Les Stroud’s cover of “Big Yellow Taxi” is punctuated with a soulful blend of harmonica and country-tinged guitar work. The passion and charisma laid down by Stroud here is unparalleled. A crystal-clear production ensures that each constituent element is able to shine alone or in tandem with the rest of the contributing elements on Big Yellow Taxi. The brooding instrumentation that plays in the backdrop stands in for the unquenchable…
Kyla Imani’s “Sitting Up In My Room” is a track that has roots in the powerful R&B singer style of the 1990s. The arrangement playing in the background pulls a bit from trap and EDM style, making for a fun new effort that will have listeners sitting on the edges of their seats. The presence of Jay Critch in Sitting Up In My Room keeps things vibrant while spinning the…
The Dead Daisies’s new single “Dead and Gone” may just be the hardest effort that we have heard from the band. The act is able to build upon the hair metal tradition with nods to Joe Perry (Aerosmith) and Motorhead. Sizzling guitar lines at points build upon AC/DC and Slash, while there is a raw passion to the vocals that would make this an easy inclusion on any hard rock…
Big Sam’s Funky Nation’s “Pokechop” is a track that is dripping with the spirit of the blues, mid-1970s, drill, and hip-hop styles. This varied approach is able to cull together the styles of the last fifty years into something that will tattoo itself deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. With nods to DJ Jimi and a bit of Flashlight interspersed throughout Pokechop, the unique flair of the act…
Jackie Greene’s “Crazy Comes Easy” is a soulful, easy going track that contains a fulfilling backing instrumentation. Greene’s vocals come out of the Black Crowes tradition, while the bass and guitar dynamic is utterly timeless. We’re particular fans of the 1:45-2:15 section which allows the instrumental side of things ample time to shine. The two distinct parts of Crazy Comes Easy combine to provide fans with a solid introduction to…
Featuring the talents of The Howling Tongues in tow, Beau + Luci’s new release Live from Aggie Theatre is a powerful audio document testifying to the strong literary qualities, spirit, and bluesy atmospherics at the tandem’s disposal. Their highly individual brand of Americana/roots music has enchanted national audiences, but their performance from Aggie Theatre brings the duo and their musical style “back home”, so to speak, and plays well for an appreciative…
Over the years, the music documentary genre has become fairly predictable. There’s the childhood background story, the rise and ultimate fall of the musician or band (usually a result of drugs, inter-band squabbles or changing musical trends), followed by the relaunch after years of soul searching, all told though interviews with those close to the band. VH1 set up the template years ago with Behind the Music and a whole…
Margo Timmins is one of just a handful of singers, alongside Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and the late Leonard Cohen, who consistently manage to take vulnerability and emotional rawness and translate it into powerfully moving records time and time again. “All That Reckoning,” the Canadian band’s latest, is certainly no exception.
Steve Wheeler’s EP release Terminal Velocity marks a divergent point for this talented composer when he affords himself the opportunity to step away from his “day job” as a media composer for major network sporting events and video games in favor of a more personal project. The instrumental EP is brief, only three songs and running less than ten minutes, but Wheeler’s writing makes the sort of impact music tailored to accentuate…
I had a really eye opening experience recently, and it was at the last place where I would ever expect to learn something new about my job, and really, myself. I was in an antique store, and for the first time in my entire life of shopping in antiques stores on the west coast, I didn’t see a single record player. Not one. No vinyl either. This surprised me, as…
Canadian Tia McGraff, originally from the region surrounding Toronto, first met her musical partner and eventual husband Tommy Parham in Nashville and the couple have been recording and playing live together for many years. Parham is her chief collaborator, as well, on McGraff’s well received studio recordings and recent years have seen the tandem land their music on important radio shows like BBC 2’s Bob Harris Country and earn them…
Jesus, who knew it would take a band of 20-somethings to perfectly, organically resurface the vibe of ‘70s rock – from the swagger of the Stones to the swamp funk of Leon Russell – for the modern era.
There are few feelings that are as tumultuous and difficult to process as heartbreak. We are never sadder and at our most defenselessly defeated as we are when we’ve lost love, and knowing that we’re not alone out there can make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting through the storm of emotions we have to endure. Reaching out through the darkness with a bursting light…
The influence of ambient music has been quite visible thus far in genres as wide ranging as hip-hop, rock n’ roll, radio pop and R&B this year, and I think I’m finally beginning to understand the reasons why. When I was listening to indie pop singer/songwriter Cole’s new single “If I’m Really” the other day, something occurred to me. Back in the mid-80s, right around the time that the roots…
Los Angeles-based Power Pop band The Quick may have only put out one album in their short existence, but that one record, Mondo Deco, helped to bridge the gap between glam music and the then burgeoning punk rock scene.
As a musician myself, it’s been a really amazing thing to see the impact that smaller indie labels and artists acting as their own representative have had in the last 15 years. Since I first got into music, I’ve been able to see things change quite a bit, where once an A&R department and marketing agents made most of the decisions about what we were going to be listening to…
Some of the best music, regardless of genre, is the music that we can dance to and get crazy with just as easily as we can enjoy it on its own without any external interference. The best artists though, are the ones who have the ability to bring all of the magic from the studio with them out on the road and atop any stage, no matter how big or…
Costa Rican-born pianist and composer Esteban Alvarez is back and better than ever in his new album Piano Meets Mariachi and its accompanying single “La Bikina,” both arriving just in time for the summer record season (and making quite a splash in doing so). Unsatisfied with turning out a predictable album that would merely placate the needs of his longtime fans and the critics alike, Alvarez pulls out all of…
In a dazzling explosion of colorful tones and mammoth, glowing melodies that seem to melt through the stereo speakers like some sort of magical elixir, Fitzsimon and Brogan’s new album Big Blue World is making some gigantic waves even before it hits stores this June, and it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has been following the European indie underground lately. There’s been a lot of energy gathering in the…
Kelly Padrick’s “Heavenly Ride” draws upon the B-52, Nancy Sinatra, and Fleetwood Mac for inspiration. The guitars pull inspiration from 1960s surf music, while there is a bit of fuzz that touches upon the anarchistic 1990s indie-rock scene. Kelly’s vocals are the glue that make the sizzling guitars, chugging bass line, and groovy drums work together. Padrick’s vocals are able to fill in the breaks in the instrumentation while imbuing…