The Dance-Pop Diva from Down Under has rose to the occasion once again with her new single “In Our Thoughts”. I have had the pleasure & opportunity to work with eM many times now and I have to be honest when I say she keeps getting better & better with each new release! …
Category: REVIEWS
CD and DVD reviews
Kenny Wesley, The Real Thing
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For someone just now releasing his full-length debut, Carolina native and DC resident Kenny Wesley has already tasted a good deal of success: his songs have appeared on such TV shows as So You Think You Can Dance, along with The View. Proficient in five languages (as well as five octaves!), Wesley is one self-proclaimed…
Kayla Stockert, Castles in the Sand
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Some musicians start early. Even for those, fifteen is pretty darned early. One could say that Kayla Stockert started even early because while this might be her first official release, she’s been singing for years. This is a great release, even if you don’t consider her age. It’s got a definite modern sound to it,…
Absoloot, Banksters
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On the heels of his philanthropic EP, Our Voice, the socially charged rapper, Absoloot has finally put the wraps on his new full-length, Banksters. The 12-track album is the result of research he did into the national Occupy Movement. With past singles the likes of “American Soldier” and “99%” it isn’t surprising that currently relevant…
HuDost “4th Way Folk”
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4th Way Folk, as the title suggests, is a folk affair. However, it goes further than typical vocal/guitar duos. The album starts of with Young and Growing, incorporating flutes and violins to create something of a spiritual and inspiring tale. The following track Holy Hobo is almost jolting to hear after such an introspective track.…
Dann Furia, This Thing I Do
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The artist formerly known as Skip-Dawg just goes by his real name these days and so now the transformation is complete. This is Furia’s 6th studio release and I’m proud to say that I’ve been a fan since 2009 when I first set my ears on this fella named Skip-Dawg. I could sense…
JON WIRTZ – Tourist (CD)
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Jon Wirtz is a professional Pianist that hails from Colorado. His latest CD is called “Tourist” and was released in 2013. Admittedly, there is a whole lot of variety to these arrangements and performances. First: Wirtz and his impressive band delivers rock solid playing like a well oiled machine. This is testament to hundreds of…
Afterthem – Time Is Fun When You’re Having Flies
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Afterthem, headed by Dave George, is a five-piece outfit of Jersey funksters who have put forth the album Time Is Fun When You’re Having Flies. The beginning of the track “Hunny Bunny Two” sounds like a funked out version of the intro ditty to Law n’ Order episodes. The snappy bass guitar is the highlight…
Black Angel Down
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Black Angel Down, fronted by Nokio the N-Tity, is something of a local supergroup, comprised of musicians from Baltimore’s underground hard rock scene. While there’s surely an underground edge, the term “gritty” wouldn’t really do justice to this band of multidimensional talent. The track, “Pretty Face,” features a cocksure, hard-bitten guitar crunch. Occasional natural harmonics…
Crimson Chrysalis, Crimson Passion Cry
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Crimson Chrysalis is a South African female rock artist currently living in Pretoria. I have been in the music industry for quite sometime, but used to perform under the name “René”. I made a total directional change, and went from the Afrikaans acoustic-rock genre to neo-classical rock. I grew up in Bloemfontein, and completed the…
POPA CHUBBY, UNIVERSAL BREAKDOWN BLUES
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This is the new release by the bluesman that has been playing the club circuit and cutting records since 1994. He grew up listening to 70’s rock, and his Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, SRV, and J. Page influences can be heard in his interpretation of the blues. PC has raised the blues bar, and…
Jake Ward – Paper For Passion
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Paper for Passion is the mix-tape debut from 22-year-old Miamian Jake Ward, proprietor of the brand FAA (Fallen and Alone). Paper for Passion is a rather honest title; Ward readily admits his monetary (paper) objective, as he hopes to improve the quality of life of his younger siblings. The opening track, “Another Me,” is confident…
Elisa Lovelie, Undertow
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Full-blown eclectic is an apt descriptor for Elisa Lovelie’s new EP, Undertow. Genres, styles and instrumentation run the musical gamut through the five tracks, in what she calls “folk rock.” Leaning heavily on classical vocal training, poignant lyrical matter and a steady rock foundation, the album plays out in mash-up style with Blues guitar, Latin…
Jeanette Illidge – “Unconditionalâ€
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Born into a military family, Jeanette Illidge was born in Oklahoma and moved to Germany as a newborn, before settling in Ft Stewart, Georgia at age 10. Her musical calling was apparently an inborn condition, as she was “singing as soon as she could talk” and learning piano music “as soon as she could read.”…
