Hip-hop’s dark side is often its most surreal, and Uncommon Nasa isn’t content to leave this end of the genre unexplored in his new single “Brooklyn Soup” and the song’s accompanying music video. Rather than giving us his linguistic prowess exclusively, Uncommon Nasa stacks postmodern layers atop his verses that seem to circle us like a shark zeroing in on its prey. There’s a feeling of danger that follows us…
There are many ways to experiment with minimalism, but Sp8ce Owl might have just found my favorite method in the new single “Dancing in an Empty Room,” which is currently out and gaining some serious steam in indie circles this December. Comprised of a lo-fi melody and a rather curious arrangement of beats, “Dancing in an Empty Room” is everything its title would suggest it is – dark, isolated, and…
Big swinging drums and the chime of sleighbells await those who take a peek at the new music video for Ingrid Michaelson’s “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,” and between the rambunctious rhythm and the gilded harmony Michaelson stirs up with Zooey Deschanel, this is a song almost certain to get you in the Christmas spirit. There’s been a lot of talk about minimalism in American pop music recently, but this…
Sometimes, and this is especially true of Christmas music, simple is the only way to go. We don’t need a lot of symphonic lusters to appreciate the melody of “Silent Night,” nor do a slew of electric guitar solos induce chills any greater than the simple piano keys of a humble “Jingle Bells,” and I think this is something on the minds of The Tano Jones Revelry when they recently…
Laura Davies is looking to spill blood all over the dancefloor this autumn. There’s no insularity in her vocal, no hesitance in her steps; in the new single “Do You Feel?” and its epically dark music video, we’re invited into a world of grim melodicism and electropop-influenced grooving unlike the contemporary holiday harmonies you’re probably already sick of hearing this month, and as much as the aesthetics come in contrast…
“ As far as beats go, there’s never been a Harper Starling song that didn’t feature something worthwhile. In fact, for as gifted a singer as she is I actually think that Starling’s artistry is more reliant on percussive prowess in making a statement than it is her crooning abilities. It’s undeniable that her voice is the cherry in “Cannot Tell a Lie,” but between the enormous grooves in the…
It’s hard to make the Christmas theme work without the burden of campy fluff that normally accompanies most every holiday harmony this time of year, but while she’s under the radar for a lot of mainstream audiences, Nubia Rose is doing an amazing job of showing us how to make Christmas music right in her new single “I Want Nothing for Christmas.” Through a simplistic relationship between vocals and rhythm,…
High contrast and low-fidelity, Andrew Reed & the Liberation’s music video for “Twisted World” is both visually enrapturing and sonically demanding of our attention, pushing the line between modern and old school post-punk conceptualism more than enough to be considered an instant classic. Reed slams us with layer upon layer of melodic noise, but at the heart of his performance exists a harmony as gilded as something out of The…
“But I want you to know / I’ll always be here / I’ve got nowhere to go / I’m just trying to be clear,” pleads Barry Muir in the ascent towards the climax of his new single “Weathered the Storm.” His words don’t have the desperation that might have with a different singer conveying them to the audience; he’s a man on a mission in this performance, and that mission…
Comprised of elements both synthetic and startlingly organic in nature, the clandestinely romantic “Earth and Air” immediately feels like an energized take on a classic Echo & the Bunnymen sound, but with a twist – it’s steeped in too much modernity to be a true throwback. Such is the case with the other dozen songs included in BD Gottfried’s new album Onion Doves, but this lead single perhaps encapsulates the motif…
Sometimes, in order to create fluidity in an exceptionally conceptual piece of music, you’ve got to utilize contrast a little more than the status quo calls for, and I think this is definitely true in the new extended play Equinox by Aquarius. Although it sports many of the same attributes a conventional rock record would – vocals, guitar, a sense of machismo coupled with a delicate songwriting pedigree – Equinox is an indie rock…
Minimalist ala “Care” and calculated in “Jump” and the clean-cut of “Cool,” there’s something rather efficient and cunning about the construction of most tracks in the new self-titled album from Whoop this season, which is quickly becoming one of my go-to alternative rock listens of the late year. URL: https://www.whooptheband.com/ Without sacrificing any of the melodic wit and detail that separates their sound from that of the masses in 2021,…
Big, loud, aggressive, and slightly industrious; Tarot Cat’s “Am I Dreaming” isn’t pulling any punches with the audience, and if you’re not careful, its oversized beats are almost certain to pummel you this autumn. Instead of hammering out a retro-punk anthem like a lot of their contemporaries have been, Tarot Cat is going a little more avant-garde with their style in this performance and making it more than clear where…
Dave Boone’s Alberta and the Dead Eyes has likely settled on its peak lineup. The original three piece of Boone, drummer Erik Washington, and bass player Bhuti Bhuti drafted Ashlan Ounanian into the band and the results are transformative. Ounanian’s lap steel and additional percussion extends the Dead Eyes’ musical reach without ever spinning the unit off into unfamiliar terrain. The resulting new album You Said Something features the band in fully-realized…
Husband and wife duo, Makar, have another cooler-than-you-think gem with their new Halloween-inspired hit, “Zombies Have Rights Too”. Or is it inspired by the undead? Perhaps a nefarious monster is behind the song, or maybe it’s presented as a nod to the folks that just don’t get the same attention or love as they deserve. The tight sound, the airy melodies and the quirky beat is what makes Makar oh-so-good. Makar,…
What Pretty Embers may lack in lyrical dimension they make it up for in musical diversity. The songs written for their debut collection Under stand out thanks to a consistent voice sustaining them over the course of ten tracks. There are some key variations along the way, but the bulk of the band’s songs finds its narrators mired in several degrees of self-loathing. Lead singer Kameron Mitchell does, to his credit, perform…
Instruments are a direct reflection of their players. The miles they travel, the stories they tell, the emotions they come to embody through the songs a musician would compose; in an instrument as incredibly identifiable and culturally significant as the electric guitar, it can be said that there’s little separation between the identity of the strings and that of the artist who strung them. For photographer Lisa Johnson, capturing the…
It is a painful truism of art, in all its forms, that pain often provokes us to create. We won’t discuss the many reasons why. The relevant reason when discussing Abbreviations’ new album ABBV is Ashley Leer’s need to process the news that her dad, save some sort of miracle, would die soon. The predictable response may be to write about an album about her relationship with her father, but Leer isn’t…
Understated but never under experienced, Jon Patrick Walker makes it easy to revel in his songwriting majesty in the new album, The Rented Tuxedo and Other Songs. His rousing mix of Americana-roots is crisp, with seductive harmonies and guitar (steel, sitar and more) crinkled into the arrangements. Discovering that each song is a chapter unto its own, Walker pulls the story together with a mesmerizing voice. He’s the string that pulls it…
Guitar god and bandleader Carlos Santana’s daughter Cecy Santana isn’t making waves because of her famous father. The assortment of remixes for her recent single “You Make Me Say” demonstrates that this prodigiously talented young singer is performing material elastic and durable enough for eight other musical artists to remix without ever losing the original track’s core virtues. This is no small achievement. Such tracks are often a glorified marketing…