Hailing from one of America’s oldest communities, Williamsburg, Virginia, Mark Rogers’ sophomore release Qualifiers is a six song recording featuring Rogers’ best material yet. He works in a singer/songwriter vein but, unlike many practitioners of the form, I don’t hear Rogers relying on formula or a series of familiar tropes to prop up his songwriting. Instead, there’s a feeling of genuine intimacy, never forced, I get from Rogers’ music and…
There are few feelings that are as tumultuous and difficult to process as heartbreak. We are never sadder and at our most defenselessly defeated as we are when we’ve lost love, and knowing that we’re not alone out there can make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting through the storm of emotions we have to endure. Reaching out through the darkness with a bursting light…
Some of the best music, regardless of genre, is the music that we can dance to and get crazy with just as easily as we can enjoy it on its own without any external interference. The best artists though, are the ones who have the ability to bring all of the magic from the studio with them out on the road and atop any stage, no matter how big or…
Costa Rican-born pianist and composer Esteban Alvarez is back and better than ever in his new album Piano Meets Mariachi and its accompanying single “La Bikina,” both arriving just in time for the summer record season (and making quite a splash in doing so). Unsatisfied with turning out a predictable album that would merely placate the needs of his longtime fans and the critics alike, Alvarez pulls out all of…
In a dazzling explosion of colorful tones and mammoth, glowing melodies that seem to melt through the stereo speakers like some sort of magical elixir, Fitzsimon and Brogan’s new album Big Blue World is making some gigantic waves even before it hits stores this June, and it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has been following the European indie underground lately. There’s been a lot of energy gathering in the…
I’ve been down this road before – the Detroit music landscape. It’s crinkled edges dog-eared for rock’s dingy clubs. Or maybe it’s the Motown avenue, where vocal groups in perfect harmony have synchronized themselves walking down the street. Still yet, maybe Detroit is the hardened, rough streets where rappers use lyrics instead of fists. There’s always room for more, the ghosts of Detroit remind me. Always. Markus Drueryrapidfirepr.com/
Hi Lo Ha’s intriguing new offering Ain’t Gone Tonight opens in the gentle daze of its leading track “Cold Weather Clothes,” a slow churning journey through a sonic oasis delicately pieced together in an ethereal patchwork woven by its four equally talented players. Its essential harmony isn’t buried in feedback but instead presented to us in an extremely vulnerable clarity that creates a unique feeling of intimacy between the listener and Hi Lo…
“I’m so proud of my dogs, I don’t care if I’m not what you thought” Mike Ra announces in his single “Dogs,” out now courtesy of the masterminds behind DXB Studios. In a slowly unfolding chapter play of verses that swing and slide along the lines of Desiigner without the glaze of neo-G overproduction. I hear a lot of Future and early Young Thug when I listen to Mike Ra,…
Although I just recently became familiar with her work, I must say that singer/songwriter Cat Dail’s discography has been becoming a bit of a regular in my playlist lately. Her sixth studio album Fight For Love grabbed my attention immediately the first time that I gave it a spin as an indie pop/rock record easily in contention for album of the summer, and for good reason. Its excellent fusion of…
It’s not the easiest task in the world to balance soft lyrics with loud, unruly guitar driven music, regardless of the general manner in which an artist chooses to deliver their craft. Rock music, country, punk rock, heavy metal, whatever you want to call yourself; the tantalizing equilibrium of music that can move us emotionally as much as it can physically is one that every artist seeks out from the…
Disobey is the third album from the Seattle band The Refusers and solidifies their position as one of the more politically active rock bands in recent history. They’ve garnered considerable renown as a band opposed to vaccinations, distrustful of virtual any organized institution in American life, and clearly of the opinion that we are getting the collective shaft as a nation. They bring us into their world from the first…
In his first single “My One & Only Love,” ShaQ:Muzik gave us an incredibly intimate and wildly sonic love song that got R&B and electronica fans very intrigued with his unique blend of slick, stylish grooves. The track shimmered with what seemed like a million different colors colliding into one another like a reckless but loving embrace. It was a feast for our ears, and he made sure to keep…
Conor Gains has earned a well deserved reputation as a singer/songwriter on the rise thanks to his work with the Conor Gains Band, but his first solo release Compass is a ten song collection representing how his expanding ability for realizing his musical and lyrical vision has taken a quantum leap forward. The process of assembling Compass has been a lengthy one and Gains pared down nearly a hundred songs…
Forget the Super Bowl, if you can figure out a way to predict who is going to dominate Top 40 radio in the next decade, you’re going to be one incredibly rich individual. It’s true, there is perhaps no other facet of pop culture as totally and unreliably volatile as popular music. Society’s taste in music changes a lot faster than its taste in politicians or trite sitcoms, and when…
New York’s Greg Jacquin has released the full-length album, Hudson River. According to his biography, Jacquin traces his roots and inspiration to the Hudson Valley. He was born in Sleepy Hollow, New York, in 1970. Jacquin’s release is one of the more impressive Americana albums to come along in 2018 – his pulse putting to music feelings of being alone, depression and even people watching make Hudson River a two-thumbs…
If you thought the Pacific Northwest was the only place that grungy music could be cultivated, The Twindows are here to tell you to think again, with their debut album Valkyrie 2.0, out now on CD and digital download. Perhaps just as grimy as the I-5 corridor that links Seattle and Portland is the gritty industrial graveyard that is central Pennsylvania. Once the center of the western world’s steel industry,…
The Grand Brothers & Dee, both important presences on the modern pop scene growing in reputation and ambition with each new release, are teaming for a new project dubbed Patiently Awaiting the Meteorite. The first single “Electrified” from the collaboration’s forthcoming debut Canyon Diablo illustrates the production talents of the brothers while also illustrating the talents that have allowed Dee to land coveted spots like a Ford auto commercial during…
Almost Awake is an up and coming group which is lead by female vocalist Vick Liano. The energetic group hits the stage with a fresh sound which is influenced by Paramore, Nirvana, Joe Satriani, and Blink 82. The genre ranges from feel-good music to rock and roll with the hint of jazz percussion. Their music could be categorized as Alternative Rock / Punk / Rock. Almost Awake was formed in…
With summer coming up, it seems like the perfect time to find that next epic mix of road trip worthy music. This becomes a more significant challenge as families look for something that is not too dark, dripping with foul language or not lighthearted enough for a car sing-a-long. A British band that has finally leaped the Atlantic to share their spin on beach-worthy music may be just the answer.…
Cat Thompson’s inexorable rise into the heights of pop stardom makes another surge with the release of her latest single “Be Mine”. It’s a spectacular follow up to her previous single “All I Need” and positions the Australian born vocalist and songwriter for a 2018 run promising to bring her closer than ever towards achieving the global recognition and success she deserves and craves. Her multi-cultural frame of reference imbues…