8/24/25 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock

Song of the Week: They Are Gutting a Body of Water "The Chase" ATO
Album of the Week: Water From Your Eyes "Its a Beautiful Place" Matador

Jean Dawson "Rock A Bye Baby"
Doja Cat "Jealous Type"
Automatic "Mercury"
Kelly Moonstone(feat. MARCO PLUS & BADBADNOTGOOD) "Seagulls"
Ami Taf Ra "God"
Dominic Fike "Sandman"
Bardo "Funky People"
Toro y Moi "CD-R"
Earl Sweatshirt "Heavy Metal aka ejecto seato!"
Peyton "Answers"
Los Retros "Doves"
Sam Prekop "A Book"
THE BARBARIANS OF CALIFORNIA "Modern Fashion"
Deftones "Ecdysis"

-hour 2-

bar italia "Fundraiser"
Water From Your Eyes "Born 2"
They Are Gutting a Body of Water "The Chase" ATO
Hunx and His Punx "Bad Boys"
Mac DeMarco "PHANTOM"
The Problem With Kids Today "Hillsborough disaster"
Greg Freeman "Gulch"
Royel Otis "torn jeans"
Cut Worms "Evil Twin"
STILL BLANK "Cut Slack"
Lathe of Heaven "Infinitys Kiss"
Torri Weidinger "living to work"
Anna Tivel "Animal Poem"
Avalon Emerson "E After Next"
Joyce Manor "All My Friends Are So Depressed"
Palms Station "Why Don't You Stay"
Saint Small "Fugazi Friday"

Not On Spotify
Lathe of Heaven "Infinitys Kiss"

Santa Barbara just survived its first official heat wave of the season a full-on sweaty reality and while I’m out here job hunting and melting, New Noize is still the cooldown session you came for.

This week’s set was back to a full two-hour Sunday night ride so no reggae soundclash takeover. Hour one leaned heavy into the long players: Los Retros’ "Doves" and Sam Prekop’s "A Book"stretched out that vibe in all the right ways. The open was pure modern-80s energy. Jean Dawson and Doja Cat are both raiding the hairspray-and-cigarettes-indoors era, and I am absolutely here for it. The close of the hour flipped the ear feel at the very tail end of the hour with new music from THE BARBARIANS OF CALIFORNIA & Deftones (who are on tour together).

Speaking of Deftones, their new record Private Music scratches that "itch". Start to finish, a killer listen. Beyond that, keep an ear out for Ami Taf Ra, Hunx and His Punx, Mac DeMarco, and The Problem With Kids Today, all of which dropped heat this week in album form. But the New Noize Album of the Week has to go to Water From Your Eyes with It’s a Beautiful Place. This record is the fever dream you actually want to have—tractor-beam effect from the jump, and the closer you get, the more hypnotic it becomes. Wild harmonies, hooks flying in from nowhere, and it all works.

And your Song of the Week? The Chase by They Are Gutting a Body of Water. This one rules. It’s dripping in feedback, unhinged in all the best ways, and hits like a brick through stained glass.

Weekend highlight reel? Ginger Root and Japanese Breakfast at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Saturday night. Both bands brought it, both crowds lost it, and yes, I was posted up in the middle of it all grinning like a kid at their first Tibetan Freedom Concert.

Big up to autocorrect, normally I shit all over this earliest version of AI assistance BUT my 2016 matchbook pro “n” key deciding to work when it feels like it, it’s been the unsung hero of this recap.

Laters.

8/17/25 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock

Song of the Week: Droogie Otis "The Edge (feat. Killer Mike)" Beat Konducta
Album of the Week: Pile "Sunshine and Balance Beams" Sooper

Japanese Breakfast "Honey Water"
Daffo "Dagger Song"
Jeffrey Runnings "Value"
Cookin' On 3 Burners "Cookin' The Books"
Droogie Otis "The Edge (feat. Killer Mike)"
shame "Spartak"
Sorry "Echoes"
Dream Bodies "Don't Look Back"
Radiohead "Go To Sleep (Live)"
Pile "A Loosened Knot"
Deftones "milk of the madonna"
Shrine Maiden "And I Arise (Reprise)"
DRAIN "Who's Having Fun?"
Evidence "Rain Every Season (feat. The Alchemist)"

-hour 2-

Jay Som "Cards On The Table"
Wilder Maker "Turn Signal"
Marissa Nadler "To Be The Moon King"
SPRINTS "Beg"
Heaven For Real "Hold Me Back"
Cloverdale "Hear You Calling"
ROKAR "Run Away"
Cut Copy "Still See Love"
Mindchatter "Don't Trust Thought"
Murs "Chopper (feat. Reverie)"
Maps "Chapter One "
The Hives "The Hives Forever Forever The Hives"
Kid Kapichi "Stainless Steel"
Neko Case "Wreck"
Coach Party "Do It For Love"

