CD and DVD reviews
This is now the third review I’ve done for this talented duo from Georgetown, TX and I know Tough On Fridays won’t let me down because they have yet to disappoint me. The latest single, “Summer”, is perfect timing with plants & flowers blooming and that sweet, summertime breeze right around the corner! Tough On…
Sarantos explores a painful personal subject with tremendous grace on the sunny “Bankruptcy”. Over the course of the piece Sarantos utilizes an arrangement that at times feels nearly tropical. By opting for such a gentle take the whole of the track goes for something graceful. His inviting voice offers reassurance that indeed no one is…
Blistering blues guitar welcomes us into Project Grand Slam’s new LP PGS 7 on a high note, only to break away in a flurry of jazz jamming in “Yeah Yeah,” the album’s opening track. Ziarra Washington doesn’t waste a second in seducing us with her vocal charms, and sax man Mario Castro peppers her harmonies…
This is a book that’s critically important right now. While it is unlikely scores and scores will pick it up and use as it a call to arms for promoting its ideas, it nonetheless adds an intelligent and deeply concerned voice to the ongoing discussion about the worsening state of human endeavor and how we…
The Magnetic South dispenses a unique blend of instrumental psychedelia and neo-progressive enigmas influenced by postmodernity in their exciting debut album, Sea Level, and the seven songs that it brings to the table. In the title track, “My Sun,” “Sunrise and Gravity” and the mountain-moving “Porcelain Branches,” the band pushes the sonic envelope as far…
Strands of feedback and acrylic white noise come slipping through the cracks of silence like transmissions from outer space as we descend upon “Take It to the Breakdown,” the opening track of Stars in Toledo’s eponymous debut album, which was first released last April. A funky guitar riff finds its way into the fold and…
Christa Deánā’s “Shine” begins gently, like a CeCe Winans gospel track. Deánā is also a Christian singer, but her songs also incorporate a lot of modern production touches. What follows is an inspiring song, which also sounds contemporary and relevant. “Shine” revs up with a call-and-response build, before incorporating a choir-like vocal chorus. These elements…
Woven Green is the name Jim and Ashley Cash have given their musical partnership. This pairing goes much deeper than just music, however. The couple met at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, where they were both working toward degrees in Cultural Anthropology. They eventually started their own private music instruction business. Additionally, they spend…
URL: https://www.caseyahern.com/ California country is given the celebration it deserves in Casey Ahern’s brand new EP He Was Summer, which was released last year to critical acclaim and has already got audiences demanding more from the fledging singer/songwriter. Casey Ahern’s devotion to the Golden State sound is realized in full color on He Was Summer, arriving to…
They wowed us with such sizzlers as Railbirds, Broken Chord and Lo Fi Dreams, and now in their latest record West Towards South, Jeffrey Halford & the Healers are back and banging out their best music in years. A concept album by design, West Towards South features a litany of majestic melodies in ten tracks that pack a mighty punch when played…
Diamond Lake’s “Light On” begins with a charging electric guitar riff. This riff then gives way to an equally driving bass part. The single is taken from the Brooklyn band’s EP Changes and is a passionately constructed piece of rock & roll. The chorus includes the line, “Leave the light on.” Before you start picturing…
Raw real riffs rush through Kidd Comet’s colossal “(She’s My) Serpentine”. The careening quality of the piece works wonders as does the defiant attitude. Deep in the center of it all are those commanding vocals that rise above the din. A feral spirit defines Howzat’s “Tell Me”. Swinging chaotically, Howzat messes with listener expectations featuring…
“Suspicious Packages 2” is an EP that contains a lot of artists that came together to give one a nice blend of urban music, passionate beats and a West Coast flow that is representative of everything that is good about that side of the US. In fact, Dwayne “Muffla” Simon was one of the forerunners…
