Jace The Great’s “Celebration” is a positively sunny effort, one the blends together a street-smart blend of rap music with a lush production and attention to Jace’s craft. The beat is infectious to the degree that it will tattoo itself deep into a listener’s psyche, while Sonyae Elise’s feature provides further variation to the single. The straight-forward aspect of Jace The Great’s flow will appease fans of a number of…
Pat Scarlett’s “You Make It Alright” is a track that ties together 1980s performers like Suzanne Vega and Siouxsie and the Banshees. A thick bass line and sequenced drum line build the environment for You Make It Alright, upon which a smokier set of vocals reside. A bit of industrial / goth fuzz-laden guitars and drums wash over the track at points, boosting the overall momentum before Pat moves back…
Brett Gleason’s “Alive” is a tremendously engrossing effort. The raw passion and emotion of Gleason’s vocals are matched perfectly with a tempestuous guitar line. While outwardly simple (a guitar and a vocalist), Alive’s overall sound is deep and detailed – there is such a rich dynamic that is crafted through the song’s run time that fans will continue to focus in throughout the track. “Expiration Date” is a slower track…
Natalise + the Sunset Run’s Love Unconditional builds up into something fantastic from a soft and sedate sound. The rising and ebbing of the single will have listeners firmly on the edges of their seat. A touching set of strings and orchestral instrumentation make for a fully-formed thought; this is one of the headiest and most fulfilling efforts we’ve heard. The ability of Natalise + the Sunset Run to deftly…
You can’t claim Roger Miret, one of the New York’s hardcore scenes founding fathers, held anything back in his new memoir, My Riot.
Amazing Gracie is the first track off of Remember the Alamo, by Free Willy. The track draws heavily on the bluegrass and Americana genres, benefited through a modern approach to recording. The rich guitar and banjo that boost up the vocals will immediately draw listeners in to the album. Get in the Car slows things up as Free Willy inhabits the space between modern country and folk music. A hooky chorus…
There is a constant tug-of-war in the progressive music community, especially among the more popular bands in the genre, the push-and-pull of being as esoteric as possible and adopting a more standard poppy arrangement. Though Leprous may be accused of veering dangerously close to capitalizing on the lowest common denominator demographic with their newest effort “Malina”, this is by no means a weak record. Malina is the sonic onion whose…
Over the course of the last two years, we’ve been fortunate to check out a few tracks from Soles of Passion. We feel that the band’s latest release Land of the Big Blue Sun is an effort that not only builds off of the sounds and styles initially broached in singles like Say I Will and in their Escape from Jurisdiction B album. The EP begins with Turned It All Around,…
C.K. Flach starts off his album “Empty Mansions” with Lazarus, an emphatic effort that showcases a unique vocal style and an instrumental backdrop that unites influences in the alternative rock and singer-songwriter tradition. The richness of this introductory track ensures that listeners will have to play the song multiple times before hearing the entirety of inclusions. Particular strengths here have to be C.K.’s vocals and the extended guitar section, both…
Uniting a couple from around the world (Sydney, Australia and Chicago), Peasant Moon make a style of music with their latest EP Our Timing Was Wrong that will draw listeners in and keep them there until the release concludes. Back in Time, the first track on this EP, is a glorious blending of alternative and indie rock music that has enough time to include nods to Americana and 1970s country &…
Moe Green’s Eye begin their Fast Radio Burst Live EP with Fixed, a powerful pop/rock track that touches upon a wide swath of influences. During this first salvo, there are hints of Fuel, Modern English, and just a bit of the jam-band scene. The instrumentation during Fixed is top-notch, with each guitar line, bass arrangement, and spot-on drum adding to the full-sounding composition. The dynamic between each of these elements stands…
Ashley J’s “Trapped” is a powerful pop track that hearkens back to the days of late-nineties performers like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. There are enough hooks here to bury the song’s melodies firmly into the psyche of anyone listening.
Souleye’s “Wildman” a track that deftly crosses over between genre conventions to make for something that will stand head and shoulders above other tracks on radio rotation. There are hints of rap, pop, and EDM all captured in this single, while a female set of vocals provides the perfect counterpoint for the main (male) vocal track.
Jonathan Cavier’s “Blue Room” is a delightful effort that refreshes the rock of the 1980s to make for a new and catchy sound in 2017. The guitar / synthesizer dynamic gives Cavier’s vocals highlighting in all of the right points. Cavier’s vocals both provide fans with a narration as well as adding further layers to the instrumentation.
Amilia K Spicer’s “Lightning” builds off of the traditions of Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, and Ani DiFranco. The care taken in crafting an immersive experience ensures fans will stay interested. The bit of rock and alternative styles that bubble onto the track – fuzzy guitars, a bit of echo, and a jangly composition – provides a further boost to its momentum. Spicer’s Lightning is a truly timeless track, one that…
Marc Daniels’s Summer Song is a powerful country anthem that shines not only through Marc’s vocals but by the premise of intense guitars, ropy bass lines, and on-point drums that will resound loudly with fans. Daniel’s vocals does double duty, drawing upon a rich rock and traditional country sound.
Scott Free’s “How I Live” features Rocko, providing listeners with a solid introduction to the rapper. The backing beat blends together trap with the brooding sound of a Hynotize Minds production, while Scott Free’s vocal styles tie together performers as diverse as Dorrough, I-20 and The Game. The addition of a Rocko feature into the mix provides a wholly different sound to the single, giving a boost to the momentum…
Another year, another lineup change, another name tweak and thankfully another record from the prolific and consistently solid Oh Sees (formerly Thee Oh Sees, The Ohsees…).
Dan Wilson is probably best known by most as the front man for Semisonic, and Trip Shakespeare before that. But, he’s been anything but taking it easy since Semisonic stopped recording and touring in 2001.
England may have had Badfinger, but we had The Raspberries. Up there with Big Star and The Hollies in terms of their lasting influence and simply how tragically underrated each band ultimately was, in 2004, The Raspberries treated a hometown Cleveland audience to a remarkable reunion show to open the local House of Blues. The show, captured in this two-CD set from Omnivore, prompted a short tour the following year.