Jan 17, 2025 8 min read what's good

What's Good (Week of 1/12)

Photo Credit: Alvaro Arisó, Graphic design by Querida

Another week, another round of bad news, and good music. What's Good is here for you, a safe harbor of jams that you can hook an anchor to when you're trying to navigate the storms outside. And before I labor over a metaphor any further, let's get into the new shit, with:

New Albums

Ela Minus
LOMAN & RLX
Maddie Jay
Reaper Mook
q no rap name
SINAI. aka Sleep Sinai

New Singles

Butcher Brown
Deniro Farrar
Girl Talk
MIKE
Miki Berenyi Trio

And much more, but first up, some Bonus Beats.

Bonus Beats
Music
Playlists

Bonus Beats

The damage that the Los Angeles wildfires have wrought continues to toll up, and the musical community has been hit hard. After looking through last week's database of GoFundMe Fundraisers for musicians and music industry professionals affected by the wildfires, I noticed that jazz legend Bennie Maupin's family was in there.

They're nearly at their goal, so please give them some help if you're so inclined. Also:

MusiCares has as short-term disaster relief support program for impacted individuals (scroll down to "Resources for Those Affected by the Los Angeles Area Fires")
In what will sadly I'm sure be just one of a number of huge losses for not just a musician, but broader archival efforts, Madlib and his family lost their home. This includes his musical equipment, recordings, and extensive music collection. You can donate here to help him rebuild.
Not strictly music related, but there's also a database of displaced Black families affected by the Eaton Fire in Pasadena and Altadena, the same fire that destroyed Fat Tony's home. Due to Altadena being exempt from the redlining policies that prevented Black people from acquiring land in California, it became one of the first places in the area to become home to a thriving Black middle class.

And if you haven't already checked the resources and donation efforts from last week's post, please take a look and give where you can.

The homey Natalie Weiner, writer and radio DJ par excellence put together an excellent piece for Don't Rock The Inbox on the intersection between Jazz and Country music, with commentary from Hilary Gardner, Justin Poindexter, Sam Reider, and What's Good fave Jeff Parker (please go listen to the "We Got The Jazz" honoree The Way Out of Easy at your earliest opportunity):

Another country name, though, was influential to Parker's work. "One of my biggest influences as a guitarist is Hank Garland," said Parker. "He's identified with country music and his session work with artists like Elvis, but he was also a great jazz guitar player. He very much represents the intersection of those two musics, and he's somebody I've certainly modeled my career as a kind of session musician around — somebody who developed their voice through, for lack of a better term, jazz, but then used it as a solid musical foundation to build on. He was just very versatile and open minded."

Musicians working in the jazz tradition often pride themselves on their specific ability to improvise — in Parker's eyes, though, that's just making music. "Everything starts with improvising — you might have an idea, but everybody who composes music starts with not really knowing what they're gonna do," he said. "They sit at or pick up their instrument, start to improvise, and then eventually stumble on something that they want to develop."

Nereya Otieno sat with Blu and Exile to talk last year's Love (the) Ominous World and their musical partnership for Passion of the Weiss:

Nereya: You both have always been heavy L.A. champions. This album seems like it’s celebrating more of Southern California as a whole. How have your relationships to California either evolved or changed over time?

Blu: I’ve always loved L.A. I’ve always loved California, it’s where I come from. This year was the West Coast Turn-Up Year for me. I dropped about four projects. People said all of them had an underlying West Coast theme. I thought that was pretty cool that that worked out that way.

Exile: Sonically, we wanted it to have a feel of Below the Heavens, but sound L.A. My goal was to touch on a few lost L.A. production styles and add my twist on it. Keep those sounds alive. I think with the Internet and social media, traditional sounds based on where you live are starting to get lost, you know? There are a lot of New York sounds getting lost or it’s just all kind of morphing together. I’ve always loved that about artists and where they came from and how the music emulated that. I think that was a part of our goal: Be able to do that, but still with our signature sound. I felt like we did a good job of that.

