Boston/LA Mixtape – Speedy Ortiz, Jenova 7, Clown

Five great albums/EPs to check out – two coming from Boston’s transplant (and current LA resident) Jenova 7,  two from Northampton’s own Speedy Ortiz and one from Worcester’s one-man project Clown.

Speedy Ortiz – Cop Kicker EP + The Death Of Speedy Ortiz
Though one of the tags that this Northampton trio uses on their Bandcamp page is lol-fi, make no mistake – Speedy Ortiz is dead serious when it comes to their music/lyrics (perhaps the killwave tag is more appropriate due to Sarah Dupois morbid lyrics heard on tracks like Cutco).
Comprised of former members of Quilty, Ovlov and Graph, the band is currently offering their debut EP and a full-length for download on their Bandcamp page.

Jenova 7- Dusted Jazz Volume One + Two
Two volumes of music from LA’s (and former Boston) own trip-hop architect/filmmaker Jenova 7.

The layering of phat drums, groovy basslines and addictive jazzy elements is pure genius and brings delightful reminiscences from the supreme years of the oldschool organic samples-based hip-hop.

Get the volume one here and volume 2 here.
 
Clown – Love In Recession
Clown is a solo project Rusty Rabinowitz from Worcester, MA who comments on his debut LP Love In Recession in the following way:

This is what happens when someone stupid enough decides to make an album with resources that go beyond limited. A laptop, Garageband, a drum machine program, and a midi keyboard. Vocals were recorded through the built-in laptop mic.
The spirit of punk lives on.

Stream/buy the album here or check out the video for Shopper plus his cover of Chris Isaac’s Wicked Game below.