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…
GV’s “Lil Min” is an impressive track. The effort is able to bring together the style of rappers as disparate as I-20 and Kevin Gates while even touching upon the UK grime scene. With other nuances (Gorilla Zoe, Jim Jones and Chamillionaire) that are interspersed through this track, GV makes something gritty, intense, and ultimately catchy as all get out. The speed that GV gets to during Lil Min is…
Daniel Correa’s “Take A Chance” is an upbeat track that works perfectly for the rapidly-warming late spring. Bouncy island-infused rhythms are matched perfectly with Daniel’s vocals, which elicit comparisons to Ne*yo and Shawn Mendes. Take A Chance will have listeners singing along after one’s first play, while having a sterling production that allows each and every element ample opportunity to shine. Correa has evolved with each and every single we’ve…
Scott Gray’s “Maybe It’s You” is a very traditional effort that draws upon the rich musical tradition of performers like Chicago or Billy Joel. With a robust instrumentation and soulful lyrics, Maybe It’s You is a rare example of a modern single that can stand up to repeat plays. Scott Gray is able to include bass, guitars, drums, and a sizzling horn section into the musical backdrop, establishing a voluminous…
18th & Addison’s “Time Bomb” is a punchy and assertive track that builds upon the framework of acts like Coheed and Cambria and Alkaline Trio. With vocals drawing influence from Yellowcard and Taking Back Sunday, 18th & Addison are able to make a track that will bury its melodies deep into listeners’ minds. The guitar and fulfilling bass line establishes a hooky instrumentation that is further punctuated through some spot-on…
My Silent Bravery’s “18” is a sublimely catchy sound. The track is able to have an emotional sound drawing off of the style of acts like the Goo Goo Dolls and Ryan Adams.The production of 18 is perfect, allowing the instrumentation and the vocals to shine alone as well as contribute to something substantially greater than the sum of their parts. This is an easy-going track that shines on the…
Markus Schulz & Emma Hewitt’s “Safe From Harm” is a wonderful melange of emotional vocals and thoughtful instrumentation. These elements flirt with one another throughout the beginning of Safe From Harm, before an insistent synth line gets listeners on the dance floor. There is a refreshing of the late 1990s / early 2000s electronic style here, while Hewitt’s vocals call back to “Ray of Light”-era Madonna. The rising and falling…
Hop Along’s”How Simple” is a contemplative piece of indie rock that draws on the tradition of 1990s alternative for instrumentation. The dynamic between the guitars, bass, drums and vocals pushes each into an entirely higher plateau. The vocals are able to pull double duty; they provide the narration for How Simple just as they add further complexity to the instrumentation. The tautness of this single ensures that fans will be…
At the Gates did a lot for metal music, giving a melodic edge to the oft-brash death metal genre, birthing melodic death metal, a genre now as established as any other, and Light This City are back after a decade long hiatus to rekindle our love for the band and genre with their newest record Terminal Bloom.
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…
Shakey Graves (Alejandro Rose-Garcia) had only been in the public eye for about a year in 2012 when the mayor of Austin proclaimed February 9th, “Shakey Graves Day.” A hell of an achievement so soon out of the gate, but six years and several albums later, Garcia is still living up to the hype.
Kuwaisiana’s, Chapter 1, is an awesomely interesting release by an equally intriguing band from New Orleans with bridges to Kuwait who combine the vernacular of topics between there and the US southern region. They cross bread everything from Cajun to Pop music in their combination of styles that never leave out the two areas in which they’re grounded, yet they have a universal appeal in the process. Chapter 1 wins…
Few artists are able to provide listeners with a full sense of whom they are with just a single song, but Sweetness, the latest effort from Mauve, does a tremendous job in showcasing a bevy of styles and approaches used by the performer. What we were most impressed by with Mauve’s new single is how effortlessly that this Toronto performer is able to go and blend together a number of…
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,…
Deviant Motions is the third album from Jake Allen. The 14-song collection will surprise and please fans of pop rock, alt rock and even New Age music. Allen hails from Michigan and while he doesn’t subscribe to the often blue-collar rock and Motown soul, Deviant Motions expands upon Allen’s previous album, Etherica, with less jazz and more synthesizer, ethereal pop. And, it’s hefty song compilation is bigger than the eight-songs…
One-time go-to gun for hire Jeff Plankenhorn has played guitar and lap slide for everyone from Joe Ely and Reckless Kelly to Hayes Carll and Kelly Willis. But as of recently he’s walked back into the center of the spotlight with his own records. Sleeping Dogs, his latest, shows why he was so in demand in his adopted home of Austin.
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…
It’s been just shy of 20 years since Social Distortion front man Mike Ness released his two (and only, so far) solo efforts, but they are finally getting a proper vinyl re-release.