-hour 3-

Lupe Fiasco "SOS"
Bret McKenzie "Thats The Way That The World Goes Round"
Mappe Of "Terraforming Moons"
Greg Jamie "I'd Get Away"
Will Paquin "We Really Done It This Time"
Jens Lekman "Candy From A Stranger"
POLIÇA "She Knows Me"
Pool Kids "Easier Said Than Done"
ivri "evil lair"
MOLOTOVS "MORE MORE MORE"
IVY "Heartbreak"
Folk Bitch Trio "Cathode Ray"
Bright Eyes "1st World Blues"
Fruit Bats "Let You People Down"
Marc Delgado "Stuck On The Radio"

Not On Spotify:
Shrine Maiden "And I Arise (Reprise)"
Wilder Maker "Turn Signal"
Greg Jamie "Time Has a Way"

Well, I had a week.

Got laid off on a Tuesday. Won a playoff lawn bowling game on Wednesday. Saw Shin Godzilla in 4K on Friday. Maroon 5 popped up in the Funk Zone for a free show (I lasted less than half a song before bailing). Then capped it all with a 3-hour New Noize special because whenever I cover the reggae soundclash, chaos ensues.

Truthfully? I am pretty bummed about getting laid off, I really liked my job and the people I worked with so lets just say this process was not handled the way I would liked but thats "the breaks".

Pile’s newest record Sunshine and Balance Beams hit me at the perfect time. It’s one of those albums where every track feels like it’s been sitting in your chest, waiting to come out. If your world is collapsing or you just lost your job, roll the windows down, crank this record, and let it carry you. Sunshine and Balance Beams happen to be the New Noize Album of the Week.

For the Song of the Week, it had to be Droogie Otis — the Oxnard/NYC combo of Madlib and Your Old Droog linking up with Killer Mike on “The Edge.” Three masters of their craft, one cut that feels like it was built for the moment. Slick, sharp, unforgettable

I had my guy Logan from the Fields of Fun festival pull into the reggae soudclash and we gave some tickets away.

I opened the show with Japanese Breakfast because they’re playing the Santa Barbara Bowl this Saturday and somehow it’s not sold out yet. If you’re reading this, grab a ticket and go. Michelle Zauner is the truth

And while we’re on shows — I’ll be in Ventura tonight catching Glass Beams. Life might be throwing curveballs, luckily we have psychedelic rock.

All I need now is a new job, anyone got any suggestions??? 

8/10/25 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock

Song of the Week: Big Thief "Los Angeles" 4AD
Album of the Week: No Joy "Bugland" Hand Drawn Dracula

Jens Lekman "Wedding In Leipzig"
Ada Lea "snowglobe"
Kula Shaker "Broke As Folk"
No Joy "My Crud Princess"
Wednesday "Pick Up That Knife"
Big Thief "Los Angeles"
Snooper "Worldwide"
Anamanaguchi "Darcie"
Die Spitz "Pop Punk Anthem"
Ebi "Soda milk in my console"
Kassa "Overall C.R.E.A.M. (CASH RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME)"

-hour 2-

Memory of Jane "Space Jumps"
Ya Tseen (feat. Portugal. The Man  Meshell Ndegeocello  & Sidibe) "Taste On My Lips"
Danger Mouse & MorMor "Wonder"
Nation of Language "Inept Apollo"
Bob Moses "Last Forever"
Nourished by Time "BABY BABY"
Ho99o9 (feat. Nova Twins, Pink Siifu & Yung Skrrt) "Incline"
Wretched "Decay"
BUSH "The Land of Milk and Honey"
Muse "Unravelling (Acoustic aka Ghost Town Version)
INOHA "Seventh Heaven"
Of Monsters and Men "Ordinary Creature"
AFI "Behind The Clock"
HAERTS "The Lie"
Cavetown "Baby Spoon"

Welcome one and all to another weekly write up and I am currently supporting that post wedding glow. Not my own, I can barely keep a healthy one on one relationship with my Ficus let alone another human. What I can do well is New Noize and it was another solid set.

I started off the show with a 10+ minute song that wasn't BORIS! It was in fact Jens Lekman with his new one "Wedding In Leipzig". He release another single along side this which was 13+ minutes that you should checkout if you like your pop songs long, winding, and unapologetically indulgent.

