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[Vegas Scene]

Local Spin: Four fresh songs we can’t get out of our heads

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Harvey Listen’s artwork led us to his music.

Hassan “I Got Fam” It’s been a month since Vegas MC Hassan Hamilton dropped his latest single, an ode to community and solidarity, on his Bandcamp page. “’Cause under the surface/We’re just different clowns inside the same circus … We gotta live in this world together/So instead of burning bridges/ I’m building bonds that’ll last forever,” he raps on the track, which he describes as his response “to all of the hate, division and misunderstanding that has come to represent the times that we currently live in.” It’s a reminder—not just to Las Vegans but to the entire world—that despite our differences, we’re all part of the same family. Listen

Harvey Listen, “I Concur” Without knowing anything about R&B/hip-hop singer Harvey Listen, the album artwork for his 2015 LP, Flawed—a picture of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama with orange hair, standing in a polka-dotted dress in a room filled with lights—grabbed my attention. That artistic thread continues throughout his new EP, Serotonin, not through visuals but in the serpentine beats and crafty samples that cradle Listen’s breathy, velvety-rich vocals. “I Concur” especially stands out for its use of Ozark Mountain Daredevils’ “Jackie Blue,” reworking the ’70s treasure into a hypnotizing bedroom jam. Listen

Hot Spots, “Procrastinator” Fans of early-2000s electronic acts like Discovery and Geographer, along with indie stalwarts Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, should pounce on this new duo’s five-song debut, Creep. The new project finds brothers Sika and Niko Saipale (formerly of Twin Brother) composing swirling synth and electronic-based jams while still experimenting with unusual, catchy song structures. Filled with spacey soundscapes, distant harmonies and bouncy drum machine fills, “Procrastinator” is a perfect opener—sunny, poppy and weird enough to keep us on our toes. Listen

Megabolts, “World” On Tuesday night, Brett Bolton (mastermind behind Kitze + the CPUs) and Megan Wingerter (of Dusty Sunshine and A Crowd of Small Adventures) dropped a bomb on social media, revealing new electronic-based project Megabolts. The duo released two tracks, “Sympathy” and “World,” both enriched by Wingerter’s violin solos and Bolton’s computerized compositions. “And all you want to be is hard/To a world that’s been good to you/You wanna stand on your own/You’re gonna fall alone,” Wingerter sings cooly on “World,” the ethereal chorus driving the searing lyrics deeper. To say we’re excited for more would be a serious understatement. Listen

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