the visuals which bring patterns that belong on sweaters from The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air to life with movement. Musically, the duo continues to produce interesting sounds that deal a lot with reverb and distortion, using sounds that sound in some moments dated and breathing fresh life into them with their arrangements. It can really be seen here on "Elise" with each new sound being placed in one by one fitting in their own unique way until it slowly becomes a full and lush electronic track.

Bizarre Tribe: A Quest To The Pharcyde

Gummy Soul presents a collection of tracks that bring A Tribe Called Quest-inspired instrumentals under a number of vocal cuts from 90s-era hip hop start The Pharcyde. Stream and enjoy via the widget above, and download it on a name-your-price basis on Bandcamp.

Bleeding Rainbow- "Drift Away"

Philadelphia's favorite shoegaze band, Bleeding Rainbow, have a new video for "Drift Away" that really exudes the fuzzy and fun aesthetic of the four piece. The video intermittently alternates between hazy, lo-fi footage of the band performing the song and delightfully creepy stop motion animation of a tortured mad scientist with what appears to be some sort of rodent's skull for a head. With his nights plagued by unattainable desires of escape and his days consisting of bleak cycles of tending to foreboding machinery, the deranged alchemist is a bit of a sympathetic character even when he bears an uncanny resemblance to something I found when dissecting an owl pellet in the fifth grade... Either way, the video is fantastic, perfectly matching the vibe of the band and the vibe of the season.

Suns- The Engine Room

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Reks- "Such A Showoff"

Reks fresh off releasing last year's album Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme is set to drop another LP this year. Like R.E.K.S., it features plenty of production from Statik Selektah. A track from this forthcoming LP has just been released with a lot of lyrical talent being showed off over the Selektah beat. The production reminds me of something off of Illmatic , pushing lots of heavy on the keys and bass, with a scratched vocal cuts over the hook. Pretty sure it's a Kanye vocal, too.

That old school, braggadocious vibe runs throughout this track delivering potent rhymes and a crisp rhythms. Straight, No Chaser  is set to release April 24.

The Magnetic Fields- Love At The Bottom Of The Sea

Stream: The Magnetic Fields- Love At the Bottom of the Sea The new album from The Magnetic Fields is streaming on NPR Music right now. The concept behind this LP seems to be that of a confused and conflicted love. All the various vocalists sing with their own unique personality about relationships that are just a bit off. In many cases they deal with some serious subject matters in what kind of relationships are socially acceptable. The lyrics and delivery are often witty and make light of the situations they present such as “Andrew In Drag."

Musically this album is very much a nostalgia trip back to the 90s; even if you are not familiar with the bands work from that time. Each song switches genre and style on whim to go along with the different vocalist, which can be jarring. Fortunately all the tracks remain danceable in some form, along with being consistently short. The short length of all the songs is good for an album like this, no song over stays its welcome. With Love At The Bottom Of The Sea, The Magnetic Field continues to deliver smart and interesting pop music.