Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles – Love’s Middle Name (CD)
Five albums into it, Boston’s Sarah Borges has perfected that mix of alt country with punk influences; like Willie Nelson in a worn-out Sex Pistols shirt.
Category: Music Reviews
Pablo Embon’s Nobody Land Remastered
“Album Nobody’s Land has been professionally remastered. This remastered version of the album is exclusively available for download on Pablo Embon’s Web Site”.
Saint Jaimz release AWOL (Absent Without Love)
Saint Jaimz’s vocals immediately bring you into his world and heart and he isn’t even singing. Instead, “AWOL (Absent Without Love”) begins with Jaimz’s spoken word voice in a brief introduction that sets an early mood. This is near torch song R&B, a reflective rumination on the descent of a relationship holding together by pure inaction and long past its sell by date. It’s all part of Jaimz’s purpose in…
Obscura – Diluvium (CD)
Few names in technical death metal actually stick around to be instantly recognizable in the genre, and with Diluvium, German sluggers Obscura find themselves genre veterans, often in the same breath as critically acclaimed acts like Necrophagist and Death. This new offering is the fourth and final chapter in the album-saga and is a direct sequel to the 2015 banger, Akroasis. Is Diluvium the crescendo of the story?
Hippo Campus “Bambi”
On Bambi, Hippo Campus are able to create a laid-bit style of rock that blends together the style of acts of Owl City with Go West and Of Mice and Men. The richness of the vocals, snappy sound of the instrumentation, and ability of the band to effortlessly move between stanza and chorus ensures that fans will be able to get their groove on with this single. Bambi’s multiple layers…
Meg Myers – Numb
Is a deliberate sort of effort that builds upon the alt rock of the 1990s. Myers’ vocals during Numb are slinky and pull double duty in providing listeners with the narrative content of the track while adding a more spontaneous sound to the orthodoxy established by the guitars, bass and drums. Fans of Metric or current Paramore will find something to appreciate here; delve into the video for Numb (below…
Corinne Cook release “Yes I Can” LP
Yes I Can, the third studio album from Californian Corinne Cook, solidifies her position as one of the best song interpreters working in the independent modern country/pop scene today and establishes her as a promising songwriting talent as well. Cook’s willingness to continue growing as both a performer and artist sets her apart from countless peers and contemporaries who prefer perfecting a winning commercial formula durable enough to be revisited…
Tony Joe White – Bad Mouthin’ (CD)
Just two years after his last release for Yep Roc, legendary songwriter and swamp rock/country funk pioneer Tony Joe White is back again and he’s doubling down on the Blues with this offering.
Kanisha K – Talk is Cheap
This is a great “I’ve had it with you” song, maybe the best in a long time. Kanisha K is frequently classified as country music, but there’s a tangible rock and roll spirit beating inside of the song as well. The instrumental elements running through the song like banjo point the way towards a history steeped in such sounds, but the lead guitar work recalls blues rock and hits the…
Brother Reverend – The Tables Turn Too Often (CD)
Like a better-behaved version of The Kinks, without the complicated family bond and on-stage fisticuffs, Brother Reverend deliver a remarkably addictive debut with “The Tables Turn Too Often.”
Mikey See releases “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…
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Poor Until Payday
Just over a year after Indiana’s Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band turned in their last record the trio is back with another full album of sublime, stripped-down American Blues.
Elsewhere Band release EP
2018 has been the year of rock n’ roll revivalism, and no one has been taking charge of the movement to bring chest-pumping rhythm back to the forefront of pop music than Elsewhere. Elsewhere are a band based out of New England and originally started back in the 90’s, but their sound is about as far from grunge and proto-alternative rock as Boston is from Seattle. Their latest EP, Multi-Man, is…
Territories – Self-Titled (Pirates Press)
For more than two decades, Canada’s long-running punk band Knucklehead put out a slew of ferocious, tight punk rock anthems. So, it’s no surprise that Territories, the new outfit comprised of alumni from Knucklehead, would be just as impressive.
Bill McBirnie releases “Silent Wish” (LP)
The Silent Wish is a new, joint album from extreme flutist Bill McBirnie and jazz magnate Bernie Senensky, but to say it’s simply another record would be the understatement of the decade. The Silent Wish is a 12 song journey into the heart and soul of Canadian jazz as played like no others can, and if you’ve got the sonic capacities to take the leap, this listening experience is one you won’t soon…
Joss Jaffe – Dub Mantra Sangha Remix
Joss Jaffe’s new release Dub Mantra Sangha Remix blends together reggae, EDM, and soulful vocals. Aloha features Sophia Mae Lin to draw deeply upon Island rhythms and Italo dance styles. Robin Livingston’s remix of Durga has an insistent quality and a similarly sunny demeanor. The complexity of the arrangement ensures that listeners will be able to play it multiple times while unearthing new styles and approaches. Timonkey’s Remix of Sri Ram (featuring…
James Lee Baker – Home Again
Countrified singer/songwriter James Lee Baker has become quite the cult favorite of the Midwestern indie folk and alternative country circuits over the last couple of years, and with his new album Home Again audiences worldwide finally have the opportunity to experience his ethereal charms in all of their magnetic glory. Divided into ten equally stylish tracks produced with the upmost care and attention to detail, Home Again is a supremely affectionate look at one…
Brown Kid – Rusty Strings (EP)
In his first extended play and fourth overall release, entitled Rusty Strings, Peruvian singer/songwriter Brown Kid struts with a swaggering confidence through a plethora of colorful material that is instantly memorable and contagiously optimistic. Rusty Strings sees Brown Kid’s signature style of easy going folk music and reggae-influenced pop advancing to a new level of conciseness and clarity that was hinted at in previous releases but comes to fruition in this latest offering,…
Nika Cantabile – Selections from ‘Naked Soul Opus 2’
Cantabile’s new album ‘Naked Soul Opus 2’ has Nika’s inimitable violin imbuing each composition with life. The depth of Alchemia Story will have listeners on the edges of their seat as the theme continues. Code Geass – Colors benefits immediately from a robust instrumentation that melds together strings and a funky bass line. Cantabile’s take on the opening from No Game No Life imparts the same highs and lows of the…
TOZ Antonio Piretti – ‘Heroes’
TOZ Antonio Piretti’s ‘Heroes’ is a single that deftly brings together 1980s synth-pop with modern instrumentation to facilitate a truly epic sound. The full instrumentation stands up to repeat spins; listeners will need to strap on a pair of headphones to hear every nuance and interaction that Piretti has inserted within. TOZ’s vocals during Heroes pull double duty in the sense that they both convey a narrative while adding mightily…