Rap Music Plug Podcast sat down with NAHreally for an extended chat about the newly released Secret Pancake, last year's "I let my tape rock 'til my tape popped" collaboration with The Expert BLIP, his creative process, who's got the best rapper hands in the game, and how the album cover for Secret Pancake came together.

It's been a year since the What's Good featured Mindless Meadow dropped, and JUICEB☮️X aka ttwig dropped a mini-doc (filmed on Super 8!) to tell us how it came to be.

The Body & Dis Fig were in session with Audiotree back in July, blessing the stage with a three song set, and a brief interview with Chicago's very own Psalm One. You can get the set in audio form from Audiotree's Bandcamp page.

Music

Ela Minus - QQQQ (From DIA, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Domino, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Mick Jenkins - Wars & Rumors of Wars (Out now. YouTube loosie.)

Miki Berenyi Trio - 8th Deadly Sin (From Tripla, out 4/4/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Bella Union, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Biig Piig - One Way Ticket (From 11:11, out 2/7/25. Preorder: Bandcamp, Steam: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - Trouble (Live from Church Studios in London) (From Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, out 2/7/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Sharon's store, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Khruangbin - Pon Pón (From A LA SALA, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Dead Oceans/Secretly, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

q no rap name - Smoke On The Clock (From YOU'RE ALL COWARDS: SIDE Q, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)

Tuamie - echo too windy (From Life Is Fair, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)

Maddie Jay - Stop Me If I've Told You This Story (From I Can Change Your Mind, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl and merch via Maddie's store, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

Reaper Mook - TAILOR MADE (From Montage Music, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Budgie - swallow my pride (From Lovers On Ice, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)

Kuna Maze - Stab (From Layers, out 3/7/25. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Butcher Brown - Ibiza (From Letters From The Atlantic, out 3/28/25. Purchase: Bandcamp | Physicals and merch via Concord Jazz, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Apollo Brown & CRIMEAPPLE - Mis Amigos (From This, Not That, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Mello Music Group (Cassette and Compact Disc also available), Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Larry June - Jan 14th (Out now. YouTube loosie.)

Gabe 'Nandez - Templar (From The Skirmish Compilation, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Girl Talk - Believe In Ya feat. T-Pain & Yaeji (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Yukumi - Winter Is Not Dead (From For You, out 3/28/25. Purchase: Bandcamp | Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

jerrard - da souf got somethin 2 say (Out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)

Wrong Way Up - Sweet Sweet Music (From Totally Right, out 2/21/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Vinyl, Cassette, and Digital via Soundway Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Footshooter - Cycles feat. James Mollison (From The Oasis, Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Michi - Snoobie (From Dirty Talk, out 2/28/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Stones Throw, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

SINAI. (aka Sleep Sinatra) - FadedPhantom (From UpcoParkEntity Files Vol. 1, out now. Purchase/Stream: Bandcamp)

RLX X LOMAN - Happening (From Madon', out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Paradime - Come Back (From L, out 2/4/25. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Deniro Farrar - Bird Scooter (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

MIKE - Bear Trap (From Showbiz!, out 1/31/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | 10k Global, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Moka Only - So It Goes (From Martian XMAS 2024, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Baths & Rachika Nayar - Dried Apricot (From Staying: Leaving Records Aid to Artists Impacted by the Los Angeles Wildfires, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Leaving Records)

Ivan Ave - Lover's Arms (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Radamiz & Fortes - One/Slide (From LIGHTMAN, out 1/30/25. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

August Truly - Headful of Decibels feat. Chester Watson (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Playlists

TIDAL

What's Good - TIDAL Playlist (Week of 1/12/25)

YouTube

That's another week in the books. Be sure to share this with your friends, and don't be afraid to let me know what you're digging either down in the comments or on social media. Have a great weekend, and as always, make good choices.

P.S. Rest in peace, David Lynch.