Simeon Flick jives, Omar Musisco solos, Landis St. parties, Joshua Taylor crowdfunds, and Ricky has Pure Fun

Simeon Flick writes folky, jazzy, alternative, R&B, alt-country, and pop-rock music. “After January 6, 2021, it was once again time to confront some overripe socio-political jive,” says the singer-songwriter of his upcoming eight-song digital-only album Dans Ta Visage (French for “in your face”), due November 18. His eighth release was composed, arranged, programmed, performed, recorded, mixed, edited, and mastered by Flick at Blue Chair Studio in La Mesa.

“Do you think bittersweet songs help connect us to the true nature of reality?” asks Spiritual Motels bassist-songwriter Omar Musisko (Peripherals), who just released a video for his solo track “Before Stella.” “Take a twisted three minute journey with a tune I wrote about a love triangle, cognitive restructuring, and the perils of poor boundaries in relationships.”

Landis St. was founded in 2010 by Manganista vet Dusty Norberg, along with Anthony Cafiso and Jeff Ludwig, all previously from Holding Air Hostage, later joined by guitarist-vocalist Ryan Satterfield. Their new ten-song album Window was recorded live at Rarefied studios in North Park. The record was mixed by Lance LaFave in Germany, and mastered at Bellwether in Portland, Maine. An album release party happens November 12 at Black Cat Bar in City Heights.

Joshua Taylor performs soul, blues, rock, folk, and jazz, reflecting a life of diverse musical influences. A debut album was recorded locally in 2015 with producer Sven-Erik Seaholm. “I have a new album coming out in a couple of months called Unscene, it was completely crowdfunded,” says Taylor. The band he co-founded with his wife Sandi King, King Taylor Project, is also keeping busy, thanks to their first tour since 2018.

Ricky Schmidt, writer/singer/bassist of Western Settings and writer/bassist in Hey, Chels, released his 11-track solo album Palm Trees in November 2020, under the name Ricky. The record included singles such as “Escape Artist” and “New Day,” with a video produced for the latter track. A new Ricky album called Pure Fun just dropped, with videos streaming online for “Ground Hole” and “Africa.”