CD and DVD reviews
Every now and then, a story is told. Sometimes that story is told through someone else’s eyes or through the images that may be cast: the end result will be a lasting memory. When a sound is heard, it remains within the ears and travels to the brain for interpretation. Sometimes those sounds could be…
Do you know how St. Paul, Minnesota originally got its name? Here’s how…In 1841, the area that would be known as Saint Paul was named by such by Father Lucian Galtier, a French Priest wanting to honor The Apostle Paul. Today, St. Paul has several main attractions but the main one that is making a…
African musical project Funkmata, masterminded by singer/songwriter Robert Bannerman and producer Roy C formed this band with enormous ambition and stoked by the desire to export an uniquely African take on funk and commercial pop to a global audience. They’ve experienced a notable amount of success already, placing their material with important media outlets and…
The world outside of western Canada is introduced to the hard rocking Calgary-based In/Vertigo in their new single “Bad Enemy,” which comes ahead of their much awaited debut extended play due out this fall. Canada has been having somewhat of a renaissance year in the music scene, but no band has had critics talking more…
On “Hip HOp SociEty” Sarantos shows off a bit of playfulness, resulting in a whole carefully crafted world. Done with the utmost of precision, Sarantos picks his words carefully. His flow has a nimbleness to it while he draws from pop culture in such great amounts, showing off his clever lyricism. Production has a raw,…
Now, with so much Nashville-recorded modern “country” music sounding like it’s been tracked in either New York or Los Angeles, it should no longer come as a surprise to hear authentic roots music with New York City roots. The Good Morning Nags are a country and bluegrass-inspired act from New York City, and the sounds…
In Beautiful New Day, Jupiter in Velvet delivers his most accessible recording to date after years of making a critical impact on the indie rock underground and influencing a number of artists around him. Jupiter in Velvet has been somewhat of an enigma to mainstream audiences since making his debut about half a decade ago, but…
Located on the portion where the Severn River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, there lies Annapolis, Maryland. Once known as “Providence,” Annapolis shares its great name because of being named in honor of the future queen of England, Princess Anne. Honing back to the earlier days of when the United States was just a colony,…
Ryan Zimmerman shares a last name with another famous singer/songwriter, Bob Zimmerman, although the latter is better known as Bob Dylan. This Zimmerman’s single, “Solitude Blues” is a sad, acoustic blues song. The track’s lyric speaks to a desire to find “the way back home.” Zimmerman sings it with the soulfulness of a bluegrass-folk singer.…
Sleek, stylish and full of life, Monsieur Job teams up with the like minds No Mercy and Vojke Djans to make the sweetest single of the summer in “Pica Pica,” an urban pop track that is almost guaranteed to get your hips shaking and your heart beating to its pulsating beat. There’s been such spirited…
Wangled Teb sculpts a serene, spellbinding world with the dreamy hues of “Earth (EP)”. Full of vigor and life, Wangled Teb merges ambience, experimentation, and IDM into a soothing whole. The tenderness of the tracks reveals a great ear for melody. Pieces play off each other resulting in an oftentimes psychedelic air to the work.…
Agent Octopus plays with a classic bit of surf rock on “Baby Octopus Walk”. The joyous energy of the piece becomes readily apparent quite quickly. Everything about the song feels acutely balanced and pitch perfect. Intense energy pours from the B Breakers’ wild “Whitecaps”. Rhythms roll like akin to a grand force of nature. The…
Del Suelo, a pseudonym for Erik Mehlsen, made major waves with his ambitious 2016 release I Am Free, a stunning musical mix imbued with considerable literary flair, but seems poised to reach a higher level of renown with its follow up The Musician’s Compass: A 12 Step Programme. This release is even more ambitious without ever lapsing…
Victoria Celestine is one spunky character who has plenty of heart to show on her latest single. Celestine is a singer/songwriter, recording artist, audio engineer and record producer presiding in Austin, Texas. Saddle up partners as Victoria gallops your way with her flavorful French/Texan roots. “Good Heart to Hide” is a featured track off of…
Boston based rock band Elsewhere have been making thought provoking music for a couple of decades now, and anyone who has heard their work knows that the band’s sound is one of a kind. Tinged with trippy, progressive-minded psychedelia and steeped in punk simplicity, Elsewhere have never been unclear about their creative mission; making music…
Have you ever been to Minnesota? Known for many great features including housing one of the most iconic known places ever built in the United States of America: Paisley Park—Home to the beloved angel, composer, musician, and soul, Prince, there is a lot to offer for the visual respective being wishing for something new to…
Deandre Wright’s neon-hued pop bliss of “9Lives, Vol. 1” goes for a soothing sort of celebratory world. Catchy grooves are scattered throughout the whole of the album while everything comes together in unexpected, dazzling ways. Her voice possesses a unique sensuality to it, while she incorporates a wide variety of approaches throughout the whole of…
Roseanna Vitro’s “Tell Me The Truth” serves as a bold, sophisticated statement, with a tasteful quality that feels transcendent. Her powerful voice rests at the heart of it all. Elements of jazz, the blues, rock, even funk, come into the fray. Production values sound flawless while she spins entire universes so leisurely. Quite graceful the…
Singer/songwriter Amilia K Spicer unleashes sheer vocal gold in her stunning new ballad “Harlan,” a brooding fusion of Americana, roots music and contemporary country music that has critics all over the country calling her one of the most exciting new voices to emerge from the indie underground. The music video for “Harlan” drops this weekend…
California native Corinne Cook is set to bring her music to the world in a bigger manner than ever before with the release of her latest album Yes I Can. The eight song collection, brief by modern standards, demonstrates an across the board command of music and songwriting fundamentals while casting its net across multiple…
