Alex Braun


Maylee Todd, ‘Maloo’ — 3.5/5 stars

Multidisciplinary artist Maylee Todd has had a wild, varied career. Beginning her career as a comedian, she has since branched out into performance art, animation and music. All these elements come together on her ambitious new project Maloo.



Building an inclusive space in music production

Despite recent strides, inequality and a lack of representation persist in the music production world. This field in particular is a very male-dominated space, with women representing only 2.6 per cent of producers credited on the highest-charting songs of the 2010s in America. Local songwriter, artist and producer Lana Winterhalt sees a complex history behind this issue.


The Weather Station, ‘How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars’ — 5/5 stars

How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars is indeed a more nocturnal, wistful record than the danceable, brooding Ignorance. The arrangements for these songs float, unmoored by time, carried largely by spare piano work adorned with pillowy ribbons of woodwinds and warm upright bass. This ethereal, minimal production establishes a very direct emotional connection with the listener, highlighting Lindeman’s voice.



OMBIIGIZI, ‘Sewn Back Together’ — 4/5 stars

OMBIIGIZI, a new collaborative project from artists Zoon and Status/Non-Status, is about searching. Sewn Back Together, as the title implies, establishes that the pair has been broken apart somehow, left looking for their place in history, their identity, trying to mend themselves.


Basia Bulat, ‘The Garden’ — 3.5/5 stars

Basia Bulat, like many of us, spent the pandemic slowing down. She describes spending time in the garden, putting down roots and waiting for melodies and songs from her past to come back to her. The title track of her new record, The Garden, served as a guiding light for this process.


Sam Weber, ‘Get Free’ — 3.5/5 stars

Sam Weber, a Canadian-born, newly minted Angeleno, follows in a long line of SoCal folk-rockers. Echoes from Laurel Canyon resonate in his music: the sound of transplants from across the continent, like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, or the consummately pro singer-songwriters of the ’70s, like Warren Zevon and Randy Newman. But as Weber says in “Survival,” he’s “not looking for some ’70s revival.”