Feel the Fury: Cello Fury, Symphony of Shadows
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What do the art of classical music and the genre of rock actually have in common? Much more than one would think. Rock and classical music have a long history of being bedfellows. Both often use the same chord and tempo changes that you won’t often find in modern music. However,…
PJ Parker, “Dreams Are Meant For Twoâ€
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There is something compelling and haunting about PJ Parker’s single “Dreams Are Meant For Two.” Her expressive voice sings along to a piano score written by her late father, Thomas E. Parker. The piano is played by Vinnie Ruggieri. Through the first part of the track, the piano is slow and soothing, with a touch…
Howard Salmon & Deborah Martin-Lemmon, Old Habits Are Hard to Break
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Howard Salmon and Deborah Martin-Lemmon crossed paths in the military choir. Both having deep country music roots, they proceeded to collaborate. And we now have the album Old Habits Are Hard to Break, which includes contributions from several country music vets (fiddler Scott Joss, drummer Keith Edwards, bassist Bruce Turgon, and guitarist Ben Haggard, among…
NOT ANOTHER PLAYNE JAYNE, Self Titled EP
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Introduction: Have you listed to the Radio lately? Is it me or is something horribly wrong with today’s music. Do you remember when music actually had really instruments in them with real people playing them? No kidding. How about good songwriting performed by artists that not only wrote the music but poured their heat and…
ALARMs – I Am Now EP
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ALARMs is the electronica brainchild of songwriter Daniel Kunz, who enlisted the help of Utah producer Nate Pyfer. Still seeking an added element, Kunz — who had been recruiting talent in Boise, Idaho — instead found what he wanted in Maxim Klymenko, a DJ from the Ukraine. Such global interconnectedness gave birth to the EP…
SKALLE, Contrasistema (12 Track CD)
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Skalle hails from Montery Mexico and just released Contrasistema in 2012. This duo featuring David Adrián (acoustic drums, producer) Carlos X; (MC) has received many impressive accolades during their tenure as an artist. “Contrasistema ” (2012) is their debut release and it has much to commend it. Admittedly, there is a whole lot of variety…
Rohan Pommels, Valley of Bones
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Jamaican native Rohan Pommels has 2+ decades’ experience composing and performing. He has toured as far as Japan, and has written songs used by television programs. Now comes his Valley of Bones, a finely constructed R&B album of devotion in both the physical and spiritual realms. The track, “Show Me,” has a soothing background. The…
BARTON – Falling Out
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“Falling Out” is his latest release from Portland based Singer/Songwriter Barton who used to be the guitarist for local band Petals. “Falling Out” is his latest release and it has much to commend it. Admittedly, there is a whole lot of variety to these arrangements and performances. First: The impressive Barton knows how to play…
Troy Lindsey, Love Don’t Come From Blood
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Troy Lindsey, who was taught guitar by a Wyoming preacher, has seen the world like few other people. I mean this quite literally: Mr. Lindsey has worked on sky cranes at locations all over our planet. The vast lot of us can only guess as to what views he has beheld, and how they may…
Pilot Touhill, Keeping Secrets
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Pilot Touhill’s latest release, “Keeping Secrets” is a secret that needs to be shared with the world. This reggae, pop rock and soul fusion is a feel good attention grabber. The CD is contagious and addicting. Once it starts playing it takes over your emotions and forces an uncontrollable smile. Touhill has a Maroon 5…
Richard Tyler Epperson, Falling Between the Stars
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From Utah comes a fresh male artist known as Richard Tyler Epperson who just released their latest debut effort “Falling Between the Stars” (2011). I always listen to the opening track extremely carefully. It’s the opening track the artist has selected to hit your ears first and foremost. The opening track “At Your Door” sets…
Rhett May, Cute Calcutta Boy
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Four years after the release of his last EP ‘Calcutta Boy’, Rhett May is back with a vengeance! His new single is titled “Cute Calcutta Boy” which proves that you can take the Rhett out of Calcutta but you can’t take the Calcutta out of Rhett May. May’s Indian influence stems back to…
Human Anyway – “Truth in Lies”
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“Truth in Lies” is the fresh single from Human Anyway. Beginning with crunchy palm-muted bar chords, the guitars slow down for some background harmony, making way for a chain of angst-ridden lyrics in a song about bullying and loss of self-esteem. The speaker has a pervading sense of inadequacy: “I look in the mirror and…
