At once spellbinding in its decadent layering of string play and elegant keys yet wholly menacing in its underlying tone, it doesn’t take very long for “City Friends,” one of the eleven songs comprising the new album from Luis Mojica, How a Stranger Is Made, to enrapture most anyone who comes within earshot of its mightily evocative harmonies. As you’ll discover on your own when browsing through the tracklist of How a…
“Somewhere There’s a Song Still Singing” reminds us in 2020 that traditional folk music still holds the power to leave listeners spellbound. It helps that Diane Patterson never treats the form too reverentially, like a butterfly trapped under glass, but instead injects her compositional skills with a level of melodic excellence certain to connect with both casual music fans and folk devotees. She has built a wide ranging discography over…
Opening in a haze of new wave-reminiscent bass and drum surrealism, “The Great Game” doesn’t waste a second in wrapping its haunting hook around us beyond the point of escape, and not dissimilar to the other three songs it shares a tracklist with in the new record Bridey Murphy from Tonne, its flirtatiousness with alternative rock song structuring isn’t limited to cosmetic frills alone. In Bridey Murphy, noisy melodies and punkish lyrical themes…
Indie reggae artist Jonathan Emile has been quietly building up quite the solid reputation in the last few years, cutting a handful of sleeper hits in the mid-2010s that included a collaboration with arguably the most important rapper of the last decade in Kendrick Lamar (2015’s “Heaven Help Dem”), and now in 2020, he’s back with some of his best content to see widespread release so far in Spaces-in-Between. Made-up of…
In their fourth studio album, titled Kingdom Illusion, Oakland psychedelic rockers Whiskerman offer up what is arguably their most progressive and involved effort yet while staying true to the aesthetical foundations that gave them their start, and while its eight songs – which collectively run about 44 minutes in total – don’t necessarily break the mold when it comes to modern psych concepts, they’re easily some of the most captivating indie…
To say that it isn’t easy to make an original country album that resonates with generations young and old in 2020 would be too great an understatement for any self-respecting music critic to make, but in the case of Carlos Washington’s Steel Horse Swing and their new album Little Bit of Texas, the process looks and sounds all too simple. It’s debatable whether or not we’ve ever seen an era quite…
With a rollicking groove and a bouncy acoustic guitar harmony to lead the way, White Owl Red’s “Out of the Waters” comes swinging out of the shadows hard and clears a path for the trademark vocal of one Josef McManus in this cut off of his latest LP, Afterglow. In Afterglow, McManus’ White Owl Red project is sounding as warm and embracive as ever, and arguably putting down some of their most…
Though it’s understated in some moments and beastly in others, there’s scarcely a juncture in the tracklist of Kodacrome’s The Banff Sessions where the piano play of one Elissa LeCoque isn’t the very heart and soul of every sonic hurricane the record has to offer us. In the haunting “Tender Exit,” it gets a run for its money courtesy of the ebb and flow of a string section that nearly washes away…
Theo Czuk is, arguably, a singer/songwriter and musician first. He has seven music releases and counting, including a complimentary musical take on this novel; some are out of print, but sheer numbers alone make it apparent music is his primary vehicle for self-expression. He has two poetry collections in his résumé, Channeling Venice: Apparitions of Light and Pariscapes: Conversations with Paris, and a debut novel entitled Heart-Scarred. His latest novel The Black Bottom: The Measure…
Patricia Lazzara’s flute duels with Kristin Johnson Dabaghian’s piano in “Woodland Sonatine.” It harmonizes with the alto melodies distributed by Steve Markoff in “Reflections of Radiance.” Lazzara finds the perfect vocal partner for “Ave Maria” and “Oblivion” in soprano Jessica Davila, while in “Serenata,” not even the most vibrant of instrumental backdrops could distract us from her exquisite play in the center of the mix. Contrasting in tone and yet…
What is it about three-piece bands hold our attention? How do they slam all that sound into their music? In the grand tradition of Cream, Green Day, Motorhead, Nirvana, The Police and ZZ Top – to name a few – Dallas, Texas, has unleashed another wall-of-sound trio in the band, Clifffs. Out now via State Fair Records is the brutally tight Panic Attack. Panic Attack has 13 tracks, starting with…
Eclectic elements are practically everywhere you look and listen in modern pop music, and Mike Donello & the New Essentials are a perfect example. Donello and his band blend together influences from R&B, indie rock and classic pop in their eponymous debut EP, and though their first record only clocks in at about 19 minutes in total length, it doesn’t come off as limiting nor a scattered effort from a…
Imagine growing up on the other side of the world and discovering Michael Jackson or Tina Tuner? Imagine using the CDS from your parents music collection to learn English? Merlin, who grew up in Albania and Germany, moved to Boston when she was seven. Her passion for music and instant rapport with her listener is transported in the exciting debut single, “Love”. While her EP is anticipated later in 2020,…
You have to applaud any musician and songwriting who, in 2020, can stake out individual territory in the increasingly recycled world of pop music. Gabriele Saro accomplishes just that. His single “Skippin’” reflects his grounding in classical music while exhibiting the skills necessary for writing and performing memorable pop songs. He brings these seemingly ill-fitting elements together without the single ever coming off as disjointed or half baked. Instead, it…
Echoing into the ethers for what feels like an eternity, the opening chords of the aptly-titled “Notational Witchery” might not seem like the most elaborate of any you’ll hear on the new record from Darren Michael Boyd, the instrumental Lifting the Curse,” but they turn out one of the more captivating melodies on this incredible LP just the same. In Lifting the Curse, Boyd pushes the limits of rock n’ roll guitar…
Welcome! I would love to talk about all things songwriting! But first – I would love to hear from each of you something that most people would be surprised to learn about you. Marie B, vocals: Hello! Okay, most people would be surprised to learn about me that my first field of study is printing and publishing. I grew up working the family business, collating books and craft patterns, and…
With a scooped EQ and overdrive as heavy as a pile of cinderblocks, Terry Ohms lays into the opening riff of “King of The Mountain,” the first sounds we’ll hear in his new album Cold Cold Shoulder, and while this deluge of distortion and evocative noise is about as stirring a first few bars as any indie rock fan could ask to hear in a new record this February, they’re only…
Health care is one of the forever burning issues in our modern American life and, despite the efforts of many intelligent and talented men and women, the strides that have been made are often under assault and many are still pining away for effective care. Meghan FitzGerald has been on the front lines of that battle in her service as a nurse, but she continues to fight for a better…
If you are looking for a book about life that’s different from the usual account and non-fiction, I think you can scarcely do better than Rebekah Bastian’s Blaze Your Own Trail: An Interactive Guide to Navigating Life with Confidence, Solidarity, and Compassion. I think the word solidarity in the title is unquestionably important. She tailors this book to speak to women’s experience in modern life, particularly American life, though the book reaches…
In a gust of a verse that will set the tone for all of the kaleidoscopic harmonies soon to follow, Chris Mardini begins our journey into his heart amidst the opening bars of “Sleepless,” his third single currently out everywhere that quality independent pop is sold and streamed. There’s a bit of melancholy in his voice, but it’s nowhere near as strong as the optimism that drives the words cascading…