After experimenting heavily with classical influences in their last two albums, Vinyl Floor is getting back to their roots in their brand new album Apogee, which sees the band stripping away all of the frills and focusing on the core sonic intensity that inspired them in the beginning. I’m a big believer that even when…
Have you ever been to Wisconsin? Known for many great features including the cheese capital of the world of the beloved Green Bay Packers, there is so much wonderful magic happening in this part of the United States of America. More importantly, there is something that is brewing, not of yeast or fermented grapes, but…
Jay Croft’s journey through the professional music world began in the 1990’s when he helped co-found Detroit’s indie power pop outfit Bedford Drive and played drums for them from 1998 through 2004 when he opted to leave the band and focus on other pursuits. He learned guitar during that tenure with an eye towards increasing…
This song captured my heart with a single listen. Further airings only solidified my view as I developed even more and more appreciation for the sure-handed way Spring City builds “Back on Our Streets” without ever lapsing into hamfisted theatrics. It is clear from the first that Spring City’s original songwriting and exceptional musicianship are…
The Owl Eyes first came to life in 2013 as a solo vehicle for multi-instrumentalist Ethan Teel and resulted in two EP releases preceding the band’s forthcoming full length debut entitled Hallelujah Hysteria. The Minnesota native sings, plays guitar, bass, drums, and serves as The Owl-Eyes main lyricist, but the first single from Hallelujah Hysteria,…
With a name like Cosmos Sunshine, I knew automatically that I was in store for something special that is far from derivative. That is exactly what I got when I listened to this new album titled ‘Comes With The Fall’. Perfect timing with the Autumn season right around the corner as Mr. Sunshine lights the…
Featuring a mixture of cutting country anthems and poetic pastoral ballads, Wave 21 deliver an absolute masterpiece with their new self-titled record, and critics like myself haven’t been shy about saying so. Over forty minutes or so, we’re treated to one epic track after another in immediate succession of each other, and if you’re not…
This artist is a real firecracker with sparks flying everywhere on her latest release titled ‘My Queen’. Diana Anaid and her new album are nothing shorty of musical royalty with an overall luxurious sound that dominates the entire record. Diana is no stranger to the music scene as she experienced some success in the late…
Have you ever traveled out West in the United States of America? There are so many states clustered together that are known for so much, quite impressively, A LOT! And that is stating a lot as Omaha, Nebraska is the showcase city-state where there are so many great things going on out there and it…
Last month I was first introduced to the man who calls himself Fabp aka Fabpz the Freelancer when I reviewed his album, ‘Underground Styling Breeze’, (https://skopemag.com/2018/07/25/fabp-aka-fabpz-the-freelancer-underground-styling-breeze). I found out that this rapper was a fan of old-school hip-hop and classic beatboxing as Fabp attempted to bring back the golden age of rap. Staying in the…
Notes tumble out of the stereo speaker like cascading teardrops on a clear piece of glass. The reverberation is so hollow, and the music is trying to fill up the empty spaces one ominous chord at a time. Kindergarten Prayers is surreal, but that’s something that anyone who knows Streaking in Tongues has come to expect in…
If you’ve been following pop music lately, then you’re more than likely familiar with what has become the biggest and surprisingly the most successful trend of the late 2010s; new wave electronica. No, I’m not talking about some fusion of 80’s synth heavy punk rock and the rave-inspired club music of the 90s. I’m talking…
It’s easy to warm up to Norm Brunet’s conversational singing style throughout It Don’t Get Much Better Than This. Although the Jimmy Buffett-ready “Good Times and Tan Lines” supports this album title, “Pour Me Another One” is a wonderful – but also sad – drinking song. When drinking away one’s sorrows, well, life can’t get…
If you’ve been following country music’s vibrant underground lately, then it’s quite possible that you’ve come into contact with the massive hype surrounding the release of Teddy Russell’s upcoming rookie LP Texas Soul, which has quickly become one of the most anticipated albums of 2018. I myself have never been much for buying into hype,…
Have you ever been to Arkansas before? If the answer to the question is a simple “No,” then some kind of way, it would be a true adventure to witness some amazing views in the Midwest portion of the United States. A state where the 42nd President of United States of America hails from, Arkansas…
Sarantos explores the ups and downs of relationships on the soulful “Your Empty Chair”. Going for a soothing, cyclical rhythm the song offers a meditation on the aftermath of a breakup. Loss comes up from the simplest things, all the way to the smallest details, of where they used to be. An indie rock approach…
There’s a familiarity to certain sounds and musical notes no matter when or in what context we hear them. That’s the craziest thing about audiological psychology; music literally has the power to influence and even transform your surroundings into an alternate state, much like a powerful psychiatric drug or hypnosis induced trance. Sometimes it is…
As soon as I hit Play, I knew right away I was in store for something wildly unique and out of this world and boy was I right! In the intro, I pick up on a “Twilight Zone”- like vibe that made me think where the hell am I and what dimension is this! This…
Anyone who has been following underground hip-hop lately is familiar with the crater that Willie J has been imprinting on indie music with his enigmatic, charmingly original flows and brilliant prose. Whether you’ve been listening since the beginning or are just getting into his sound today, “Sunshine with the Rain,” is an excellent demonstration of…
It’s a little tough to reconcile Randy Forte’s Americana sounds with his influences, which include a whole lot of progressive acts (including David Bowie, Talking Heads and Brian Eno). From the sound of Chas Randall, one might have expected to read a whole lot of country dudes at the top of his list. Furthermore, this…
