I already like these guys due to their no-nonsense, no-bullshit attitude and mentality. Finally…a band that makes a very conscientious record that I can completely relate to. Glamour Kings is their name and ‘Front Row Seat To The End of the World’ is their game that needs to be played carefully. Right away…
Category: REVIEWS
CD and DVD reviews
Tom Shaner, Get Real Or Get Gone
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Tom Shaner is a multi-talented artist who has written over 300 songs in his career so he is no stranger to the music scene. Shaner is a singer/songwriter & performer who dares you to ‘Get Real Or Get Gone’ on his new EP. Prior to this solo release, Tom played in a band…
The Albertans, New Age
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The Albertans aren’t from Alberta. Let’s just get that out of the way now. No gritty punk or honest-to-goodness country rock here. Instead, this Vancouver via Brooklyn five piece have combined the best of what both Vancouver and Brooklyn’s scenes are largely known for: fresh faced, melody driven pop with tons of indie sensibility and…
Bikini Robot Army, Old Soldiers
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I have heard the phrase from most artists I have worked with/on: “Let’s put this up on the wall and take a look at it.” In the case of Val Broeksmit, the creed is something more like: “Let’s just run through the wall.” Under the guise of Bikini Robot Army, Val has pushed the limits…
Welter, The Bush Years
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First things first, the guys from Welter love their guitars as evident in their debut full-length The Bush Years. The angsty-alt trio from Philly have been compared to Green Day Jawbreaker and The Replacements and while there are different elements at work here make no mistake, this is all about guitar, guitar and more guitar…
Jennifer Castle, Castlemusic
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Female singer-songwriters are very often pigeonholed very quickly and given little opportunity to evolve artistically without their past releases being referenced. Lucky for Jennifer Castle, she’s left every door open on Castlemusic, her sonically lush debut. All nine tracks feature a depth of aesthetic and sonic approaches, all held together by this Toronto songwriter’s patient…
Morgan Bracy, End of Cinderella
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I don’t usually say this but I really do feel like a star is born after hearing Morgan Bracy’s new release. I never had a chance to hear her critically acclaimed debut album ‘Dirty Laundry’ but I can now say that ‘End of Cinderella’ is a brilliant piece of work. Everything about this album…
James Sera, Reality of the Fantasy
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First and foremost I have to say that James Sera is a highly skilled guitar player after hearing ‘Reality of the Fantasy’. Now that I got that out of the way let’s find out more about this debut album. The new record features James playing solo on the acoustic guitar with nothing more…
Shaky DeVille, Hot Asphalt
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Named after the classic ’76 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Shaky DeVille is still cruisin’ along with style & pizzazz. I actually reviewed what was supposed to be their self-titled debut album back in ’09 but low and behold ‘Hot Asphalt’ is the new debut. Lead singer & guitarist Matt (M.S.B.) DeVille actually stopped…
Seven Against Thebes, Self Titled
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Over the years we’ve seen rock & hard rock slowly erode into over-commercialized, corporate puppet shows providing us all with music that is extremely sing songy, predictable, highly popish & overly corporate sounding. I hereby call this new breed of music “Poser Rock” & I want to take this time to personally congratulate all the…
The Gertrudes, Dawn Time Riot
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What makes Dawn Time Riot such a miraculous listen is how, with all its unmitigated energy, the record still manages to keep up its timely and highly entertaining pace throughout the record. Featuring eight players and over 100 guest musicians from the Gertrudes native Kingston; there is the worry that The Gertrudes could turn into…
Fair Weather Watchers, Out Past the Garden
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It is through a contemporary interpretation of folk that songwriter Ginger Hebert and company has unveiled Out Past the Garden, a 13-track collection of songs admittedly “written and hoarded for years.” The emotive, yet approachable lyrical matter is laid over a delicate musicality foundation and features an intermittent array of unconventional instrumentation the likes of…
J.J. Ipsen and the Paper Crown, Entertainment Ordinaire
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The word “Quirky” often carries negative connotations, but one spin of Entertainment Ordinaire ought to prove otherwise. The debut full length from J.J. Ipsen and the Paper Crown is indeed a diverse listen, full of jangly rhythms and pop-leaning harmonies. But couple that with some fairly left-leaning soft rock hooks and incredibly literate lyrics and…
Snailhouse, Sentimental Gentleman
