1. When did you first know you wanted to become a musical artist? What was the first song you ever wrote? I believe I was around 10 years old. And the first song i wrote is, “You’re All I Want.” 2. Who are some of your top 5 musical influences? I would say Rick James, Sam Cooke, Michael Jackson, the other two can be interchangeable. 3. What’s in your IPOD…
Self-discovery can often include a lot of conversing with deities and an internal quest for understanding, and when the subject is broached so vividly in the song “Bazar” from Mary Broadcast’s Panic, we’re reminded just how personal the journey to holding a complete psyche is. While she’s pushing the boundaries of what separates the diary entries from lyrics in a pop track here, it’s par for the course in Panic; whether it’s…
Despite what some critics might try to sell you nowadays, there just aren’t many rappers who can make the crossover into singing melodically with any real level of success. It’s more than a skill – this is as raw a talent as it gets, and those looking to cultivate this kind of duality would be smart to take a peek at what Dici is doing with his new single “u…
Zuniga possesses a uniquely qualified affinity for world-building. Needless to say, part of the fun of The Elder Scrolls – Zaneta’s Chronicles: Part One: Vvardenfell isn’t just its strong and potent story, but the way it completely envelopes you three hundred-and-sixty degrees within its environments. In this regard, Zuniga’s smarts also pertain to contemporary references, including politics and a mysterious epidemic that is on the brink of overwhelming various societies.…
Despite being a one-man operation, Versal manages to produce a litany of colorful tones and textures in the new album Versal Volume 2 that sound like a symphony more than they do simple electronic melodies woven together by a steady hand. Where a lot of other electronica efforts have been leaning on the avant-garde in both the mainstream and the underground in the past few years, Versal’s latest release sees him flirting…
The breathtaking gaze of the piano is rivaled only by the perfectly timed tempos in the new album Singing the Nocturnes from Chopin impressionist Elizabeth Sombart, but this isn’t to say the record is lacking structural substance. Contrarily, I think that Singing the Nocturnes may well be one of the best homages to this classic composer I’ve listened to in the past year, which is no small statement to make by any means. INSTAGRAM:…
Rap is no longer on the alternative end of the spectrum – truth be told, it’s the definition of mainstream in 2021. Even with this being the case, there’s still a lot of artistic credibility to be found in the underground pulse hip-hop has always prided itself on; take for instance the emerging talent of one Vikki Sota, whose new EP Genesis is making noise before sharing a single note…
When he’s crooning in songs like the title cut of his new album Philadelphia, singer/songwriter Eric Colville isn’t cutting lyrics that sound like they’re coming from someone else’s heart. He doesn’t want to tell the stories of the past, and his romanticism for the folk/rock genre ends at the line between influence and impersonation, and considering the depth of originality there is to behold in Philadelphia, it’s a wonder why…
Alexi Dotsenko, Brad Metz, and Jack Ringca have worked at DigDog for a long time but their newest release Homeless Theatre is a different sort of album for the trio. They are attempting to reinvent their sound and approach for longtime listeners and newcomers alike; both camps are on equal footing when dealing with this nine song studio album. It veers wildly in terms of subject matter between moments of hyper realism…
With a screeching howl that verges on retro in tone a couple of times, the blazing fretwork Winchester Revival intends on dishing out in their new single “Reborn, Reformed, Revived” is nothing short of a magnetizing treasure for this track. Although it’s true that all good rock n’ roll relies on a certain level of melodic charisma sourced directly from the guitar and the guitar alone, there’s something to be…
There’s a heck of a big difference between the emo of the mid-2000s and the emo of present day, and from my perspective, the new wave has a lot more going for it than the previous gen of pop-punkers did. Case in point, the brilliant new single “Used Me (all along)” from Darro – though slamming us with the same poetic reach that we heard some fifteen years ago from…
There’s so much division in America right now that it’s easy to forget that we’re one nation rather than a collection of countries trying to fit inside of one cultural narrative, and I have a feeling this was what the aptly-named Staunch Moderates were thinking about when they made the new single/video combo “Bill Maher.” While the music video for this track is definitely one of the most eccentric and…
Heavy rock is nothing without big guitars crashing into each other, and when Sin for Saints were constructing their new single “Death Eater,” they weren’t looking to produce something cheap and flimsy. The only thing stronger than the emotional ache of the lyrics in this track is the attack of the fretwork, especially as it bears down on the chorus and leaves our vocalist almost no room to scream his…
A lot of outsider influence has been penetrating a typically insular American country music underground in the past couple of years, but that isn’t stopping the likes of Mr. Jim Waneka from giving up an old guard melody like no one else can this December in the form of his new single/video combo “Two Angels.” Where everyone else is trying to experiment with the parameters of the traditional country music…
Gospel/soul hybrids are having a pretty good season, and as we inch closer to Christmas, Damon Little presents us with a thoughtful, deeply personal performance in “Stand Up” that brings awareness and worship themes to a time of year increasingly commercialized by the powers that be. Little’s sexy voice develops a harmony as sweet as the summer sunshine right out of the gate, but it isn’t until we’re in the…
Synthetic melodies are never good enough to devalue honest musicianship, but if they were, they’d be the sort you’ll hear in the new single from Denzell Terrell this December, “Keys to ya Heart.” Terrell could have released this single just on the strength of its instrumental charms, its beat, or even the potential it holds for club remixes if directed by a like-minded player, but he didn’t stop at simple…
Rebelling against the popular trend doesn’t get you very far in the music business, and while there’s value in going your own way, I think it’s important to stick with a model people can – for the most part – relate to, especially in aesthetically progressive genres like hip-hop. Beeware knows this, and in his new single “It Is,” he makes it clear to his fans that his main priority…
Blue-collar indie rock isn’t extinct, it’s just gone deeper underground with the advent of electropop’s new wave. There’s still a lot of blood and sweat in this coveted corner of the alternative rock universe, and bands like Summer Rain are proving that right now like no one else can. Summer Rain is a part of a generation of bands that can balance muscularity and melodicism like nobody’s business, and in…
Indie rock is led by the brazen ones; the players who aren’t willing to stand down from a challenge or blend in with the crowd, and from the looks of her new single “Sweet Like Candy,” Cat Ridgeway is definitely one of these players. “Sweet Like Candy” plays with a swinging groove that hits hard but recoils just as quickly, and while its beats are what initially attracted me to…
Rather than giving us everything she’s got right out of the gate, Ginny Luke is building up as much tension as possible with nothing more than her voice in the new single “Seductive Cinderella.” While there’s a definite pop/metal influence over the aesthetics in this track, I think the instrumental virtuosity is toned down specifically as a means of spotlighting the ability she has with the microphone in her hands.…