CD and DVD reviews
Sean Shiff’s “Medicine Lake” begins, simply, with acoustic guitar, bass and drums. It starts with Shiff singing about morning view of this lake, which is set in a small town. It’s mostly a scenic route sort of song; that is, of course, till it takes a philosophical turn at the end. “If all of the…
The single “Gemini” is taken from Pistol for Ringo’s release, Kings of Bad Behavior. This song and band are most notable for its lead vocal. It’s the sort of voice that doesn’t really fit with, say, opera, but sure sounds fantastic in rock & roll, and it comes out especially good here. It seems to…
Greg Smith calls his single “Waiting for the Truth.” It’s a folk-ish tune, built upon acoustic guitar and colored with harmonica. Smith sings over this instrumental bed with a gentle voice, which is not unlike Al Stewart’s in the 70s. The song includes a few unusual lyrical lines within this largely philosophical song. For instance,…
Crobot is a P.A. metal band consisting of Brandon Yeagley on vocals, Chris Bishop on guitar and Dan Ryan on drums, and they add either James Lascu or Eddie Collins on bass for touring. They have toured and played at venues with numerous big name metal bands, gaining a following. Motherbrain is their fourth release.…
A spindly groove slowly evolves into a full-blown tidal wave of emotionally-charged beats as we enter the decadent opening bars of “Type of Guy,” the new single from the one and only James Cole, but this tantalizing introduction reps only a fraction of the chills and thrills that this track is going to throttle in…
Chad Rico, as you may know, is also a math teacher. He’s not the sort of professor, though, that takes the full summer off. You probably won’t see him at a beach or a national park. Instead, he’s getting a ‘studio tan,’ instead of feeling much of the sun’s warmth. Instead of taking it extremely…
“Be My Main,” the latest single from breakout R&B vocalist Allocai, opens in a churning echo of its title verse, slowly ascending into a larger than life anthem of desire that transcends the standard limitations that most of us associate with mainstream pop music. The beats are accented with a finger-snapping that contributes to the…
Sat Game embodies the sense of swagger with the fresh style of “My Shit So Cold”. By taking on a minimal approach the song’s bite becomes readily apparent. Lyrically playful, Sat Game messes around with listener expectations. By delivering every line with such force, Sat Game at times touches upon DMX’s intense style. In a…
URL: https://www.callmestevieray.com/ Self-reflection. Maturity. Rapper Stevie Ray bares his soul in the soul-searching hit “Feeling Old.” On the surface it’s easy to dismiss this Bay Area rapper as just another hip hop artist trying to diss on life and miss opportunities. From the beginning surf-guitar riff, Ray changes the outcome with is potent prose and…
A lovely, gentle piece of chamber pop radiates from Uncle Tadashi & Da Boyz tender “Aloha & Mahalo”. Going for a slightly different approach than their usual sun-drenched style, this one still highlights their lush instrumentation and attention to detail. By far the true heart and soul of the work comes from the majestic vocals.…
With her single, “I Am The Sun,” singer/songwriter Brooke Benson repeats: “If you follow your heart/You can never go wrong.” This is a phrase so often repeated, it’s become a cliché. But is it true? The Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, would beg to differ. He once wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and…
The first few bars of Damoyee Janai’s “Independent” are undisputedly swaggering, and it’s all because of the strutting bass that greets us at the genesis of the track. It’s a little bit effervescent, totally swinging, and the perfect canvas for Janai to paint us an imagistic lyrical picture atop just moments into the song. Her…
Credited on his Soundcloud page as either being based out of or hailing from Quin, Ireland, Evan O’Malley’s musical output under the moniker Martian Subculture bears the marks of an unique artistic vision like few others today. Martian Subculture’s latest single “All Emotions Are Equal” is his latest single for a project first taking shape…
Brooke Benson is a rare artist. Whereas some artists create poetry put to music, then sing that poetry, Benson many times recites her poems over music with the EP I Am the Sun. Benson is originally from Los Angeles, where she immediately gravitated to activism and the arts – including poetry. Perhaps her most high-profile…
