CD and DVD reviews
Jude Gwynaire embraces a powerful postmodern pop on the joyous “Midnight in Cincinnati”. Sounding akin to a long-lost Stereolab instrumental, the way the song unfurls has an elegance to it. The journey of the piece works wonders for his ear for melody is keen, as the melody is constantly transforming in beautiful, unexpected ways. A…
In his new single “Streets,” up and coming pop singer/songwriter Blake Langdale makes a point of setting the pace for himself early on in the track almost as a means of demonstrating his efficiency through execution, and what follows is nothing short of spectacular. While not quite as reliant on the hook here as some…
PS The ReBels goes for a spirit of togetherness on the celebratory “Bumaye (ft. Kajad)”. Lyrics explore the history of oppression showing the importance of rising above that harsh environment. Vocals further emphasize the suffering inflicted as well as the undeniable struggle that continues to this very day. Beats hit hardd with an emotionally resonance…
Mimah is the up and coming rapper-singer hybrid bursting onto the scene this year with her recent EP ‘Panacea.’ Named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy, Mimah’s EP is setting out to be the antidote to all our mid-pandemic blues. Based in London, Mimah’s unrelenting attitude and self-assured nature is both infectious and inspiring,…
With a powerful and buoyant vocal harmony to lead the way, Ava Maybee’s debut single “Lay Low” starts to unfold before us steeped in the sort of lush melodicism a lot of pop lovers will instantly recognize as being far more progressive and artsy than what the mainstream has been able to handle in past…
One of the more noteworthy tracks on Because Villains’ EP, BREATHE FAST SLOWLY, is a cover of Wham’s “Everything She Wants.” It’s a great, seriously honest song about a gold digger. Its lyric is the sound of a guy complaining about a girl who behaves like everything she wants, is everything she sees. She’s impossible…
Isolated on a beach, taking us through the day and night with a carefully-arranged whisper of the most melodic variety I’ve heard in his scene recently, Chris Ning is approachable to a fault in the music video for his new single “Explode,” which is currently out and raising eyebrows at home and abroad this autumn.…
Although it could be described as being a bit compositionally minimalistic on paper, there’s nothing limited about the melodic output we encounter in the new single “Favorite Scar” from rising indie star Susan Calloway, which was released this October to a warm reception from critics and fans the same. “Favorite Scar” is built on top…
Sunsets From Jupiter create a perfect embodiment of classic meets modern rock on the wild “An Alien Feeling”. Passion permeates the whole of the album while they have an expansive, spaced-out quality to their music. Elements of psychedelic, punk, garage rock, and even hints of EDM filter into the colossal mix. Riffs are aplenty as…
Built with the backend of a modern pop song but influenced heavily by the western swing of contemporary country in both its tone and the structure of its hook, to say that the new single “One Kind of Beautiful” from Australian singer/songwriter Brock Colley is a bit of a hybrid might not be doing his…
Riddled with more molten-hot melodicism than anyone who follows their scene would expect to hear this season, there’s no describing the new album From the Headache to the Heartache by The Confusionaires without using terms like ‘fiery’ and ‘intense.’ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/confusionaires/ Attacking us with unrelenting guitar violence in “I Ain’t Goin’ Home With You,” “Side Dish,” lead…
donSmith’s “TABLE (feat. Radamix)” spits verses with pure fire. His flow is impeccable with every line delivered for maximum impact. A sense of defiance emerges from the slow and steady churn of the groove. Samples, warped and reeled, have their own strange magic about them for they unfurl with such ease. Riding the beat with…
If someone were to tell me that my new favourite track would be a song with a moniker depicted from the recent lockdown, I might not believe you. Yet, the up and coming, genre-fusing musician Etoile Marley, has proven me wrong. With her freshly released single ‘LockItDown’, Etoile is providing some much-needed oomph to 2020.…
Continua embrace a dark, sleek beauty on the pristine “Flagship EP”. They craft a true classic with this singular work. Everything, from the stately grandeur of the rhythms to the regal riffs that run through it all gives it a heavy, heady quality. Vocals have a deep resonating quality nicely reflecting a nod to Ian…
It’s been a good year for bluegrass fans all-around, but if you’re particularly interested in the independent beat the genre has to offer, 2020 has been a watershed of epic proportions. Faces both old and new have been coming out of the woodwork and toppling some of the high bars set by their competitors in…
Calling this new release by Partington & Sweeney a throwback album would be an understatement to say the least. Reason being is because this eclectic duo has decided to travel all the way back to the 19th and 20th centuries in America. Their latest album titled ‘Commonplaces’ focuses on the immigrants, farmers and factory workers…
Richard Lynch offers a timely piece of Americana with the powerful “He’ll Make Everything Alright”. Done with the greatest level of care the stately essence of the track is a sheer force of nature propelled forward by a belief in what’s right. Nicely capturing the chaos of this moment in time it looks for something…
Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcap sings a song of fire and passion on the deeply felt “Just Like Xmas (Love Is War)”. Keeping things to the essentials his lyricism has a poetry to it sprawling out into beautiful illusions. Intimate to its very core he lets the guitar sing alongside him, going for an…
Female singer/songwriters are taking charge of a new movement in American pop music right now, and whether we’re looking at the underground or the mainstream, their influence is just about impossible to ignore. Trying to find a place in the hierarchy of independent players this fall is none other than Boston upstart Leni Black, whose…
Michael Cleary is a talented artist who has been playing with his Michael Cleary Band for close to 30 years. During that time span, Michael Cleary Band has released six highly acclaimed albums but now it is time for Michael Cleary to spread his wings a little and find his own way. ‘Last Man Standing’…
