In the last few years, rapper Tray Tray has done a good job of setting himself apart from the competition through a slick composing style more loyal to the traditions of hip-hop than it is to the passing fads of contemporary pop. His writing has gotten stronger with each LP he’s dropped, and now almost two years after his sophomore effort Born Legend II hit record store shelves, he offers up a…
With notes of hip-hop and a touch of ambient pop blended into the instrumental framework of the music, you know that Chesca is going to give us something really sexy in her song “Orange County Juice,” but if you think that’s where the seduction ends on her new album Feel the Breeze, you’re in for quite the surprise this summer. Feel the Breeze isn’t all flash ala “Orange County Juice” and the anthemic…
It’s generally thought that R&B is better off on the simpler side than it ever is an elaborate sonic construct, but RockLee is an artist who challenges this narrative with every song he releases. His new single, “It’s a Feeling,” neither tethers itself to the aesthetical foundations of melodic hip-hop nor shamelessly steals cues from the old school in R&B; it’s a delicate, instrumentally focused showcase of rhythm and harmony.…
There’s something to be said for a song’s ability to craft full words out of a certain level of ambiguity in its settings. Maybe I’ve been playing a little too much Cyberpunk 2077, but Aisles feels right at home in the dystopian genre. The opening guitar solo has the energy of a door being busted open, either by a swat team or by the collective that Aisles seemingly feels like…
Stunning us with its clandestine intricacies but saving a lot of its melodic warmth for a climactic chorus, the instrumental foundations of Wingman’s new single “Crash Land” are straight electronica more than they are hip-hop. Listen closely enough and you’ll start to feel the influence of atmospheric minimalism on this young man’s sound where it would seem such a lofty aesthetic would have no business in the first place, but…
With the last year firmly in the rearview, I think we’ve all gotten a little wistful thinking about the past. We all know from any age those sleepless nights where you ponder the past, what you could have done differently, or the pain you carry from it. Shine Eye Landing, the latest release from Billy Jeter really taps into these sentiments with an album that almost plays out like a…
See Your Shadow was inspired to name themselves so, due to the Birthday of frontman, Michael Coleman. He was born on Groundhog Day, so it seemed like a natural nod to the enduring Punxsutawney Phil. Originally formed in Ohio, See Your Shadow migrated to Phoenix and switched genres, in the process. Originally an Electronica band, Coleman embraced his inner cowboy, and turned the band, Country, to what so far seems…
Live at the Mattress Factory from act Little Wretches is one of the most complex and complicated listens I’ve had in a long time, and for those reasons, the album is all the better for it. It’s an album I don’t know if it’ll be for everyone. It’s almost deceptive in nature as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, covering topics from love, loss, lust, and anger, but all in deeply…
Reaching out to the audience from a distant perch shrouded in melancholic harmonies and impatient rhythms the same, CLOUDLAND don’t try to hide their discontent with the mainstream rock model in their first album Where We Meet. The record’s title track creeps forth in a haunting ascent towards a dramatic drop-off straight to the introspective, riff-oriented mayhem I’ve been missing in alternative rock these last few years, but it isn’t the…
If you’re someone with a novice level of experiencing electronic music, Elektragaaz and its new EP The Synaesthetic Picture Show Now Playing, Pt 2 is a perfect jumping-on point to see what the genre truly has to offer. Less the aggressive sounds of say Skrillex and more akin to the sounds of IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), it’s a style that’s made more for home listening than it is as a…