All This Huxley offers a series of blissful, intimate indie rock portraits with the soothing “Home Stockholm”. Things are kept to the essentials with a crisp, fresh-sounding percussion. Lyrics have a poetic, meditative quality to them. By letting their lyrics focus on small narrative, the little vignettes that make up a life, they offer warm…
When “All Dawgs Go To Heaven” begins, with its chugging electric guitar part, the band that comes immediately to mind is Green Day. Taken from the Tennessee band’s If Requiems Were Record Deals, the track alternates between loud and quiet sections, much like memorable Green Day tracks. This group is led by Chris Pietrangelo, who…
Christa Deánā’s self-titled album is honest, sometimes to the point of uncomfortableness. With the theatrical – and much of this album’s content is quite theatrical – “The Breakdown (Interlude),” Deánā sounds like she’s having a recorded mental breakdown. Yes, we need more honesty in religious music, but Deánā sometimes takes her forthrightness to an extreme.…
With a bristling groove to lead the way, “That Old Wheel” greets us at the onset of Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers’ new album For the Record, and if its opulent melody doesn’t put a spring in your step instantly, its daring lyrical wit most likely will. It’s a fun, easygoing way to start off…
John DellRoy Band’s “Burning Desire” is an unusual recording. The two intersecting influences that come immediately to mind are Chris De Burgh (remember “Don’t Pay the Ferryman?”), at least vocally, and vintage Kansas musically, due to its driving string instrumentation. Vocalist Dellroy likes to say the band rocks, but with folk and electronic influences. And…
Earl Donald sounds like a guy’s name and could, in reality, be some man’s actual name. However, ‘he’ is actually the name for multi-instrumentalist/producer James Cuvilier’s project. His bio claims Cuvilier is from the “streets of Toronto,” but anybody who’s ever visited Toronto and contrasted it with real “streets,” knows well there are no bad…
Rev Peter Unger offers crystal clarity on the optimism of “There’s a Spirit”. Full of life his vocals recall the loving compassion of early Magnetic Fields, radiating such tenderness. By singing with such passion the piece sparkles and shines. The arrangement becomes attuned to his soothing vocal delivery always ensuring his lyrics take front and…
URL: http://carlosmorganmusic.com/ Carlos Morgan is an artist that will move your soul on his new single “Have A Little faith,” while it turns you onto someone you won’t find anywhere but Toronto, CA. But that is ultimately bound to change once this single gets airplay, and it will get airplay as a one hundred percent…
Beats bolstered by a sumptuously raucous master mix come galloping out of the ethers as we find ourselves in the clutches of Rhett May in his new single “Cocktails and Cannabis.” They’re quickly met with a muscle-flexing guitar part that will vault over the rocky rhythm of the drums and hit us with every bit…
The Toronto, Canada based sextet Young Doctors in Love are set to elevate their profile considerably with the release of their sophomore full length …in Love, a twelve song follow-up to their 2014 debut World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. Loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel V, Clay Puddester’s songwriting radiates intelligence and intense musicality at every turn without…
White Owl Red mixes a rustic form of Americana with the shaggy dog style of Modest Mouse’s early honest output on “Existential Frontiers”. Thoughtful lyricism goes for self-reflection while White Owl Red takes their take. Instrumentally rich the entirety of the album has a lived-in, loved quality to it. From banjo to guitar with a…
Includes Music Video published reviews, promotions and distribution on National Television via our Network of Broadcast on 72+ Terrestrial TV channels. RewOut soars up into the sky on the colossal riffing of “Circus”. A fully chaotic and carefree experience, the song feels absolutely massive. The whole of the track goes for a slight 80s throwback,…
Rising from the silence like the first rays of a morning sunlight creeping over the horizon, a dangerously mischievous bass comes storming into the fold in the first few moments of Neko X James’ “Automatic,” which is available everywhere that independent music is sold and streamed this March 29th. In the distance, snapping fingers start…
