Category: Features

Posted on: November 6, 2018 Posted by: Markus Druery Comments: 0

The Appalachian Road Show (Barry Abernathy and Darrell Webb)

Barry Abernathy and Darrell Webb present Appalachian Road Show, the first joint musical effort between Abernathy, Webb and guest star Jim VanCleve on fiddle, is a multidimensional foray into the realm of bluegrass and its southern relatives constructed out of the trio’s love of the Appalachian landscape, and it doesn’t waste any time dispensing the rich melodies that the region is synonymous with. Abernathy commands our heart-strings with his lightning-fast…

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Posted on: November 5, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Eye Bender – ‘Tomorrow’

Eye Bender’s Tomorrow is an effort that looks back to the days of Vixen and Heart. With a tremendously engrossing set of vocals kicking things off, this cut ensures that listeners will be on the edges of their seat as it continues to gain momentum. Tomorrow kicks into a rocking track that is able to impart considerable emotion in each note sang. The instrumentation is used sparingly with guitars and…

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Posted on: November 5, 2018 Posted by: Matthew Keener Comments: 1

The Cold Stares release Mountain LP

If we were to define The Cold Stares’ new album Mountain purely by its lush lyrical content, to describe it as anything other than a cryptic dreamscape that presses all of the psych-tinged bluesy cues hinted at in Head Bent into full blown experimentalism simply wouldn’t be accurate. Mountain is a gorgeous realization of singer and guitarist Chris Tapp and drummer Brian Mullins’ original audiological blueprint in high definition sound, still fitted with a razor sharp…

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Posted on: November 4, 2018 Posted by: Markus Druery Comments: 0

Patiently Awaiting the Meteorite – Strange Intuition

The second single from Patiently Awaiting the Meteorite’s album Canyon Diablo, “Strange Intuition”, accelerates the momentum the collaboration between producers/writers The Grand Brothers and singer/songwriter Dee generated with the album’s first single “Electrified”. The band cites a variety of influences for their material, but the latest single demonstrates no clear pedigree while still working well within the realm of electro-influenced rock. The hard-hitting, yet immensely stylish, approach to this single moves…

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Posted on: November 4, 2018 Posted by: Markus Druery Comments: 0

Kazyak release Reflection (LP)

Kazyak’s Reflection is the sort of album I think you’ll be able to keep returning for years to come and never fully exhaust its appeal. The band complied eight demos, b-sides, and outtakes to form this album, but this unlikely method for structuring anything more than a hodgepodge collection lacking rhyme or reason pays off, instead, for Kazyak in a big way. Patterns and connections aren’t always apparent in an artist’s work…

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Posted on: November 3, 2018 Posted by: Mike Robinson Comments: 0

Emma Decorsey releases solo EP

Laced with distortion and a pristine spring reverb, the searing riff that opens “Gold,” the first track of Emma DeCorsey’s new extended play The Dream, pushes and shoves its way into focus with an unforgiving brutality that is only curtailed by DeCorsey’s smoky, melodic vocal. The stomping beat guides us along as we get lost in the angst-ridden delivery of the lyrics, which overpowers the content of the verse but significantly…

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Posted on: October 31, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

VIKINGO! – Set It on Fire EP

We reviewed the lead single from VIKINGO!’s new EP, Set It on Fire, a few months back. We were quite happy to learn that the rest of the EP continues with the same care in arrangements and fire present in each lick and drum beat that is inserted within this release.

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Posted on: October 31, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Simon XO – Covering

What Are You Running Away From is the first track on Simon XO’s Covering, and showcases a confident performer that has a stellar production uniting a bevy of different instruments, influences, and sounds. Simon XO has the same hopeful sound of early Oasis or Steven Curtis Chapman. Waiting For Me To Break begins with booming drums and a distinctive sound that will immediately draw listeners into the release. It’s a…

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Posted on: October 31, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Payson Lewis – Take Me Apart EP Review

When Love Was Young is the first track on Payson Lewis’ new extended play, Take Me Apart. The bouncy beginning of this release is reminiscent of works by performers like 5 Seconds of Summer and the Jonas Brothers. Lewis puts his own tack on this genre.