Richard Schroder delves into a delightfully bubbly slice of Americana with “Skyline”. Done with the greatest level of care, he utilizes that western twang to great effect. Over the course of the album Richard Schroder sings from a life lived to the absolute fullest. Family, friends, lovers, these relationships come to the forefront with ease.…
This line of work surprises me once in a while. I have my musical inclinations and, in my early forties, many are unshakable and engraved in granite. Electronic influenced pop music is not among those inclinations. See Tai’s new single “Neon Dream” upends that idea however. Running just under three and a half minutes in…
Mutlu is a singer/songwriter from Philadelphia, PA. He’s of Turkish descent but you wouldn’t guess that from his music. The songs on Good Trouble run the gamut of American styles, ranging from soul to reggae to gentle balladeering. He sings with a sweet voice, even though his cries for social justice – which happens a…
Femi will grab your attention straight out of the gate with his jaw-dropping cover of the Bill Withers’ classic “Ain’t No Sunshine”. He deconstructs and rebuilds this venerable tune as a moody and muted acoustic track before transitioning into a frantic rock track in the second half of the song complete with furious guitar playing…
The first impression of THNDR’s “Think Twice” is that this is one odd piece of music. The music sounds to be going in two directions at once, in fact. On the one hand, there is the rapidly moving electronic music bed, which sounds a little like Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade on speed. Simultaneously, though,…
“When the moon is beaming, starlight streaming / Right here / You call my name” whispers a voice as startlingly beautiful as it is evocative in the “Patrik Kambo Radio Edit” of “Call My Name,” one of the more elaborate mixes of the new song from unabashedly experimental alternative crew ooberfuse which was released this…
2019 has been a landmark year for EDM artists around the planet, but the recently-released “I Don’t Want Nobody,” a collaborative single from Italy’s 3Angle and Alton, is definitely setting the standard for the scene that birthed it. 3Angle employ ice cold synths while Alton takes up the microphone with his warm, eclectic verses, which…
The five-piece Redwood Honey was discovered by Eddie Money, but don’t hold that against them. All kidding aside, though, this was a big break, as Money took the group on a tour of the United States. The band is a self-described Americana act, and they create good, honest American music. “Six Strings & Me” is…
The band is off and running on their “Living The Dream” tour promoting the new album. The rest of the band is made up of rhythm guitarist Frank Sidoris, bassist Todd Kerns who wore a WMMS Buzzard T-shirt, and drummer Brent Fitz who wore a “The Heart of Rock & Roll is in Cleveland” one.…
Glom’s intrepid debut studio album, Bond, opens with the subtle bellow of “Tell Me Who to Be,” which pendulously rises from asunder and overtakes our speakers with a monolithic swing inside of its first forty seconds. Elegant vocal harmonies adorn the colorful riffing, but their textures aren’t nearly as provocative as those in the drumbeat…
The “Insufferable” Paul Scott is by no means insufferable at all. Maybe he can seem that way to his friends and family, but as a recording artist, he’s nothing but a pleasure for the ears. Scott is from Sydney, Australia, and this 11-track album is filled with short, melodic tunes. With a title like Surrender…
Everything about Melissa Black’s five-song EP The Eden Project shouts, ‘Serious artist!’ Much like other singer/songwriters, like Tori Amos (from back in the day), Black sings and plays piano on songs about heavy subjects. The project concludes with its most ominous track, “Red Blood Moon.” Black sings it over a moody melody. These piano chords…
The guitar intro to Midnight Lands’ “Catch and Release” sounds a bit like one of those great old Cheap Trick riffs. Midnight Lands’ album Destroy the World, which is Ben Averch’s project, is one rewarding rock and roll experience. The track is just under four minutes long, but it incorporates plenty of rock goodness. It…