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Continuing in a long line of swampy, Canadian acts whose thinly-veiled brand of optimism is only heard through murky guitars and earnest crooning, Snailhouse make great strides with Sentimental Gentleman. The ten emotionally-laden tracks serve to establish Snailhouse not just as a fitting and hauntingly harmonious soundtrack to your last drink of the evening, but…
Verlee for Ransom, Happy Like Monkey That Climb
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First things first, to say this band is full of youthful exuberance is redundant. With a 20-year old keyboardist and an 11-year old bass player as bookends, their ages speak for themselves. However what their ages belie is the professionalism they bring to album making and the degree of available talent at their disposal (it’s…
Neil Thomas, A Century of Lullabies
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Over the years we’ve seen punk, rock & even alternative rock bands slowly erode into a dumbing down process of overly commercialized, corporate puppet shows. Unfortunately this form of entertainment not only exists in music but is slowly infiltrating TV Stets & Movie Theatres as well. Talking to many music fans out there, the response…
Jay Aura, iParty
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Jay Aura is ready to get the party started with his new EP ‘iParty’. The four-track recording has a dance club atmosphere for a reason and that is because Jay had all the strobes, lasers, girls and drinks in place. Jay Aura didn’t just sing about being in the clubs but actually lived…
Steve Northeast, Another Day
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In true “make it here, make it anywhere” fashion, Aussie singer/songwriter Steve Northeast relocated to New York City in 2002. Honing his craft and pursuing musical stardom in NYC venues, he first gained prominence with the release of his debut album Inside. Recently, Northeast and company released their anticipated follow-up Another Day, a 10-track dynamo…
RANDOM STABBINGS & ARTLESS CRITIQUE, APRIL 2011
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Lumerians, Transmalinnia (Partisan Records) Even the most pointless and unusable departments of music have bands that do enough right that you have to sort of hand it to them. San Fran’s Lumerians are peddlers of drone, which metal band SunnO))) squeezed for every last ounce of cred it could produce several years ago, so…
Jon McKiel, Confidence Lodge
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A good number of singer-songwriters face the pressure of trying to prove their worth through their craft. Very often, these artists go overboard in their efforts to be heard. What listeners are left with is a jumbled effort that only scratches the surface of the songwriter’s true gift. Jon McKiel didn’t make these mistakes. Instead,…
Bobby Runk, Good Company
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No question about it that Bobby Runk is in good company with the rest after hearing his debut album. Runk handles lead vocals, keyboards & synth on the new record and this CD is produced by Steely Dan’s own Gary Katz. Not to mention Bobby has a terrific backing band that helps Mr.…
Kiseleff, A Sound Seal
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Kiseleff is a pop/rock group made up of Al Renwick and Scot Andy. Renwick is the brains behind this operation known as ‘A Sound Seal’ thanks in big part to family inspiration. Al Renwick writes about three of his own Scottish ancestors who immigrated to America back in 1838. This information was…
Twin Tigers, Gray Waves
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There is an atmospheric sweep to Gray Waves, the debut full length from Athens’ Twin Tigers which makes recent tours with The Antlers, Deerhunter, Les Savy Fav and A Place To Bury Strangers understandable. For a debut, Gray Waves, a potent mix of haunting chamber pop and goth-inspired groove is remarkably mature and self-assured. This…
Mike Ian, Puzzle Pieces
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Over the years we’ve seen punk, rock & even alternative rock bands slowly erode into over-commercialized, corporate puppet shows. Talking to many music fans out there, the response is overwhelming. Give me something new, something fresh & fun. Give me band that dishes out good old fashioned Indie Rock with a no holes barred musical…
Doug Ratner, Eye To Eye
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Much too often, fence-straddling, genre-bending albums come across as contrived works with a lack of direction and no noticeable motive in sight. It seems the purposeful incorporation of “this and that” creates more musical confusion than cohesion. That being said, the above does not apply to Doug Ratner’s latest studio release. And while the album’s…
Daniel Masson, Frequencies
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Picture yourself taking a trip around the globe as you listen to Daniel Masson’s new album ‘Frequencies’. You will hear world-fusion and electronic music collide together to make up one hypnotic sound. All 12 tracks on the new disc represent Masson’s travels to Bangladesh, Egypt, Syria, India and Thailand which gives it that…
The Unraveling, Everything is Normal
