Press play and the room changes temperature. 'Make The World Stand Still' by Kaitlin Corbett Jones comes in with piano, strings, and a voice that sounds ready for the balcony seats and the person crying quietly in the back row. This is big-feeling music, but it is not messy for the sake of drama. Kaitlin Corbett Jones has the training to go massive and the...

The fiercely independent, Idaho-raised rapper nick! channels a deeply overstimulated, restless frequency on his new EP, "GEEKED!". Born in 2006 and building a fervent following entirely without industry co-signs, he occupies an interesting lane in new-wave underground hip-hop. His music sounds precisely like the brain chemistry of an internet-raised creative processing the blinding speed of newfound success. He writes and produces melodic, hard-hitting rap...