There’s plenty of new and interesting things popping up all the time in the vibrant Phoenix music scene, we’ve rounded up a few recent favorites from local artists that are totally worth your time.

Mega Ran x Penny The Great x Slopfunkdust “Enemy Attack”

Phoenix-based rapper/author/podcaster/Twitch streamer Mega Ran’s latest project is a collaboration with fellow Phoenix emcee Penny The Great, featuring production by Tampa-based beatmaker SlopFunkDust. Dubbed “Protoculture Season,” Mega Ran and company have crafted an album-length tribute to the iconic anime series “Macross” (known as “Robotech” in the US), full of in-jokes and vivid recollections of the series’ beloved first season. A major figure in the nerdcore rap scene, Ran holds the Guinness world record for most songs about video games, no small feat. The first single off “Protoculture Season,” “Enemy Attack,” proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ran and Penny are the real deal, elevating the niche nerdcore subgenre into something way beyond it’s jokey origins, crafting a rich work of dexterous storytelling full of allusions to “Robotech” without alienating listeners unfamiliar with the anime in question.

Goodbye Ranger “We Collide”

Goodbye Ranger is a new dream pop project from Andrew Saks, who’s been producing ethereal shoegaze and blissful electronic pop for decades with projects like Sway, FLDPLN, and The Northern Two, and a mysterious mononymous vocalist named Gwendolyn. “We Collide” is the first glimpse of their fruits of their collaboration, a track from their debut EP “Memories and the Sky,” which will be released later this month on Saks’ indie label Sillas Famosas Recordings. With shimmering guitar tones reminiscent of Cocteau Twins’ heavenly instrumentation and wistful vocals provided by both Saks and Gwendolyn, duetting with the sort of dreamy melancholy you want from a gorgeous celestial track like this one. They’re celebrating the release of the EP on August 18th at beloved DIY spot Trunk Space in downtown Phoenix, alongside solid locals Slug Bug and Greywoods. You’ve got a few days to get familiar with “We Collide” before the show, you’ll be glad you did.

Fine China “Trees At Night”

The new EP from Phoenix indie rockers is an unique one in their catalog, drawing influence from the outsidery New Age genre, a former punchline that has seen some serious reappraisal by musicians and fans alike over the last five years or so. A lot of people have rediscovered their parents’ weird dollar bin Windham Hill records, full of nylon-stringed guitars, gentle piano, and nature sounds, written off by many as bland wallpaper music. Fine China’s frontman Rob Withem is one of them, and sought to incorporate the meditative ambience and field recordings of classic new age albums by acts like Mannheim Steamroller and Andreas Vollenweider on this new EP. The lead single “Trees At Night” opens with nature sounds and drifting synthesizers for half a minute before more traditional rock band instrumentation gradually fades in, revealing a propulsive rock song that disappears as suddenly as it appears, quickly fading out after the song’s climax, leading into a pair of ambient instrumental tracks that make up the remainder of the EP. It’s a welcome bit of stylistic experimentation from these veteran indie rockers.