Taken from the album Thylacine, “Lost at Sea” is a collaboration between guitarist Gareth Koch and vocalist Steve Kilbey. “Lost At Sea” is a meditative, reflective song. Koch’s classically influenced acoustic guitar style is a nice match for Kilbey’s wispy singing. This single begins with what sounds like wind sound effects. Koch’s acoustic playing is…
If you follow the Canadian pop beat as closely as I do, it’s more likely than not that you’ve been hearing Rebecca Binnendyk’s name a lot more frequently as of late. That’s mostly because of the hype surrounding Binnendyk’s new album Brick by Brick and specifically its title track, which is out now in both the single…
There aren’t a lot of artists who are also excellent storytellers. Andrea Desmond is one of the few singer/songwriters that can write a lovely song and also deliver and effervescent performance. Based out of Los Angeles, Andrea trained under Alan Menken who has won many Oscar awards for his composition works in well-known Disney classics.…
Midnight Lands is essentially Ben Averch, as he plays drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards and loops as well as singing these twelves fantastic songs. He also wrote these songs, except for “Sea Break,” which is one for which Kat Manning contributed lyrics. Manning also created the spacey album artwork for Destroy the World. This is…
Calling it the sound of “sweet and agonizing rock” Portland’s J. Graves sweeps the listener into a bed of ruffled riffs and tidal waves of pounding percussion in the punkish rock track “Chapters.” J. Graves (Jessa Graves) is former frontwoman for HelloKopter and spent a year working on the forthcoming full-length, Marathon, out September 13th.…
Sabino is originally from Guadalajara but is beginning to make quite the name for himself on the Mexican music scene. His new album is titled Yin, and it’s filled with plenty of energetic music. Sabino calls what he does SAB-HOP, as he mixes traditional music styles with more contemporary sounds. The album’s best song is…
FB – https://www.facebook.com/ronnue/ Following a brief but well-advised parental advisory in the self-explanatory “Rated M.A.,” Ronnue immediately launches into the funkafied “If We Stayed 2gether,” the first slab of rhythmic urban thunder that his new album Introduction 2 Retro-Funk has lined up for us. The groove-driven swing of this track is unbelievably catchy, and by the time…
Mr MooQ begins “Good Luck With That” with an unaccompanied vocal, before a disco-y groove kicks in. What follows is a slightly moody dance-pop piece. Usually when people say, ‘Good luck with that,’ it’s a bit of a kiss-off statement. Oftentimes, it comes after considering another person’s poor plans and opting out of the situation.…
A tenderness runs through Tony Levitas’ heartfelt “Never Could Be Wrong”. Done with a great soulfulness, Tony Levitas incorporates elements of the blues, indie rock, dream pop and balladry into a perfect whole. His voice possesses such reassurance as the entirety of the work has a gracefulness. The attention to detail feels simply stunning, for…
Ronin’s “Chemical Smiles” opens with Ronin pleading, “It’s your chemical smile.” All over a funky, Prince-like groove, sung soulfully with a rapper’s attitude. Perhaps Ronin’s most Prince-esque moment is the wau he squeals at the end, and when sweet synthesizers jump in — like a Paisley Park The Time recording — it seals the deal.…
“That’s Just Fine” is described as Sean Shiff’s try at coping with our current American political circumstance, which he describes as nauseating. Specifically, Shiff focuses his attention on President Donald Trump. The song begins with just a guitar riff, before jumping into a strummed guitar part and vocal. “Somehow he can hypnotize,” Shiff says of…
Taken from his album Waiting for the Truth, “What This Is” is a thumping folk song, colored a lot by gypsy fiddle and a touch of organ. The lyric is deeply philosophical. It also asks more questions than it ever answers. The first verse finds Smith stating, “We don’t fight any more/We never really could.”…
Joe Hanson’s “If The World Was A Small Town” begins with an electric guitar riff reminiscent of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” which then transitions into a groove that hints at Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Hanson is categorized as country music, but one must add the disclaimer that Hanson’s take…
