On Copper Queen, Mark Winters is able to deftly meld together the singer-songwriter pop of the 1960s with a bit of the alternative music that hit college radio during the 1990s. Hints of Chris Isaak and Harry Connick Jr can be discerned here, but there’s a bit of the surf-infused sound of Beach Boys and Roy Orbison that can be discerned here. The production fo the track far outstrips anything…
Sex People’s Sling Slang is extraordinarily catchy. Taking up standards as wide reaching as Mindless Self Indulgence, Lords of Acid, Mudvayne and Faith No More, the act is able to make one of the hookiest songs we’ve torn into this year. There’s more than just a memorable chorus; the act is able to utilize multiple layers to establish a musical soundscape that will continue to yield new dynamics even ten…
Lucas Blando is able to craft an alluring and touching ballad that needs little more than a softly-played guitar and Lucas’s inimitable voice. There is a fullness to the composition that begins to really reach its peak at the 1:50 mark. With an intricate and intimate guitar solo differentiating the two sections of I Wish My Heart Could Paint, Blando is able to keep fans falling over each and every…
“Liama” is the first single to be released from the forthcoming Romances in Blue. The song comes from instrumental duo, Steve Markoff and Patricia Lazzara. An almost hymnal listening experience, the music glides back and forth between lightness and flowing energy. The meaning behind the name “determined guardian” gives further indication that this song is a devout champion to upholding the wonderous sounds from both the flute and piano. Markoff…
I’m Found is an interesting effort. There are nods to 1990s and 2000s country as well as gospel and soul styles. While the vocals are front and center during I’m Found, there is no denying that the keys, guitars, and percussion possess a huge role during this cut. Throwing in a harmonica to the mix as the song hits the chorus, Head Fake is able to keep things interesting from…
On Can’t Stop Thinking Bout You, Sanya N’Kanta are able to make a crossover hit that will work equally well on pop, EDM, and college stations. Soulful vocals blend with an insistent drum/guitar backdrop. With nods to Muse and Maroon 5, Sanya N’Kanta are able to insert their own unique flair to this single. The dynamism present here is hard to deny; the track sparkles with countless subtle shifts and…
Tipsy has a bouncy, EDM-infused approach that will garner a ton of play whenever the summer festivals began to pop off. Vallee’s vocals will tattoo themselves deep into the minds and hearts of fans, as well as working masterfully with the quick tempo that the sweeping synths and emphatic percussion crafts during this single. Young, Wild and Free is a wistful track that calls back to the high-water marks of…
On Vintage Girls, Kdot is able to establish a silken groove that builds upon the style of performers like The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Chris Brown. An engaging backing beat blends in echoing synths, on point percussion, and booming bass beats. The vocals pull double duty here, as Kdot is both able to further his ode to women as well as provide further depth to the harmonies encountered here. The…
On Dig In Deep, Sun & Flesh are able to blend together the hard-rock of acts like Godsmack and Disturbed with a bit of the electronic-infused fury of acts like Static-X and Linkin Park. Adding further layers to Dig In Deep, the act is able to make a single that resonates loudly with a wide swath of heavy music fans. The presence of keyboards at opportune moments during Dig In…
Soar is a touching and intimate composition that has Michael Pinder refresh the singer-songwriter style from the late 1990s into something vibrant and contemporary. There’s considerable musical harmonies that are established by Michael’s vocals here, adding a further level of complexity to the composition. When the strings and percussive elements are inserted into the track, Soar is able to climb to an entirely new plateau. There are so many distinct…
On Monroe, Nadia Vaeh is able to craft a pop track that builds upon a corpus of performers as wide-ranging as Pink, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry. A booming beat provides a solid backdrop upon which Nadia’s vocals can shine. There’s a crossover ability to Monroe that ensures that the single could rocket up the charts on pop or college charts. A crystal-clear production to the cut makes it hang…
Today, we are speaking with the TexMex Shaman. Can you give us a little background information about yourself? How did you get into music? Hi James and thanks for the time. For me it all started when I was kinda ‘encouraged’ to take piano lessons around age 11 . Something that I’m sure was more for the benefit of my mom’s sanity and less about me being developed into a…
Massachusetts-based songwriter Mark Erelli has been a go-to sideman for decades, playing with everyone from Paula Cole and Josh Ritter to Marc Cohen. He’s also a much in demand producer, but as Blindsided, his latest solo effort shows, he really belongs in front of the mic. Across 11 tracks, Erelli blends pop, folk and American in a deeply accessible way. You can hear traces of everyone from Tom Petty to…
Ecluiptic has crafted one of the most hop-forward india pale ales that we’ve had opportunity to evaluate in the last few years. Every drop of lupulin, every bit of bitterness is essential for making this stand out among the countless IPAs that are cluttering up store shelves at any given moment. The brew pours with a goldenrod to outright gold coloration and only the smallest amount of white head. The…
It’s rather apt that The Claudettes pulled in Ted Hutt to produce their latest, High Times In The Dark. The current go-to producer for hard to define bands was co-founder of Flogging Molly, another group that heled to create a style of music by cobbling together various genres, much like The Claudettes have done since their first record, nearly a decade ago. A beautifully bastardized child of cabaret, pop, punk…
Somebody Cares is a solid opening to Taylor McCluskey’s new album, STAR GOD. The track is able to blend together pop, rock, and trap music in a fashion that will easily be slotted on pop rotation radio. Taylor’s charisma during this opening track will keep fans focused on the comp as he moves into Breathless. Breathless is a power ballad, bringing forth some seriously emotional statements from McCluskey. An insistent…
In their new extended play Dear Engineer, Chords of Eve blend together the surrealism of contemporary electronica and the self-awareness of vintage alternative rock in equal doses, and despite the acrylic nature of the textures their experimentations produce, the resulting tracklist we find in this record is unquestionably one of the more spellbinding that I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing this spring. Structured atop colorful grooves that play out with strong…
Against the backdrop of a haunting electric guitar’s gentle melody, Mike Rickard begins to unfurl a string of lyrics in “Six Queer Kids” that sounds less like the opening verses of a pop song and more like a narrative that is all too real and relatable in our modern world. Homelessness, isolation, depression and mortality are all on the table for the gay youth who serve as this stunning single’s…
Mystery Girl has Seattle’s MariBased1 pulling back to the 1990s for inspiration, even as the chorus that issues forth during his latest single will rank right up there with Migos and Trey Songz. There’s considerable range that Maribased1 covers during this cut; the glue that unites these disparate sections is an attention to detail and an ability to make everything work effortlessly together. With a chorus that will bounce around…
Stay begins with some tremendous vocals and sweeping synths that will immediately bury themselves deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. The arrangements are refreshing, light, and provide a certain amount of brightness to this bleak spring. Romero is able to imbue Stay with a timeless sound that will appease fans of today’s EDM just as it speaks nicely to 1990s and oughts aficionados. Stay is one of those…