Okay! Westcheddar is back, baby! Pardon the hiatus, I’ve been working my ass off on a book with my boy Ev Boogie from UpNorthTrips about the golden era of hip-hop mixtapes in NYC, which is being released by Rizzoli in Fall ’23. It’s the biggest creative project I’ve ever worked on, and I can’t wait to share more info about it.

In the meantime, I’m excited to have a little more time to focus on other creative interests now that the actual writing of the book is in a decent place. That said, I’m gonna start posting again on Westcheddar, because as I’ve promised in the past, it’s my baby and I want to make sure I never neglect it for too long. And how fitting that the last post I did over a year ago was also on Minneapolis’ own Miloe, one of my favorite new artists. See how gracefully I pick up where I left off?!

Miloe is gearing up to drop a new album next month, and “Gaps” is the title track. He’s put out a bunch of others in the past few months too, but I’m particularly loving this one. It’s got those smooth, summer vibes that my ears have been craving. Listen to the album version and watch the “live transmission” video version below.

For more Miloe, check out this Best of Miloe playlist on Spotify, curated by yours truly. And stay tuned for more posts!

I haven’t been this excited about new indie music in a long time. I first discovered Miloe when I heard their song “Change Your Mind” on Spotify’s Fresh Finds: Indie playlist, and ever since I’ve been playing their music and watching their live clips over and over.

At the heart of Miloe is Minneapolis’ own Bobby Kabeya, the youthful 19-year-old frontman who sings and plays guitar with the poise of a vet and rides his band’s summery, indie-pop grooves with infectious melodies that get permanently stuck in your head. He’s a one-of-kind talent for sure, which is proven not only by his recordings but his live performances.

If you’d like to mirror my discovery path, start with the “Change Your Mind” audio above. Then dive into the live, stripped-down clip of the song below, followed by the full band’s fantastic Audiotree set and a live clip of their song “Marna” which I’ve watched ten times today. I’ll let you choose your own path from there. Enjoy.