Crash the Satellites, Crash the Satellites
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I really like this album a lot. When you think of Jacksonville, Florida, you might think of Southern Rock. Well, this album is not Southern Rock. It’s vital and modern rock music with an indie/alternative edge. This owes as much to the grunge movement as it does to groups like REM. Overall, the album is…
The Gypsy Sons, Whiskey & The Devil
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If you’ve been paying attention, sounds that in the past would have been considered linked to extreme metal have become more and more mainstream as the last couple decades have passed. That kind of influence has splashed across all types of musical genres. Here it’s added to Southern Rock. The result is something that has…
Henrietta Defreitas – “I Wanna Know”
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Henrietta Defreitas is a London-based performer with a love for 80s music and a résumé beginning in the late-90s, when she was backing singer for the jazz-funk outfit Khush. Since that group’s split, she has focused more on composition. Now comes the single, “I Wanna Know,” which fuses the jazz & funk genres that have…
Lauren Field, Retrospective
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Lauren Field’s latest release, Retrospective is a refreshing compilation of songs that smoothes the rough edges of the surrounding world. It is her first release since 2003 and all I can say is where have you been all my life. It is a tantalizing excursion from the everyday norms. The music soars to levels…
BABBLE, Bread & Circuses
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Nothing wrong with some bread & circus, some fine amusement and diversion from the daily grind. This particular bread & circus is a recently released album from the Worcester UK band Babble. Lyrically, the album has a mystical leitmotif; it’s not quite psychedelic, but definitely soul-searching, announcing a desire for something that you probably won’t…
REVIEW: VENUEFINDER.COM IS THE #1 SOURCE TO COMPARE VENUES GLOBALLY
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Since first starting to deal with Venuefinder.com approximately 1 year ago, I have always found the service they offer to be courteous, efficient and prompt. They compare over 15,000 locations across the UK & internationally. I have organized many conferences through them, each time they have demonstrated a full understanding of the brief (be it…
Aaron McLaughlin – “I Am Yoursâ€
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Hailing from Tennessee, Aaron McLaughlin is a one-man band with devotional Christian tendencies. Since the tender age of nine, he has been composing, recording, and producing. Yeah, we really have entered the age of high-tech ubiquity when a nine-year-old is recording his own music. McLaughlin — still not even old enough to (legally) buy a…
Seconds Before Landing (feat. John Crispino), The Great Deception
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Seconds Before Landing”, the ambient rock collective, formed by musician and composer John Crispino, has released its first full length album. The 14 track concept album, entitled “The Great Deception” features original music from Crispino, with a number of guest talents, from notable musical followings. “King Crimsons” Trey Gunn appears and plays Warr Guitar on…
Jeff Cannon, 13 Questions
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Jeff Cannon’s latest release is the hallmark of an ever-evolving artist. This third phase of his musical career shows us a contemplative songwriter simply seeking answers to 13 questions. Appropriately, the 13-tracks of the album deal with issues of commonality that run through us all: Isolation, otherness, regret, and institution to name a few. The…
Bone of Contention, Bone of Contention
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Band: Chet Cline (Keyboards, Vocals) Dave Haddad (Drums and Percussion) and Bill Pittman and Louie Ruiz (Bass). Review: “Bone of Contention” is their latest official release and it has much to commend it. Admittedly, there is a whole lot of variety to these arrangements and performances. First: The impressive band delivers rock solid playing…
The Seven Souls, I Still Love You
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The Seven Souls made a BIG splash back in 1964 when the group formed in LA and now the band is featured on a brand new compilation CD titled: ‘The Northern Soul Story Vol. 4: Wigan Casino’! Even after nearly 50 years since the birth of The Seven Souls their music is still timeless…
Review of Loki’s “Audio Alchemy†EP
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Soaring vocals, infectious melodies, and hard driving guitar riffs abound amongst Loki’s brand new EP “Audio Alchemy”. Consisting of Jonathan Boyer (Vocals- Lead Guitar), Adam Nichols (Drums), and Seth McClellan (Bass), this up and coming power trio is set on putting their hometown of Portland, Maine on the map. Their latest EP “Audio Alchemy” does…
CHADWICK STATION, Waiting for a Sunny Day
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Who can forget the greatest Rock n Roll party of all time? Fortunately I am old enough to remember some of it. Trust me when I say being in London in the early 60’s and late 70’s was the place to be as bands like The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones and Led…
