Say yes to Non La's lo-fi power-pop.

Photo by Cole Schmidt

DJ On in the one-man-band Non La, and their new album Like Before will be a direct hit for those whose hearts are targets for clear hooks bursting forth from its fuzzy bedroom production style. The lyrics are based in relationship-land and the difficulties oof traversing that terrain during new adventures in that realm.

But it's the sound that reeled me in first. On's songwriting is of the style that sounds simple, but that's only becasue the tunes are carefully constructed for maximum impact. The straightforward approach and ability to pop back and forth between tender moments of the low-key sort with big ol' waves of distortion that, when deployed, drop like a series of glorious guitar sledgehammers is a really satisfying listen.

Like Before is out today, so give it a spin below, and pick up an LP or cassette if it burrows under your skin like if has mine. If you dig lo-fi guitar pop that reaches for both the rafters and the heart, I think you're gonna enjoy this a lot.

crêpe girl carves out a pocket of delicious pop that's all her own, and it's fantastic fun.

Photo by Steph Estrada

French-American artist Eliza Grégoire is crêpe girl and her latest EP is STARGAZING  was released last week It's a short, punchy collection of skewed pop built on inventive production and playful explorations pulling at the corners of various genres to collect a stew of tunes that feels unusually. distinct and bright. 

Usually I wouldn’t pull a direct quote from a press release, but in this case it immediately explains her name (and perhaps her entry into music). 

In college Grégoire ran a crêpe stand and says, “I was making crêpes backstage for Clairo’s band and crew before her show, and Mac DeMarco happened to show up at my stand,” so she ended up making crêpes for him at his Red Rocks show later on. If here crêpes are half as good as her music, they might rival the ones we sampled at the base of the Eiffel Tower last year.

So dig in and take a healthy bite as you consume her new EP below. I tick you'll find it quite filling and devoid of the empty calories that can plague some pop.

And if you do, I promise I'll stop making food metaphors if we ever talk about this EP in person. 

Anytime I need a pick-me-up, I watch this.

Hopefully you will forgive my in-camera editing in real time as I shot this, but now you can stand where I stood last July and enjoy an explosive rendition of a classic track!

I am smiling widely yet again after watching this for the umpteenth time.

Best! Oscars! Performance! In! My! Lifetime?

No I'm not in hibernation, and there are reasons for it being relatively quiet around these parts. However, I couldn't let last Sunday's Oscar. performance for Best Song candidate "I'm Just Ken," go by without marking it here. Why? Because I have a strong feeling that performance will become a permanent part of "best of" Oscar montages for the next 75 years, at least.

I mean, just watch it above. It's glorious!

And while I personally wanted "I'm Just Ken" to win for being so fun, I think the Billie Eilish number "What Was I Made For?" was the correct choice to take home the statue. While the Gosling performance will become a part of Oscars history, I think Eilish's song is on a fast path to becoming a permanent standard in the great American songbook.