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Posted on: October 31, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

The West Coast Feed – Self-Titled

You Know You Want It is a slinky rock track that succeeds due to tremendously charismatic vocals and a rich, thick bass line that allows the act to link together funk, pop rock and soul in a fashion that will immediately draw the attention fortunate enough to listen in. Sky Pines has all of the trappings of late-nineties alternative rock. Hints of Edwin McCain, The Goo Goo Dolls and Dave…

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Posted on: October 28, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

mk5 Isolator Earphones

The mk5 Isolator Earphones ($69.99) by Etymotic Research are a solid purchase for anyone that wants to dip their toe into audiophile gear without breaking the bank. These earbuds are designed in a way to firmly fit in one’s ears, decreasing the tendency for the buds to fall out the second that they are jostled or when the wearer decides to start any sort of fitness-based activity. For those that are concerned…

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Posted on: October 28, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

MaWayy “Blame”

MaWayy’s “Blame” is a high-energy EDM track that will get listeners out onto the dance floor this autumn. Different tempos and approaches are utilized by MaWayy here, where a more soulful male set of vocals gradually give way to emphatic claps and a rapid increase in the tempo. By the time one gets to the chorus of Blame, the effort has transformed into a dubstep-laced effort that tweaks things into…

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Posted on: October 28, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 1

HEЯITAGE “Speak Life”

On “Speak Life”, HEЯITAGE creates a style that effortlessly links together pop-rock, EDM, and alternative in a fashion that makes things sparkles. A slinky instrumentation and bright focus combine to make something alluring and musically proficient. The guitar line at the 1:45 mark builds off of Californication-era Red Hot Chili Peppers, while the presence of a sizzling saxophone adds further variation and oomph to Speak Life. While dripping with late…

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Posted on: October 27, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Jim Clements releases LP

Jim Clements’ latest work of art A Failure might have the most deceptive title in the world, but it starts off in more honest, plain speaking tones than any other album I’ve spun in the folk genre in at least ten years’ time. “Saul’s Blood (A Dream)” acts as our foray into the monumentally euphoric eight track swan song by instantly capturing the full extent of our focus with a staggering guitar…

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Posted on: October 27, 2018 Posted by: Sargeant Comments: 0

Mikey See “Love My Body” single

Of every genre in modern music, R&B is arguably the most eclectic in its body of artists. From soul crooners to the furious high tech beats of club DJs, R&B has become a blanket term for virtually every kind of music that incorporates smooth, dance-inspired rhythms with the sizzle and brooding tinge of the blues. Mikey See, a rising star in the west coast indie pop scene, has often been…

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Posted on: October 27, 2018 Posted by: Markus Druery Comments: 0

Opposite Day release new Music

The smoldering reverse echo of a guitar rises from the ethers in the opening bars of Opposite Day’s “Day of the Triffids” as if to warn us that there’s an ocean of chaotic discord just waiting to be unleashed behind this fragile dam. A bass with the legs of a spider dexterously wanders between the strut of the riffs that are literally growing around us, and before we know it…

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Posted on: October 25, 2018 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Becky Warren – Undesirable (CD)

Becky Warren’s semi-autobiographical debut drew a lot of attention for the intriguing story of the relationship between an Iraqi War vet and his girlfriend. But, not to take away from the beauty and brutality of War Surplus, on her follow up, Warren uses a much larger canvas and turns in a wonderful, genre-stretching album for her effort.

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Posted on: October 25, 2018 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

R.E.M. – The Best of R.E.M. at the BBC (Vinyl)

It’s been seven years since R.E.M. officially walked away, but thankfully folks are still digging into their vaults to pull out some remarkable, unreleased music. The MTV Unplugged series last year was a nice surprise, but this latest from the BBBC is an even more impressive find.

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Posted on: October 24, 2018 Posted by: Matthew Keener Comments: 0

Jerad Finck releases New Kids SEAWAVES Remix

If you’d asked me whether or not I knew who Jared Finck was just a little over a week ago, I would have had to tell you that I had never heard of him or his truly profound musical catalogue. But recently I came into contact with “New Kids (SEAWAVES remix)” while exploring for new music, and I couldn’t help but be taken by the charmingly relevant nature of both the lyrics and…

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