Badtaste, the creative vehicle of Czech-German artist Anna Kristina, has dropped a conceptual diptych titled "Hedonism, Sobriety." Now operating out of Paris, the singer, songwriter, and dancer has constructed a release that thrives on friction. It is a project that looks directly at the messy, often contradictory nature of human desire and refuses to tidy it up for easy consumption. The music operates in the...

Remy Smith’s "Short Ride Down" arrived not with a crash, but with the insistent hum of fluorescent lights in a waiting room you can’t quite leave. This slice of indie rock, edged with the introspection of folk, doesn't just sing about the Los Angeles hustle; it smells faintly of studio air conditioning and the specific anxiety of knowing your smile is part of the...