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Over the years we’ve seen pop slowly evolve into what I like to call synth-pop or power pop. The music is rather synthetic, however clean, highly polished musical tidbits that are melody & catchy, with solid low end beats, & tasteful ear candy. Lady Ga Ga, is by far the reigning queen. But this…
C.S. Yeh, In The Blink of an Eye b/w Condo Stress
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Though already having made “seemingly hundreds of recordings”, In the Blink of an Eye b/w Condo Stress is Brooklyn based C.S. Yeh’s first recordings to demonstrate his abilities at songwriting, and its a shame these two unfortuantely short tracks are all we have to hear. “In the Blink of an Eye” is an undeniably infectious…
Rob Carlton, Seven Thunders
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2011 looks to be a great year for guitarist Rob Carlton as he was recently engaged, has a hot new album out and many exciting shows booked up! Not to mention, Carlton has also signed a new distribution deal with Musik and Film Inc/Full Entertain Music Inc (MAFFEM). And now following up his…
Kelly Pettit, These Days
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Kelly Pettit is a guitarist/singer/songwriter originally from Canada but has spent recent years traveling abroad touring around Japan. Like many new artists Pettit relies primarily on a ballad to rock format & other heart throb skill sets to get his point across. Music will remind you of Train, Plain White T’s, Maroon among others. To…
Red Weather, Every Alleyway
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Over the years we’ve seen punk, hard rock & even alternative rock bands slowly erode into over-commercialized, corporate puppet shows. Talking to many music fans out there, the response is overwhelming. Give me something new, something fresh & fun. Something that doesn’t sound like — well Nikelback. Give me band that dishes out good old…
Dan and Faith, Dreaming of Another Path
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Dan and Faith Senie are a husband & wife duo who have come full circle to create this debut album. 20 years in the making, ‘Dreaming of Another Path’ represents all the hard work that Dan & Faith contributed to this project. One amazing aspect is that although Faith has played piano in…
Tools of Creation, Adventures in Chaos
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Tools of Creations is a rock-nasty trio from Ottawa that offers adrenalin-rushed music. Their debut album is titled ‘Adventures in Chaos and you will get just that. After hearing this record in full you will know that T.O.C. is not messing around one bit! Tools of Creation is made up of: Ben Dimaria…
Fred McKinney, High Water
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Over the years we’ve seen American & Country Music slowly erode itself into over overly polished, popish nothingness. Artist after artist presenting themselves as superstars in the making with nothing more than a pretty face, pushed in front of a microphone with an acoustic guitar by the corporate giants. This is done in the hopes…
BILLY PRESTON, 16-YEAR-OLD SOUL
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Billy Preston traveled a long winding, extremely successful, musical road from Gospel through rock, full of personal and health related bumps. He was THE phenom B3/piano player in demand from the 60’s to present time. His session work encompassed dozens of music legends. In addition to a great solo career (and sporting the…
The Hobliminal Ibloid, Action At A Distance
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Forget what you’ve forgotten about the genre “electronica.” It is a broad and sweeping genre and the label itself rarely tells a listener anything about the nature of an album, save that at least some of the music will be generated “electronically.” On it’s face, electronica is as representative of the mysterious “clicks and clanks”…
ARI HEST, SUNSET OVER HOPE STREET
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Ari is a solo guitarist/writer that relies on the ballad to rock format, and also worked in a side project, The Open Sea with Rosi Golan. On this release, he worked in other instruments like piano and strings to take the lead away from strictly guitar. He had his release of The Break-In…
Eva Aine, My Way To Happiness
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First thing I notice from this young lady is how powerful her voice is. Eva Aine’s singing ability is absolutely superb and ‘My Way To Happiness’ shows off her flawless vocals brilliantly. This woman can SING with the best of them out there and hold her own quite well. Eva Aine is…
Simon Fagan, Outside Looking In
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All I have to say after hearing ‘Outside Looking In’ is that Simon Fagan is one hell of a singer/songwriter. The buck doesn’t stop there though because musically this album also shines. Fagan proved to me and hopefully proves to everyone out there just how a solid record should be made. Simon…
Nothing Sacred, Hollywood Striphounds
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LA Based 4 piece Nothing Sacred releases their debut EP Hollywood Striphounds earlier this year. The music has everything you would expect from a production of this flavor, including music that is explosive, loud & fearless. You’ll find catchy melodies layered everywhere, & of course guitars that bite & solos that will make your head…
