Oliver Wang
Oliver Wang is an culture writer, scholar, and DJ based in Los Angeles. He's the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Areaand a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach. He's the creator of the audioblog and co-host of the album appreciation podcast, Heat Rocks.
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Nicole Willis is a retro soul singer from Brooklyn. Her really tight band, the Soul Investigators, is from Finland. The group sounds like it's from Memphis – and it's one of Oliver Wang's favorites of the year so far.
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Many critics are calling The Reminder by Feist, the new recording by the Canadian songwriter and singer, her best yet... and this may be her moment. She was the subject of an extensive New York Times profile. The record came out this week.
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From the vaults comes "Let's Just Get Together," a phenomenal, never-before-released David Sea song. The track showcases his powerful voice and roots in gospel singing, but his impassioned vocals are practically drowned out by the guitar playing counterpoint, almost in competition with Sea. -
Migrant workers came from around the world to build Panama's transportation systems. They brought, among other things, music with them. Dozens of bands that came to be known collectively as Combos Nacionales married musical styles as distinct and distant as New York boogaloo, Cuban descarga and Trinidadian Calypso. Panama: Latin, Calypso and Funk at the Isthmus charts this uniquely Panamanian hybrid.
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In the world of English-language hip-hop, some rappers use nicknames. But one Los Angeles musician creates entire alter egos. Rapper and producer Otis Jackson, Jr., has recorded under the names Madlib, Malik Flavors, Quasimoto and his real name.