D2UR captures the emotional toll of the pandemic on the lives of millions with “Slippin Away”. Sung with such earnestness the way that the track incorporates such a wide swath of styles feels outright gorgeous. Country rock, the blues, and pop blend together into a singular whole. By far the true heart of the piece…
John Vento delivers a wild sermon about the state of America on the soulful “America (The Saints Come Marching Home)”. Tapping into the spirit of the politically charged folk of the 60s, he incorporates something truly profound within the piece. Lyrics speak truth to power as he sings with an incredible fiery passion. Every single…
With a delightfully tongue-in-cheek take on the holidays, See Your Shadows represents the playful side of country with “Christmas on Cellblock 9”. Original country focused on a rebellious spirit one that could not be tapered down and See Your Shadow delivers on that promise. Lyrics incorporate a great deal of humor for their storytelling shows…
Slipping out of the silence like a fleeting whisper in the autumn wind, the title track in Affirmation Day, the new album from singer/songwriter Jake Allen, begins to carry us away with its dreamy strings. There’s a sense of unreal indulgence in the air as Allen begins to sing, but it’s ironic as there aren’t…
A simple guitar chord riff opens Jason Chaffee’s single “River to Row.” Shortly thereafter, acoustic piano chimes in. “I don’t belong,” Chaffee informs us, “walking down the wayside/Wasting all of this life/Swimmin’ in a riptide.” This is a downer way to begin singing a song, no question about it. Nevertheless, these relatively depressed words are,…
A pure shot of adrenaline, the Little Wretches’ “The Ballad of Johnny Blowtorch (Ambridge Version)” races forward at a blistering pace. The volume demands to be played at maximum volume for it is an intense piece. Sounding like an instant classic the production has a flawless, gritty take to it which accurately captures its visceral…
In an exotic amalgamation of strings that come ripping through the silence as though all life depended on the sharpness of its melody, Ricky Comeaux’s “Theme from Kiss of the Spider Woman” doesn’t dillydally about before getting right into the guts of its powerful elegance – it jumps right into the heat of battle and whisks us away…
Over a relatively mechanical beat, Cody Lee helps explain today’s so-called new norms with his single “New Normal.” The track is taken from his album Woodpecker Crisis, and it’s a strong piece of music. With a few more soulful aural elements, “New Normal” might have even passed for a disco song. It’s far more stripped…
Harrison Avery aka DJ Hello loves all types of music from A-Z and pretty much everything under the sun. His latest EP, ‘Hello’, focuses on the wonderful world of electronica with elements of dance, EDM and dubstep along with other styles of digitized music. The listener will hear DJ Hello honing in on his craft…
Ashleigh Still delivers a deeply felt message on the defiant “Not Fuckin’ Around”. From the gentle grace of the guitar to the slight nods to dub, there is a quiet celebratory triumph that radiates throughout. Bass perfectly lifts the sheer strength of her vocals emphasizing her carefully chosen lyricism. The pastoral ode of Lydia Liza’s…
Stephen Jacques’ single, “When I Fell In Love With You,” is taken from his album Charmed to Death. On it, he was helped by multi-instrumentalist and producer, Alan Weatherhead, who has worked with such artists as The Cardigans, Sparklehorse and Cracker. This song’s sound features more of a resemblance to Cracker and Sparklehorse’s roughnecked Americana,…
Emcee Monte taps into hip-hop’s roots on the powerful “I’m So Black”. Lyrics are delivered with such a swaggering confidence for they hit hard. A positivity runs through the whole of the track for Emcee Monte has a razor-sharp focus on the present. Word choice is done with so much care and consideration. Words tie…
Terrill Williams delivers a soulful blend of R&B on the lovely “Better Than That”. Honeyed vocals lead the way for they are full of so much kindness. Instrumentally rich the whole of the track absolutely bounces with such joy. A sense of optimism reigns supreme for her verses are ones of rising above the basest…
A questioning attitude drives Bill Abernathy’s thought-provoking “More Than Meets The Eye”. Cutting through propaganda he encourages people to see beyond the surface-level truths for deeper meaning. The message at times touches upon the Matrix perception of reality of taking the red pill to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Rather than be blissfully…
The gorgeous exploration of a day in the life David Arn finds the poetry of the everyday in “Mother’s Day – The Mother’s Tale (feat. Ava Hart)”. Fragile with its delicate melody, the way the beauty is brought out happens with the utmost of care. Classical and folk intermingle in a dreamy way. Guitar and…
Rattling to life with a vitality that is rather grim for being the primary source of life gushing through the groove, “When the Devil Rides with Me” doesn’t force its subtle melancholy upon us with any sort of urgency – instead, it lets singer/songwriter Sébastien Lacombe unfurl the moodiness in the music from behind the…
Paul Mark & The Van Dorens – “December At The P.O.” is a single for the holidays, culled from the latest album – Gravity, and even though I have heard this album it didn’t dawn on me that I would be reviewing the last track on the album by the end of 2020. “December At…
Have you ever noticed how musicians are so quick to tell you everything they know? It’s almost as though they only have around three short minutes to bowl you over with their knowledge, so they just have to get to it – and fast. Of course, many artists only think they know it all, kind…
Jim Stanard is a talented singer/songwriter who has a knack for storytelling as you will hear when you listen to his new album titled ‘Color Outside The Lines’. This is Jim’s second album with his debut release coming back in 2018 with ‘Bucket List’. Jim proves that he is a true wordsmith on ‘Color Outside…
An earnest, honest ode from the heart Shayne Cook sculpts a slice of Americana on the timeless “Matters of the Heart”. Chamber pop, folk, and country effortlessly blend together to create a stream of consciousness quality to it. The richness of the sound further extenuates the gentle disposition of his voice. With honeyed vocals that…
