Solitary Friends is a Los Angeles dark pop band composed of three individually outstanding musicians, including songwriter and lyricist Ken Lamere, who also plays guitar for the band. Nick Liberatore, the band's fantastic drummer who has previously been on places like Comedy Central, and Michelle McGregor, the leader of Solitary Friends, an MFA acting graduate, have experience in numerous bands around Los Angeles. Solitary...

I spent a solid hour this morning watching dust motes suspended in a single shaft of sunlight, my entire nervous system held absolutely captive by Magdi Aboul-Kheir and his devastatingly immersive new album, "Slow Heat". The Germany-based journalist and classically trained pianist usually writes across a massive spectrum of genres, pivoting wildly from trance to late romanticism. Today, he has dropped an ambient, contemporary...