Acoustic guitar strings gallop out of our speakers in the wicked slow motion opening salvo that serves as our gateway into the magical sonic windstorm that is “Fire in the Sky,” the all-new single from the incomparable Ashley Delima. Their echo drifts into the ethers and seems to linger in the atmosphere long after Delima…
When somebody says, ‘It’s cut and dried,” there’s a finality to such a statement. It’s not open for debate, and there’s no alternative solutions. The hand of cards has been played decisively and the game’s all over. There’s similar feeling of finality to folksinger Ren Daversa’s “Cut and Dried” single from her Saltwater album. Daversa…
For those artists whose music takes a hefty page from the book of legends that paved the way for their craft, toeing the fine line between imitation and homage can be as difficult as walking a tightrope wire high above city streets, but that just can’t be said of The Voice’s DR King. King’s new…
Spindly string grooves slip into focus as “You’re the Reason I Drink” ushers us into Steel Blossoms’ all-new, self-titled album. The poppy swing that drives the rhythm is soon merged with a country-colored melody from the backing band sitting behind Sara Zebley and Hayley Prosser, and we quickly find that trying to resist the urge…
RL: https://theintoits.com/ Classical guitar strings pepper an airy rhythm as we descend upon “High in Space,” the first track in Jas Frank & the Intoits’ new album, The Girl from Cherry Valley, and they offer us a glimpse into the beautiful chaos that the record will treat us to in the nine songs that follow.…
Right from the get-go in the new single “Emoji,” Alex Dutty is spinning us in a hundred different directions with a swirling bassline skewed with acrylic textures emanating from his vicious vocal. The lyric video for the song plays out like a fireworks display littered with the verses slipping from Dutty’s lips in real-time, and…
Addisyn Chafé’s “When We Fall In Love” is a quietly, thoughtful and moody song. Chafé sings this lyric over a finger-picked guitar part. She vocalizes with a sweet singing voice. Taken from her forthcoming EP Lost, “When We Fall In Love” is yet another spiritual song that may not be obvious as such upon first…
This is the 3rd release in the album series started by Bongo Boy Records to feature Americana talents. The Darryl Morris Band explores a sense of tenderness on the gorgeous “My Name”. Full of passion the song is sung straight from the heart. Instrumentally rich they employ a country twang to great effect. Giddy energy…
Soap Bubble Dreams is a new release by Germany’s Para Lia, which is an Alternative Rock band led by René Methner, and he plays all instruments and is supported by Cindy Methner who sings duets perfectly around the massively layered guitars and synths, which is all done with colossal results between the two which serve…
Belting out a sensational vocal harmony studded with acrylic guitar textures, “The Devil Lives in the South” opens the floodgates on the shimmering tonality that The American Revival are discharging in their all-new album The Saint and The Sinner, which is out everywhere that independent country music is sold and streamed this March 22nd. The sixty…
Saltwater is not just the name of Ren Daversa’s new album, but also a big part of her life. Although raised on a small island off the coast of Rhode Island, Daversa went on to front the San Diego band The Good China, which took her way over to the opposite coast. The album opens…
BANDCAMP: https://melissaruthmusic.bandcamp.com/ With a skipping beat to lead the way, Melissa Ruth’s Meteor comes to life in its first track, “West,” and the chugging drum and bass swagger is quickly met with a sultry vocal from Ruth that is as textured as any of the vivid string play transpiring beside her is. The mischievous grooves wander into…
RELATED URL: https://www.supersystemic.ly/dear-machine Complicated futures deserve complicated analysis. The combination of rigorous logic, imagination, measured judgment and clarity of expression are rare. Those qualities, however, are the bedrock of Greg Kieser’s study on how humanity might potentially interact, prosper, and suffer with the dawn of intelligent, even “conscious”, technology and adept with its assimilation into…
It’s been 10 years since I last heard from Straw Dogs and their infectious sound as I reviewed their last album titled ‘Love And Then Hope’: https://skopemag.com/2009/05/04/straw-dogs-love-and-then-hope. I can tell you firsthand that it was well worth the wait because ‘Your Immaculate Machine’ is the band’s sixth record and one prized possession that will raise…
