Welcome back to Under the Stars, a quasi-weekly column that stays on message with strong-ass opinions, presenting new music releases and upcoming shows. We keep hustling with the changes, thinking outside the margins. Hop in. And thanks for spending some time with us.
KAREN NYAME KG, EPIPHANY (BLACK ACRE)
In the hands of this Black woman producer, the swing of the UK Funky genre is far more important than the snare.
Karen Nyame KG, who’s been making big noise in the club scene for a minute, is done charging it to the game, too. Epiphany, her most recent release, features lush Afrocentric production and showcases her vocals when she chooses to bless us with them. She’s busy making tracks that give insight to other producers; find the feel in tracks, and don’t rely on tired tricks.
Epiphany marches around like the elite Black breakbeat that it is, with sparkly accents of jazzy, way-past-3am-type house joints. The opening track, “In My Room” is a forward-facing roller, and “Allure” later on proves a nice balance of thick, full bass hits and elevated song structure.
But, for my money, “Epiphany” is the one. An instrumental that takes its time to make its mark but works itself beautifully into a dubby mind-fucker of an earworm, reminding us all that sometimes tracks speak louder using no words. It pleasantly makes you lose track of time. That takes talent. And that’s exactly what Karen Nyame KG has plenty of.
Grab it here.
MARBLED EYE, FOREVER (DIGITAL REGRESS)
Oakland post-punk luminaries Marbled Eye know how to build up into a hectic moment: guitar riffs that seem to have complaints built them, yammering solos, stop-start stuttering drums, and push-pull audio energy, erupting crowds into chaos. Completely wrecking some tightly compacted backroom performance space.
So, yeah, while playing into all those riotous moves, they still have the smarts and chops to craft pop wizardry. “Something’s Different” will have all types of music fans humming those words, bouncing to those tempos, and wondering where they can catch these East Bay heroes.
Pick up Forever here.
ONRA, AFTER DARK (ALL CITY RECORDS)
This Parisian producer, an early day-one featured DJ at the famed Sweater Funk party in SF, has two slightly different things going on: He’s an ’80s R&B dude who can’t imagine a seductive night without synths, incense, and a little saxual healing; or he’s a serious MF Doom-head who’d like to give a little extra time to those sometimes cheesy but most of the time sincere Quiet Storm joints that Doom sampled the hell out of.
I’m looking directly at Sade’s “Kiss of Life” for the track “Doomsday” and Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” for “Hoe Cakes.” Not to get psychological or political, but two things can be true at once.
After Dark is Onra’s “soundtrack to an imagined late-night film.” But for us, blessed with that magical Bay Area weather, meaning fog and low clouds blowing in the marine layer, this French producer has created the perfect nighttime companion for moving about in the fog on the way to your next nocturnal adventure.
Keep the Kashif vibes flowin, and pick this up here.
FACTA, WITNESS EP (WISDOM TEETH)
The East London-raised Oscar Henson, aka Facta, has been a shrewd player in the UKG-meets-Bristol techno movement. He’s almost earned the “buy it when you see or hear it” kind of designation.
Also, he’s forthright. Need me to make it make sense? Bet. Let’s sort it.
When he’s figured something out, he’ll give you the straight, raw-dog business production after he initially hits you with the proper release. Some cats just want to keep making money, caking up, over and over, but Facta? He’s committed to his principles, true to the game, baby. Which is why he is currently running things as a vetted beatsmith.
His short but oh-so-giving Witness EP holds three tracks that get at it, give you the body-high dancefloor vibes to keep it sweaty this summer, and he’s out. No time for the flim-flam, “I’m trying to be arty” BS. Bag that shit for the winter.
Supposedly written in the afterglow of his “gulp” 2025 release, these tracks appeared after touring and writing for his new live show; the three-track EP acts as a darker, club-ready counterweight, with tracks that are all killer and no filler.
Pick it up here.
DJ-KICKS: TEED, VARIOUS ARTISTS, (!K7 RECORDS)
Full disclosure. Before this, the 86th edition in the DJ-Kicks series, launched in Berlin in 1995, I had no idea who the eff DJ Teed was. And I kind of didn’t care. I’m the first to say, give the foundational people preference first. Like those who opened Berlin up—Laurel Halo, who’s creating tremendous electronic music in the Midwest; Detroit legend Robert Hood; and folks who bring a different flavor to the table like LA’s DāM-FunK & the first South Korean woman to DJ at techno institution Berghain (that’d be Peggy Gou). Luckily enough, along with Theo Parrish, all of the deserving folks—you notice not a single pale-looking Dieter type on the list—have been given the designation because they earned it.
But in the liner notes on Orlando Higginbottom, AKA TEED, a British artist who relocated to Los Angeles, he bluntly put it that his aim for this installment was to provide the oh-so-American action of “the pre-game mix.”
And dammit, I have to give it up; that’s kinda clever. Because it means all TEED has to do is make something lively, colorful, and joyful, and then the rest of the night is up to the DJ at the club. So what’s homeboy working with here? Sunshine in the parking lot, day-drinking vibes, pumping uptempo house, and a vibe and swing in the mix that gets going by the second—not the seventh track. He even has his own celestial rework of KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go” that feels a little Axel Foley-ish, in the good way.
So grab a little sunshine and pop this in.
Buy it here.
PANIC SHACK AT RICKSHAW STOP, JUNE 28
Straight outta Cardiff, Wales, Panic Shack formed in 2018 “as a middle finger to the ‘members-only club’ atmosphere of indie and punk scenes—not just because they’re male-dominated, but because they make playing music seem out of reach or, even worse, boring.”
Enter a jam from a previous album, called “Tit School”:
I didn’t go to BRIT School
I went to tit school
I didn’t get straight A’s
I got double D’s.
And we are off into in-your-face self-empowerment… or do they just not give a shit?
Panic Shack. Ring the alarm!
Their output so far is packed with whip-smart lyrics to match the buzzy, busy basslines, smash-and-crash guitar riffs, and overall charmingly anarchic vibe. This crafty lot of folks surely promises a show that will march your arse directly to the merch table to cop some vinyl.
Sarah Harvey (vocals), Meg Fretwell (guitar/backing vocals), Romi Lawrence (guitar/backing vocals), Em Smith (bass/backing vocals), and Nick Williams (drums) outline a live show performance reminiscent of “thrashy early LA-style punk with choreography that owes something to the Go-Go’s and Iron Maiden all at once,” as per the UK Guardian. SF peeps, Pride weekend or not, this outfit right here? Promises to be off-the-charts debauchery. Get it in!
Grab tickets here.
