729 is the Birmingham duo of emcee Ozu and producer Erthling. They made their debut back in April with the EP Greetings. Since that time, we’ve gotten five more EPs as they begin to build their world. We were able to sit down with them to talk about their origins, how they work together, and the process of their world building. Scratched Vinyl: Let’s start with the basics. How did y’all first meet each other?

The Samps is a project started by Cole MGN, member of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and husband to Ramona Gonzalez, aka Nite Jewel. The group, consisting of himself alongside J. Darrah and Harland Burkhart, released an EP back in 2010, but things mostly took a back seat to other projects that the three were working on. Now things have finally lined up for the group, who now deliver their debut LP, Breakfast.

Deantoni Parks is a drummer/songwriter/producer from New York, best known for his work in the band KUDU. His last solo effort came two years ago when he released Wally. He now comes back with a live album, Homo Deus. The title of the album comes from a book by Yuval Noah Harari, who writes about the cognitive revolution, and suggests that if humans were to achieve a second cognitive revolution, they would gain “access to unimaginable new realms and make them lords of the galaxy.

Nashville musician Nathan Conrad, better known as Spoken Nerd, has been releasing his own unique mix of indie rock and hip hop for over a decade now. His last release came three years ago, when he dropped the EP Falling Is Fun. Now he gets to make his Fake Four debut with the full-length album I Need a Friend Like You. One of the most interesting aspects of Spoken Nerd is not just the ways in which he combines indie rock and hip hop, but how his music seems to exist on this spectrum, and he slides back and forth along it from song to song.

hERON is an instrumental hip hop duo from Seattle comprised of Eric Progeny Frias of Chisme and Ghost Palace fame, and Rob Castro of Grayskul and Ghost Palace. They released their debut self-titled album a little over a year ago. They now follow that up with an EP called Desolate Paradise. Desolate Paradise is technically a short release, with five songs clocking in at just around fifteen minutes, but once you press play on the EP, the music is so engrossing that you just might lose track of time for a moment.

Chicago producer Vapor Eyes has been releasing some of the best instrumental hip hop and electronic music this decade, building up a varied and inventive discography in the process. His last release came just back in April, when he released Where the Dyad Lives, which had everyone learning a little bit of music theory in the process. Now he comes back with a more straightforward release, Smooth FM. What is Smooth FM?

astralblak is the Minneapolis group formerly known as ZULUZULUU, consisting of Greg Grease, Proper-T, Just Nine, MMYYKK, and Elliott. They first started playing together back in 2014, and then released their debut album, What’s The Price? in 2016. After rebranding and regrouping, they know come back with their sophomore album, Seeds. When astralblak released their first album, the established themselves as a unique entity, a group where vocals, instrumentation, and production duties were spread around the five members, as they explored the worlds of jazz, funk, afrobeat, soul, and hip hop.

Seez Mics is an emcee from D.C. who is part of the Crushkill family. He has been releasing music for nearly twenty years now, both as part of the group Educated Consumers, and more recently as a solo artist. For his latest effort, Live Long Enough to Learn, he joins the Strange Famous family as he becomes the latest to release on their digital label. As the title of this album implies, this is some older, wiser hip hop that comes from an emcee who has not only been around for a while and learned a few things about making music and navigating the industry, he’s also recently made some big changes in his personal life recently, getting married and welcoming a baby daughter into his life.

Nanna.B is a vocalist, songwriter, and musician from Denmark. She has released two EPs in the last two years, Golden and Lapis. As she released these projects and toured, she found herself connecting more and more with the Los Angeles scene. She spent a significant amount of time there and ended up connecting with some of the most respected producers in the city. These collaborations can now be heard on her debut LP, Solen.

Fjer is a vocalist/producer from Denmark who has already made her mark by collaborating with artists such as Lucy Camp and Substantial, along with a couple of solo EPs. Now she looks to take the next step in her career as she releases her first full-length album, You Again. As Fjer explains, this album is about the little voice in the back of your head, the one that fills you with doubt and gets in the way of you achieving your dreams.