CD and DVD reviews
JuiceThaBlackBeethoven – ‘Dancin’ with Dracula’ – JuiceThaBlackBeethoven goes for a 50s nostalgic kick on “Dancin’ with Dracula.” Volume is a given because the whole track should be played at a party. There’s a community sensibility, the joy of coming together for the spookiest time of the year. Best of all, his voice fits the general…
If you’ve ever been taken in by a timeshare ‘scam,’ you will readily relate to this song from California (featuring Les Fradkin). Invariably, these offers promise more than they deliver. Buyer beware, of course, but there are organizations that help people get out of these deals. This song faces such vacation packages head-on, and it’s…
The path ahead for Littlemen follows a distinctly different trajectory than previous incarnations existing under this moniker. The Nick Allen-led iteration of the band’s new single “Visions” solidifies his claim to helming one of the U.K.’s best new syntheses of English and American influences I’ve heard in quite a while. “Visions” stands as one of…
Mesa Jane is a songwriter & recording artist from Philly and she is excited to release this new single titled “All I Need”. Mesa Jane has decided to provide the listening audience with her first cover as “All I Need” is actually a Radiohead song. I’m not familiar with the original song by Radiohead, but…
Wellbeloved is the music of David Wellbeloved, and The Rusty is his first studio recording in over 25 years. ‘Rusty’ is a term we usually apply to someone who hasn’t applied a process for a long time, and just isn’t as smooth as he/she used to be while doing that process. However, Wellbeloved doesn’t come…
Les Fradkin’s epic release, Reality – The Rock Opera, is certainly ambitious. Its title track, for example, muses about the wide-ranging topic of reality, and exactly what it is (or is not). Thus, this is not your typical selection of love songs, breakup songs, and missing-my-baby songs. Instead, it actually takes on the extremely deep…
Mariami is an artist with many layers and dimensions as she digs deep to find her distinct sound. As the listener digs into Mariami’s latest single, “Foglights”, he or she will notice right away the vast amount of substance embedded here. The musical soil is rich and abundant as Mariami is turning ON “Foglights” and…
Anyone who thinks that the Arizona scene doesn’t know how to produce bold and brilliant songcraft anymore needs to make a point of listening to “To the River,” the new song by Dorsten, if for no other reason than to be educated as to how ignorant such a notion is. Dorsten has been around for…
Jackson Reed and The Silverbirds go for a powerful slice of catchy 80s neon-hued splendor with “In My Head.” Close attention is paid to the arrangement, as a great deal of instrumentation is brought into the fray. He balances the many elements effortlessly, and the sound has a lighter-than-air quality. Lyricism feels perfect, letting the…
The melody to Little King’s “Amber Waves (Goodbye)” sounds a little bit like John Cougar’s “Jack & Diane.” However, it greatly differs rhythmically, in that it’s an upbeat, acoustic guitar strummed recording. It also contrasts with Little King’s other recorded output, in that it is a romantic song of “Sweet self-indulgence,” as the band puts…
Ruby Rose Fox is an award-winning songwriter and powerful singer with an exciting, new single titled “A Carpetbagger’s Ode to Rocky”. That level of mystique surrounds Ruby Rose Fox and this new song as the listener will be entranced by the style. From start to finish, “A Carpetbagger’s Ode to Rocky” plays out like a…
Les Fradkin is a producer and composer/multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and one-man band and he is a pioneer of the MIDI guitar. Not to mention, Les is an Akademia 2023 Hall of Fame Inductee and was an original cast member of the smash hit production “Beatlemania”. Fradkin’s latest single titled “Together” is featured on the full album…
A supple percussive intro is followed by a searing vocal ala Ms. Ashley Hess as we enter “Skunks Misery Road,” King’s white-hot single performed alongside the City Blog, but these first few strands of melodic gold are only a taste of what’s about to come pouring out of the speakers over the next five minutes.…
