Feb 21, 2025 8 min read what's good

What's Good (Week of 2/16)

We made it through yet another week, so come over and sit by me while I break down What's Good. Lots of music this week, including:

New Albums

LJGN (Louis Jack & Gabe 'Nandez)
Milc, Nacho Picasso, & Televangel (First time on DSPs)
Puma Blue
Sam Gendel
Teller Bank$ & Wino Willy

New Singles

El Michels Affair
Emma-Jean Thackray
McKinley Dixon
Salami Rose Joe Louis
Stik Figa & DJ Sean P
Smoke DZA & DJ Muggs

And more, but first up, a particularly chunky edition of Bonus Beats.

Bonus Beats
Music
Playlists

Bonus Beats

Matthewdavid was in the mix for NTS with a session full of blends highlighting music from their massive Staying Compilation benefiting musicians affected by the L.A. wildfires.

Vritra & Her 72Demons released video footage of their recent set for L.A.'s Beat Cinema. You can cop the audio for download on Bandcamp or directly from their website .

Gary over at CABBAGES caught up with the beatmaker behind Real Bad Man to talk Dear Psilocybin—his new collaboration with ZelooperZ—as well as the transition of Real Bad Man from clothing brand to musical project, and producing for Boldy James and Kool Keith.

DJ Haram brought August Fanon out for Monday Night Raw on The Lot Radio, and he previewed a slew of unreleased collabs and remixes for his hour long set, including Lungs, Stik Figa, Doof, Armand Hammer & Denmark Vessey, Roc Marciano and ton more.

May Every Shape Hold, lilith's excellent release from last week, has an accompanying visual novel (made by lilith!) that you can play right now over on Itch.io.

Will Schube sat down with ELUCID to talk the influences for REVELATOR.

Will: When did you first discover NIN?

ELUCID: A long time ago, but you can discover something and eventually find something to latch onto. I feel like I got into Nine Inch Nails and then maybe more industrial sounding adjacent type things shortly after. You end up listening to Alien Sex Fiend and Ministry. It’s interesting listening to things 20 years later with different sorts of experience and different sorts of ears. I’m hearing it differently and I feel like I skipped over “March of the Pigs” when I first heard it. I’m not sure why, but now it just hits differently.

Working on this record I was playing with a live drummer, and the thing about “March of the Pigs” is that those drums set off the song. They have this intensity that I was reaching for, it hit that peak that I needed, that I know I needed for the record. Then I was just watching the video and it’s like, ‘Damn, Trent is killing it.’ I just love the way he moves. I love the intensity of the song. There’s something about the breakdown.

I was interested in dynamics making this record. I wanted things to be loud, but I wanted other things to be soft. Reznor does both of those things, which I think a lot of alternative bands did. He could be screaming and yelping, and then it has that bridge or the chorus that’s so tender and sweet. Then they cut all that shit away and bring back the brimstone. I just thought that was really ill. I love that in music, those sorts of dynamics.

The homey Son Raw reviews an intriguing joint from Tokyo Cigar and August Fanon that slipped by me, Raymond, a concept album from the POV of Raymond K. Hessel, the character Tyler Durden held at gunpoint in Fight Club.

From that simple concept, Tokyo and Fanon craft a meditative look at trauma, friendship, familial bonds and the fine line between randomness and meaning. Bold without being bombastic, it’s an album that finds its best moments sketching out scenes that most rappers and filmmakers might ignore.

Take opener “Cathedral Of Ravens.” Over Fanon’s soulful keys, Tokyo paints a hyper detailed portrait of Raymond’s shitty basement apartment, lingering over his subject’s, rusted light fixtures, bare drywall, peeling tiles and how a dresser doubles as a seat when guests come over. A couple of bars touch on the protagonist disappointing his parents, but there’s far more showing than telling, an approach that amplifies the relatability: unless you’re a nepo baby, chances are you’ve lived in an apartment just like this at some point in your life, trying to figure your shit out. Unlike Raymond however, you were probably never held up by Brad Pitt at gun point.

Music

El Michels Affair - Mr. Brew (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Mick Jenkins - Publix (From , out now. Purchase: Purchase via EVEN)

Duncecap & steel tipped dove - We Never Really Lived It (From The Need To Know, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Vinyl via Fused Arrow Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

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

Emma Jean-Thackray - It's Okay feat. Kassa Overall (From Weirdo, 4/25/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Emma-Jean's Store, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Puma Blue - hotel room (From antichamber, out now. Purchase: Purchase digital downloads, preorder vinyl and CD via Puma Blue's site, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Radamiz & Fortes - East vs. West? (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Camphor Freya - The Silence and The Heat (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Spotify)

Lionmilk - get hight (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Salami Rose Joe Louis - Inside (From Lorings, out 4/25/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Smoke DZA & DJ Muggs - Kayfabe Is Dead (Out now. Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek - Ceylan (From Yarın Yoksa, out on 3/14/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Big Crown Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

McKinley Dixon - Sugar Water feat. Quelle Chris & Anjimile (From Magic, Alive!, out on 6/6/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | Digital and physicals via City Slang, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Kim Deal - Big Ben Beat (From Nobody Loves You More, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | 4AD, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Chelsea Wolfe - Place In The Sun (Unbound version, live @ First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA) (From Unbound, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Bioluminescene vinyl w/etched B-side via Loma Vista Recordings, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Queen Herawin - Shame feat. Open Mike Eagle (From Awaken The Sleeping Giant, out on 2/28/25. Preorder: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Dear Dea - Sage (Live at EveryDejaVu's PIECES live event @ Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA) (From When You Go Home Again, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Tara Lily - South Bombay (From Speak In The Dark, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

LJGN (Gabe 'Nandez & Louis Jack) - Claymore (From LJGN, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Maria Somerville - Garden (From Luster, out on 4/25/25. Preorder: Bandcamp | 4AD, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Patrick Shiroishi & Dylan Fujioka - The Day That Was (From Left up on the Tree, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp)

TV-MA - Planets feat. Issac Schutz (From The Light at the End of Decay, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Milc, Nacho Picasso, & Televangel - Tubbs & Crockett (From Montage Music, out now for the first time on DSPs. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Sleepdealer - Heaven (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Lexa Gates - What You Wish For (From Elite Vessel, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Hurray for the Riff Raff - Pyramid Scheme (Out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Digital download via Nonesuch Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Boldy James & Chuck Strangers - Whale Fishing (From Token of Appreciation, out on 2/27/25. Preorder: Merch and vinyl via Boldy's Shop, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Stik Figa & DJ Sean P - Cold Train feat. Oddisee (From A Small Fortune, out on 3/7/25. Preorder: Bandcamp)

Wrong Way Up - Let's Go Do It Tonight (From Totally Right, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp | Soundway Records, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Teller Bank$ & Wino Willy - Ringling Bros (From Black Man!, out now. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

FloFilz - Doves feat. Kofi Stone (From Dim Down, out on 4/4/25. Purchase: Bandcamp, Stream: Tidal | Apple | Spotify)

Playlists

Tidal

What's Good: Tidal Playlist - Week of 2/16/25

BNCMPR

What's Good: BNCMPR Playlist - Week of 2/16/25

YouTube

That's this week, done and dusted. If you enjoyed this, please share it with your friends and let me know what you're going to be listening to this weekend in the comments below, or over on Bluesky at the butterfly link in the nav bar up top.

Take care of each other, and as always, make good choices.