Then we dove into Ada Lea’s new record when i paint my masterpiece and spun "snowglobe." Fantastic album, spend some quality time with it BUT it’s not our Album of the Week. That honor goes to No Joy with Bugland, which might be my favorite in their catalog. Maybe it’s just new-release bias, but the risks on this record land perfectly. All killer, no filler.

Other standouts include "Unsinking The Cypress", the new one from Memory of Jane, is a trippy ride worth taking if you’re willing to buy the ticket. Anamanaguchi’s "Anyway" is less chiptune-heavy than their earlier work, but don’t worry purists, plenty of 8-bit textures are still baked in. It’s been on heavy rotation here in the Ahmed lab.

We also got new music from Danger Mouse & MorMor "Wonder". No word on whether it’s leading to a full-length, but I can dream. What’s not a dream? Big Thief announcing a new album and blessing us with "Los Angeles" which is also the New Noize Song of the Week. I’m beyond hyped to see them later this year at the Hollywood Bowl.

In unrelated but equally important news, lawnbowling playoffs have begun, and the Lawntourage secured the number one seed. We’ll see if the crown stays on our heads.

Come Saturday I will be watching Shin Godzilla as they have decided to rerelease this 2016 masterpiece in 4K. I own the blu-ray but that's nothing compared to see this at a movie theater. The bummer is that this movie theater is about an hour away! The things I do to get my Kaiju fix. Later that same night, Robert Glasper is (hopefully) finally playing in SB after his third “rescheduled” date. Fingers crossed.

Until next week 

8/3/25 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock

Song of the Week: IDLES "Rabbit Run" Partisan
Album of the Week: Wisp "If Not Winter" Interscope

Bret McKenzie "Freak Out City"
hey, nothing "Black Bear"
mark william lewis "Still Above"
The Voidz "Blue Demon"
IDLES "Rabbit Run"
Ghostface Killah "Rap Kingpin"
The Armed "Heathen"
Wisp "Mesmerized"
The Antlers "Carnage"
Yves Tumor & NINA "WE DONT COUNT"
MF Robots "Hello Sunshine"
Quadeca "AT A TIME LIKE THIS"
Far Caspian "First Day"
Bicep "Aappoq"

-hour 2-

Sofia Kourtesis "Unidos (with Daphni)"
Baxter Dury "Schadenfreude"
Fat Dog "Pray To That"
Laibach "Die Kanone (feat. Bjelo Dugme)"
Debby Friday "All I Wanna Do Is Party"
Bon Iver "From"
Ami Taf Ra "The Prophet"
The New Eves "Rivers Run Red"
Orbit Culture "Hydra"
Maren Morris "earth angel"
Avery Tucker "Like I'm Young"
The Beths "Metal"
LAPêCHE "Autotelic Nosebleed"

I’m happy to report I did in fact get tamales at Our Lady of Guadalupe here in SB so yeah, my Fiesta was a success.

But let’s not sugarcoat it, this year felt different. The streets weren’t as packed, and you could sense the tension, especially around the fear of ICE activity in town. It was quieter than usual, and that weight was definitely felt across the celebration. I am also happy to report I was not the one who got stabbed and I like it when my skin is not pierced by violence.

You know we New Noize'd this Sunday like we always do. I was bummed I didn't get to go to the Maren Morris show at the SBBowl but that was mostly due to the fact that I had to do New Noize so instead I played "earth angel".

And yes, as you can see I played a bunch of other things. That’s kind of my whole thing every Sunday.

Kicked it all off with Bret McKenzie, because anytime I can, I will. I love that dude’s songwriting brain. He always sounds like he’s scoring a musical inside someone else’s head.

New Noize Song of the Week goes to IDLES with “Rabbit Run”, featured on the upcoming film Caught Stealing, about a guy who agrees to watch his punk rock roommate’s cat… and then chaos ensues. Check the trailer. It looks wild:

Before I get to Album of the Week, let me shout out a few other records that nearly took the crown which include The Armed, Debby Friday, Quadeca, and two fantastic EPs from Sofia Kourtesis and The Voidz. All worthy of your time and attention.

Top honors got to Wisp for "If Not Winter" Their first studio album and it’s a beautiful, shoegaze-soaked meditation. This record doesn't ask for anything from you. It just envelops you. It places a soft-focus filter on your inner world and lets you view your reality from a slightly off-axis perspective...familiar, but reimagined. I love records that make you immediately hit replay. If Not Winter does that and more.

Now, this would usually be the part where I talk about EVO but I skipped it this year. Still bitter. Inshallah next year.

Catch you next time, new week, New Noize.