California indie rockers Dangermaker unleash their most musically sophisticated album to date in Run, a twelve track smorgasbord of textured sonic bliss that will change the way you think about modern pop. Dangermaker have been quietly building up a cult following on the west coast over the last few years, and their latest record sees their sound evolving into a full color kaleidoscope of rich melodies that are unparalleled in 2018.…
Rock music has never been about sucking up to trends and fads – no matter how fleeting or exciting in the moment they may be. Since the very beginning rock has been about giving the earth the sonic ferociousness that we need to remind us that we’re still alive, still kicking and still apart of the vitality of the universe. Rock was meant to transcend and transport us to another…
It’s been less than six months since the wildly prolific/national treasure Willie Nelson last put out a record, so of course he’d have another one out before 2018 ended. But unlike “Last Man Standing,” an album of new originals, “My Way” finds Nelson sidelined by another covers album, this one dedicated solely to the music of Frank Sinatra (much like 2016’s Gershwin album, 2011’s Ray Charles album, 2006’s Cindy Walker…
Some artists don’t mind existing in the shadows for the bulk of their professional lives. They don’t care about advancing the evolutionary trajectory of music, they simply just want to play whatever is trending within their scene at the moment. In no way am I trying to run these artists down as invalid or somehow completely irrelevant, but when juxtaposed beside the ingenuity and creativity of a singer/songwriter like Sarah…
It probably wouldn’t have been surprising if “TPC,” Tokyo Police Club’s fourth and latest record was never made. Members of the band, originally based in Canada, have scattered to different parts of the continent since their last release with singer/bassist Dave Monks settled in New York, drummer Greg Alsop now calling LA home and guitarist Josh Hook and keyboardist Graham Wright staying put north of the border. Adding to the…
Delerium & JES “Stay” has a wonderful sort of modern pop meets 1980 synth-pop sound. Richly emotive synthesizers provide a great counterpoint for the breathy, dreamy vocals on the single. Stay has each side – instrumental and vocal – contribute mightily to the finished composition. There are narrative elements to the minor shifts and changes of the instrumentation, while the vocals are integral in providing additional depth and complexity to…
David Sereny’s “Spotlite” is a single that brings in a number of distinct approaches. This means that there is a lively disco beat, hints of flamenco and blues guitars, and a bit of the vitality of the R&B and gospel traditions. The dynamic of the horns, guitars, and drums is such that a narrative is weaved here as bright as any set of vocals could hope to lay down. Sereny’s…
On Sunn, Gidon Schocken is able to employ Afik Doari’s vocals to make for something that is musically very deep while having a pop side that ensures it considerable playlist placement. Sunn nods to a number of distinct genres – there are hints of 1990s electronica, industrial, R&B and modern pop all working together to make one of the most engrossing efforts we’ve heard this autumn. Schocken is able to make…
On “Friends And The Fakers”, LowRay is able to make alternative rock attractive again. With dreamy vocals, fuzzy guitars, and on-point arrangements, the track builds upon the sound of Del Amitri and Delirious? while having LowRay forged forth with their own unique approach.
The Fibs come out of their corner swinging with this self titled sophomore release. “Waiting for a Train”, its title alone, recalls a vast tradition in 20th century songwriting that, despite the enormous stylistic differences, that The Fibs sustain for a modern audience. The singer and chief songwriter behind the band’s creativity, Preston Newberry, writes lyrics brimming over with a lean literary quality that makes for a notable contrast with the…
Lenny Kravitz’s 1989 debut, Let Love Rule was an impressive win for rock. Aside from, Guns ‘n Roses and a few others, radio and music charts were dominated for most of the year by mediocre R&B singers, stale soft rock holdovers like Phil Collins and Billy Joel and legitimately fake music acts like Milli Vanilli. So, when Kravitz, with his rock swagger meets hippie vibe came out with the soaring…
In the history of pop music, there have been artists who built an entire identity around a single hook or style that critics and audiences fell in love with and were never able to put down. There are others though who take their creative ethos further; they push the envelope as far as they can in hopes of not only developing their core artistic profile but also advancing the evolution…
Americana, as a genre, is having a much-deserved moment in the sun. And with it are coming some incredibly original bands that normally wouldn’t be getting a listen if not for folks like The Avett Brothers and Shovels & Rope treading a path to acceptance. Among those that deserve a listen is the brilliant Nashville, by way of LA, -based duo Freddy & Francine (Curiously, there is neither a Freddy…
It’s difficult to relay just how influential Jeff Lynne and his group Electric Light Orchestra was and remains to this day, despite release their last big hit in the early 1980s.
There’s quite a collection of musical voices on Del Suelo’s The Musician’s Compass: A 12 Step Programme. Erik Mehlsen, working as Del Suelo, is adept at chameleon like changes in texture, dabbling in a number of styles over the course of the album’s twelve songs. It’s to his credit as a songwriter, however, that the conceptual architecture for this album, illustrative of Mehlsen’s storytelling talents, is preserved despite the stylistic diversity.…
Someone much wiser and versed in the music business than I’ll ever be once told me something that I’ll never forget; good things take time, but great things happen all at once in this industry. Time and time again I’ve found this statement to be proven true, whether it concerns an up and coming rapper or a singer/songwriter trying to break into Nashville. When they’ve got a fair amount of…
Carillon is the first track on The Wires’ new album Diligentia Quam in Suis. The song is soft and sedate, with The Wires weaving in soulful singing with contemplative instrumentation. The band is not afraid to allow for longer instrumental interludes on the album, a decision that provides ample gravitas to the vocals when they do enter into the fray. A Man on Wire draws upon the singer-songwriter style of the 1960s…
6 Ways is the first track on J Roy Champion’s new EP, Rome in a Day. The track is able to build upon the framework of Kendrick Lamar and Three Six Mafia. The screwed and chopped vocals on the track provide the perfect counterpoint to the sharper backing beat. Together, the two elements combine to make for something that will get heads bopping even as a dirty, sick groove is laced through…
If you’re one of the many country fans who has been disappointed in what you’ve heard coming out of the south in the last few years, Spayed Koolie might have made the album that you’ve been waiting for in Ashtray Change. Fitted with 11 of the most stylishly original country rock songs you’ll hear this side of the 21st century, Ashtray Change is a record that comes as a result of years of angst…
Pop music, as crazy as it might seem, is the really ultimate form of rebellion in times of oppression and division. Of course there is a place for almost every kind of non-violent protest, but music is itself a universal language that knows no boundaries of linguistics, government or social separation. Music integrates all of us into the singular human race that we are, and bands like Broken Baby are…