To say that April has been an exceptionally good month for indie musicians and their fans just might be too big an understatement to make. With new releases coming from across the underground spectrum, it can be difficult to keep up with the true cream of the crop – but among those I’ve personally reviewed lately, Lily Vakili Band definitely shines above the rest. Vakili’s new song, “Facial Recognition Technology,”…
“Fly With You” an experimental dance -pop track from Canadian poet/mind bender Lailien feat. vocalist Ruby Perl. Out now via his sophomore album, TA-DA!, “Fly With You” surpasses any expectations the listener might have for songs with the word ‘fly’ in its title. Lailien, the offbeat recording name of Toronto’s Brad Shubat, seals the gaps between pop/electro fusion and a bevy of remarkable tones and beats. Lyrically, “Fly With You”…
Tom Tikka and the Missing Hubcaps come out of their corner swinging on the three song EP Working Class Voodoo with the title song “Working Class Voodoo”. The rock leanings of this track are pushed in just the right way; it isn’t Tikka’s style to bulldoze listeners with a guitar blitzkrieg. Nuance is the word of the day here. Tikka and his band achieve a specific stylistic approach early on in this…
Making that quintessential rookie release stick with fans is definitely no easy feat, but for Canadian hard rock band Walker’s Cay, they’re making it look pretty simple this May. Taking the world by storm via their first two singles, “Tell Me” and “Why Oh Why,” Toronto’s Walker’s Cay do more than introduce us to their sound in these songs – they lob a piece of their artistic identity in our…
Jason Young wears many hats. He is bandleader of The Ruse, a project who opened for global powerhouse Muse on three separate world tours, but he has another long standing project called Heartour and its fifth release R U IN in may be his finest musical achievement yet. The Connecticut born singer, composer, and musician turned back to Heartour after placing The Ruse on hiatus and the resulting ten songs should solidify…
Few genres in the pop music lexicon have been as consistently popular as the blues have since its inception. No matter what seems to be going on in the world around us, there’s always a good blues song out there to suit the mood at the moment, and in Izzie’s Caravan’s Leo’s Guitar, there are four such songs ready and waiting for fans to appreciate. Leo’s Guitar is a barebones blues-rock record that…
At first, the driving beat in “Habibi” is skewed with a reticence that suggests bittersweet emotion finally coming to the surface in the midst of vicious exchange between lovers. It doesn’t take very long for this reticence to fall under the weight of the pulsating bassline in the foreground in this latest single from Ilyah, eventually resulting in one of the smoothest rhythmic ebbtides of the new decade to date.…
Innovative and instantly connecting with the listener, the 12 songs on the new album Eastside Sessions bridge the gap between jazz, rock and even Latin-flavored music. Proving once again that big sound gets big results, the veteran group, Project Grand Slam, have been doing this since 2007 and show no signs of stopping. New York City’s Project Grand Slam have thrilled audiences far and wide. While we’re at the disadvantage…
When we personalize our efforts to engage the world, the positive impact we create is powerful. Anyone can hold up a sign, march shoulder to shoulder with others in the name of a particular cause, or reel off a bevy of slogans and adages we believe illustrate solidarity with an issue. This observation does not denigrate such efforts. Being an informed member of our global community is laudable. Pouring our…
At times droning in the background like a stream that will meet no end, in others as well-defined by jazzy complexities as it is a violent muscularity, the grooves that power songs like “Fall in Love,” “Commonly Known” and “You Don’t Do Nature,” are as potent a force as any other you’ll find when listening to People Years’ debut album Animalism this April. A good beat is often the cornerstone of any…
