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...

Ramblerman’s new single "Midday Melancholy" doesn’t crash into your day; it seeps in, like the specific quality of light that pools on the floor when you've decided to stay inside. It’s here that Stephen Dobson tunes into a frequency of beautiful, stubborn inertia, a sound that feels both warm as a sunbeam and heavy as the dust motes dancing in it. The song understands...