Shelby Lock and the Venezuela Strings Recording Ensemble have joined forces on "A Matter of Time: Perseverancia," a sweeping modern classical single that turns physical gravity into something buoyant. https://open.spotify.com/track/58D1KqkKhCXBnjNEc91JKD?si=Dx9X2tW9Qs-Uwmo_fuLNWA Lock, a conservatory-trained pianist who runs Silver Moon Sound in Santa Cruz, spent years bedridden by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, literally clawing her way back to the keyboard. Across the hemisphere, the San Cristóbal orchestra guided by conductors...

When the Malaga-based duo My State unleashed "Its Whatever", I half-expected my speakers to start smoking—or at least demand an apology for the sudden surge in voltage. It is rare to hear a track that captures the precise auditory frequency of snapping a pencil in half out of sheer frustration, but here we are. This isn't polite radio fodder. It is high-octane pop-rock that forgot...