Marc Miner’s tough-minded brand of Americana has deep country music roots, but there’s ample room for blues and rock as well. Particularly blues. There’s scorching blues guitar scattered throughout the eleven songs of his new album Last Heroes without ever pulling the collection entirely in that direction. Instead, Miner’s music and songwriting chops incorporate blues as an…
Sparrow Road is a six-song EP from Fist of Five that delves into pained emotions through hard rock grooves. The project opens with “The Dance,” a song that sounds like it is about separation from a loved one. If this song sounds familiar, it was originally a hit for Garth Brooks. Yes, this is actually…
A blues-rock harmony is waiting to come alive with passionate indie sizzle in the title track of Alex Lopez’s new album Looking for a Change, but if you think for a second that the acclaimed singer and songwriter is limiting the potent output in this record to the titular tune alone, you’re in for quite the…
Sarah Burtan may be from Toronto, Canada, but her album 64 Magic Queens sure shows how she’s settled into her adopted home of Austin, TX. Her musical style falls under the large umbrella of Americana. Although “How To Run” features the sort of electric guitar solo one might hear in a country song, it wouldn’t…
A Gobstopper is a hard candy that is better known in the U.S. and Canada as a jawbreaker. Candy witha a name that describes breaking a body part, sounds dangerous. However, the kids love ‘em. They seemingly take forever to eat, too. This song is, indeed, ear candy for rock music fans. The New Zealand…
If you like pop music, you’re probably already aware that there hasn’t been a generation of up-and-coming players like the emerging one in quite a long time if ever in history before now. Artists like the unmatched upstart indie player Lucas Jay are changing the game for pop music and removing creative control of the…
Slow Burning Car’s album, Vicarious Disclosures, closes with two songs so different from the ones that come before it, you may be tempted to check your streaming service to see if it might have continued with a different artist without you even knowing it. The band is listed as post punk, stylistically, but edgy progressive…
Kenny Loggins has lived many musical lives, which range from his gentle side (“Return to Pooh”), to the rocker heard on “Danger Zone,” from the film Top Gun. For the most part, though, this Santa Barbara Records tribute to the man’s musical career, leans decidedly to his folkier sonic side. However, even some of Loggins’…
Coming to life like the rays of the sun in the early morning, Tim Raybon Band’s I Could Get Used To This hits us in the face with a blistering beat courtesy of “Leaving Cleveland” that instantly makes any melody-lover want to move. In this opening cut, Raybon’s voice is cushioned by a velvety harmony…
Jude Gwynaires offers a fluid take on its electronic tenor with “The Mechanics of Moth Light.” The cryptic title describes the music contained within quite well. Mysterious to its utter core, the songs feel alive. Rhythms forgo prominent percussive elements for a subtler hue. By letting the looping effects and slow evolution take the place…
Arise Together – Children of the World is an epic charity album designed to assist children throughout the world and encourage the practice of inclusion, recognizing the particular gifts of the disabled youth among us, and bolstering recognition of diversity as well. The album’s organizers have recruited marquee talent from across the globe to contribute to…
This live jazz album from Sylvia Brooks was made with help from pianist Christian Jacob, who is also her musical director. It’s an album of mostly familiar vocal standards and features Brooks strong singing voice. While Brooks shines on these many times well known songs, her live group also covers Jacobs’ composition “The Red Pig…
Tom Ciurczak titles his album I Ain’t Every Growing Up, Vol. 1, so with at least more volume still on the way, Ciurczak is clearly serious about avoiding adulthood. With that said, though, this eight-song part one is very much a mature set of rock and roll tunes. https://tomciurczak.bandcamp.com/album/i-aint-ever-growing-up-volume-i Ciurczak also enjoys creating videos to…
I haven’t heard many bands in recent memory that are as ready for mainstream success as PRETTY AWKWARD. Anchored by the creative partnership between Austin Held and Nicholas Wiggins, they have a ready-made sound for the 2023 musical landscape that announces itself with a bold attitude and enormous skillfulness. Their bandmates complement their vision for…
