On Bottle It Up, Legion of Saints is able to create an intense instrumentation that immediately draws listeners in. With nuanced vocals providing considerable depth to this single, the act is able to make a bold step forward. With nods to Bloc Party and Maroon 5, Legion of Saints makes something that could just as easily work on rock radio rotation as well as the most jaded technical music fans.…
On Wires, Alejandra O’Leary is able to call back to the mid-1990s alternative sound of The Breeders and early Flaming Lips to make something interesting and eminently radio rotation-friendly. O’Leary’s vocals are able to simultaneously further the narrative of the track while working well with the guitars and drums. With just a hint of fuzz uniting these elements, Wires is able to keep listeners on the edges of their seats…
Mainstream Country music has gotten some bad press over the past few years because… well, it’s bad, sometimes dreadful. For the most part, it relies on clichés and unimaginative recycled themes and lyrics that appeal to the broadest, most unimaginative audiences out there. But then there’s those musicians that live in the shadows of Mainstream Country music – the authentic Americana bands, the Bluegrass groups that don’t give a shit…
URL: http://jeffreyhalford.com/ Americana gets a much-needed makeover in the all-new effort from Jeffrey Halford & the Healers, West Towards South. Recorded in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California, West Towards South features a bittersweet Californian catharsis that blankets the Heartland harmonies and balladic blues elegies and lends a supple surrealism to tracks like “The Ballad of Ambrose and Cyrus,” “A Town Called Slow,” “Sea of Cortez” and “Three-Quarter Moon.” Textures within the string…
Given today’s current sensitivities around, well, just about everything, it’s hard to image even a third of the movies profiled in Mike McPadden’s fantastically entertaining encyclopedia of teen comedies, Teen Movie Hell, ever being made. But for those who grew up in the ‘80s trying to catch a glimpse of nudity via scrambled cable movies on channels you didn’t subscribe to, or their slightly more watered down cinematic siblings on…
URL: https://drakejensen.ca/ I kind of knew what I might be getting into before I heard Drake Jensen’s “Talk Me Down” for the first time. The title conjured images of a man standing on a ledge contemplating plunging to his certain death and, sure enough, the chorus builds around that image. The joy of this song, for me, is hearing how Jensen gets there and the emphatic emotional power he packs…
Scissor Sisters eponymous debut created quite a stir when it was unleashed on the world in 2004. It was an odd time for music, with Green going full rock opera on American Idiot, Avril Lavigne doing her best suburban bubble gum punk rock impression and a pre-douchebag Kanye West all competing for the attention of music buyers across the globe. Meanwhile, the New York-based pop/rock/dance Scissor Sisters came out of…
YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3tv2Y9iPCU-FgOmRWRUaw Toronto’s iridescent indie rock syndicate Across the Board drop the high-powered anthology of sonic super-strength that we’ve all been waiting for in their all-new album Wild Ones, and after having the opportunity to review the LP ahead of its highly-anticipated release, I can confirm that it’s everything that critics like myself had hoped it would be. We start off with a haunting prologue in track one that can’t…
URL: http://www.thisislittlebird.com/ When you mix cerebral post-rock that knows no boundaries when it comes to dishing out a mountainous melody with lush R&B harmonics and an ambient groove pattern taken straight out of a science fiction novel, you get Little Bird’s “gHost,” in all of its magical musical glory. Little Bird aren’t a household name, but they have been churning out some really urbane, psychedelic-tinged R&B over the past few…
Bluesy riffs start a fire that singer Ziarra Washington will cool with her sensuous serenade in the stylish hybrid “Redemption Road.” A sly groove will wash away the slightest notion of anxiety as we strut to the beat of “Python.” Washington and saxophonist Mario Castro harmonize in the heavenly melodic tapestry that comprises “The ‘In’ Crowd”,” and in all three of these tracks and the ten that accompany them on…
There’s certainly no big hole out there in the record collections of Rolling Stones fans when it comes to greatest hits albums. But if there’s any group in history of rock that would deserve yet another package of best of songs, it’s The Stones Honk collects a slew of hits (36 to be precise) that span the band’s 1971 classic Sticky Fingers up to their latest studio album 2016’s Blue & Lonesome.…
Christina Reeves and Dimitrios Spanos, co-authors of The Mind is the Map: Awareness is the Compass and Emotional is the Key to Living Mindfully from the Heart, bring a personal touch and considerable intellectual firepower to the aforementioned work. It is a condensed and focused book, clocking in at less than three hundred pages, and their tight aim on promoting a system oriented approach to realizing human potential likely means the…
Making R&B that stands out in the crowded and competitive market that the genre’s biggest scenes have been enjoying the last decade is no easy task no matter how talented the artist, but in Victor Pedro’s “Call Me, I Miss Ya!,” the Nigerian singer/songwriter makes it look incredibly simple. Following collaborations with some of the biggest stars in the South African circuit, Pedro has truly come into his own as…
Millennials can be a tough crowd to please, but Kingdom of Birds are finding a nice niche in their latest record Glitz that appeals to their generation in a uniquely surreal way. Kingdom of Birds are a band of musicians whose ages range from eleven to sixteen, but were you to miss the video for Glitz’ leadoff single “Goodbye” (in which they star), you might be disinclined to realize how young they really are.…
The blast of bass and guitar brutality that comes roaring out of the amplifiers in The Boyzz’ “Too Wild To Tame.” The rollicking riffage of “Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive)” from Iron City Houserockers at the peak of their creative prowess. Meat Loaf’s theatrical crooning in “Paradise By the Dashboard Light.” Ronnie Spector’s lush lyricism in “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.” The only place that you’re going to find…
On So Emotional, Brandon James is able to link together a tremendously charismatic set of vocals with taut instrumentation. The song brings in hints of soul, funk, and 1970s R&B with James impressing his own unique vocals into every note. The dynamic between Brandon’s vocals and the horn is the focal point of the single’s second minute before a more contemplative sound begins to dominate. We’re absolutely in love with…
This is, unfortunately, a timeless book. I say unfortunately because there shouldn’t be a need for Joan Kuhl’s Dig Your Heels In: Navigate Corporate BS and Build the Company You Deserve in these presumably enlightened times. You would think that our modern age and society would have long since put out to pasture the workplace/professional inequality that has bedeviled women since time immemorial, but you would be wrong to believe so. Kuhl’s…
With their latest release, Rattlesnake, Canadian six-piece The Strumbellas have pivoted a bit away from their original neo-folk/alt country sound for a more pop sheen. And while this may cause some early adopters to walk away, it’s hard to ignore the charm and appeal of many of the tracks here. The album opener and lead single, “Salvation” is probably one of the band’s catchiest, most optimistic songs yet and a…
I Meant To Tell You I Loved You is completely engrossing in the sheer vocal range that CoCo lays out here. There is a cogent story that is weaved through this composition that is highlighted through a very laid-back, Prince-infused synth. The vocal and instrumental elements during the track push each to a higher level than if they were alone; by the end of the time I Meant To Tell…
Vaya Con Dios provides a heck of an introduction to SynthetikReal. The track soars on its engaging arrangements as well as a hopeful, Latin-inspired flair that calls forward comparison to Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin. With nods to both the traditional and modern pop genres, SynthetikReal is able to create a crossover hit that feels equally at home no matter whether on the pop, dance, or Latin charts. A robust…