Becky Wiles opens her Free Kind of Love album with the spunky bluegrass workout, “Call Me Crazy.” However, if you think this is an indicator of what the rest of this album sounds like, well, you would have guessed incorrectly. Instead, this 13-track release is quite a ballad-heavy affair. Fortunately, Wiles is as adept at…
Australian-born brothers Jake and Luke Davies have lived in the United States, specifically Southern California, for more than ten years and are thoroughly Americanized. Their American journey, however, began in Boston when Beantown’s famed Berklee School of Music accepted Luke and he went there to study. Jake moved to the U.S. and settled in Long Beach, California. Luke…
Some musical artists are content releasing products and cashing checks. They may be good at what they do, even talented, but their work never rises above a certain level of engagement – for them or their audience. Other artists, however, aim for more. They aren’t looking to remake the musical wheel, per se, but they…
With a distant echo that allows for a cold sustain of the rushing guitar strings to linger in the air well into the song, Rob Alexander begins “The Soul or the Skin,” his latest single, with a stamina that is deceptively muted and representative of only a glimpse into what the next few minutes will…
There are moments when Harry Hochman sounds like a cross between James McMurtry and Gordon Lightfoot. His songs come off as serious singer/songwriter stuff, much like these aforementioned artists. His eleven songs are hard, lyrically, but much softer sonically. In other words, they’re lot like a lot of folk music. Stylistically, however, these songs can…
Brian Douscette’s single begins quietly with an acoustic piano intro. You might think this is going to be a tender ballad. It’s not. After about twenty seconds of lovely piano, Doucette’s vocal comes in. And it comes in like a bull in a China shop, too, with full force. Here begins Doucette’s drinking song. Doucette’s…
Dusty Highway, the 2023 LP from David Gelman, begins out humbly with an easygoing, melody-led beat in “Lay Me Down” that, while only offering us a glimpse into the majestic melodies that await in the next ten songs, is enough to set the stage for everything we’re soon to encounter. The moodiness of the harmonies…
Bill Abernathy’s latest album, “More,” is a compelling and diverse exploration of the roots rock genre that takes listeners on a heartfelt journey through a range of emotions. Laden with personal anecdotes and a mixture of folk and rock styles, this album stands as a testament to Abernathy’s artistry and his ability to create a…
Hitting us with a lot of tonality that most bands would be too intimidated to work with, The One Eighties’ “Dead Star Light” doesn’t let us get comfortable with its forward strut before unleashing a complicated deluge of warmth that can seemingly destroy that gets in its path. In this track, and all of those…
Saul Ayotte embraces a classic slice of Americana on the soulful stereo sound of “Meant for You.” This is the sort of song played in a moment of reflection, driving through wide-open spaces thinking about those moments long since passed. A nostalgic pining permeates the track. Lyrics emphasize a lovelorn, tender tenor that helps to…
Canadian singer/songwriter and roots rock artist Vili V serves up a delightful musical ride with his latest single. He steeps “Tupelo Rhythm” in the blues and summons up the sights and smells prevalent south of the Mason-Dixon line with off-handed ease. It belies the hard work necessary for such magic to take hold. It’s another…
It follows that Mark Adams stocks his California Bound-titled album with plenty of California-related sounds, whether these be the Byrds-y guitar jangle that appears and then disappears on opener, “She Was Crying,” or some of the more California-esque country music that follows on this satisfying 10-song release. You’ll find sonic pleasure wherever you land on…
New York City native Leo Sawikin’s new single “The Same Mistakes” continues in the same intelligent and introspective vein defining his 2021 debut album Row Me Away. It represents a rekindling of his creative energies, as well, after dipping in the aftermath of the pandemic. He’s working with Seattle-based producer Phil Ek, a gifted sound…
