The Antics – Send it Out
On first listen, you’d swear the trio The Antics came out of some dreary old mill town in Northern England, playing alongside the early ‘80s bands on Rough Trade and The Factory.
Category: Music Reviews
Eye’z Review
Lovely is a track that immediately will hit listeners with the softly-sang and alluring vocals of Los Angeles’ Eye’z. The track has its roots in eighties and nineties R&B, but Eye’z puts her indelible mark on the track. A punctual drum line keeps the momentum of the track high, while the track’s sub-three minute runtime is an emphatic punctuation to this cut. Levitating has a hint of the tropical present,…
Briannagh D – Stand Tall Single Review
Stand Tall is the current single by Briannagh D, and it is a perfectly-polished effort that will resound loudly with listeners long after the track ceases. The vocal harmonies laid down by Briannagh D pull double duty in that they provide listeners with a narrative as well as provide further complexity and depth to the already shimmering effort. The rich production values of Stand Tall ensure that Briannagh D will…
Karen Reed True North CD Review
Stuck On You is a track that has a current and contemporary sound while looking back into the archives of seventies and eighties female country singers and nineties alternative-pop performers. There is a certain richness that is cultivated through this initial effort that will keep the track bouncing around listeners’ heads long after the track has ceased. Bad Girl works at the juncture of rock and honky-tonk; the confident guitar…
Patrick Ames – Oakville Ontology CD Review
Arm Yourself With This Song is a folksy, intimate piece of music that will remind listeners of acoustic-era Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Phil Ochs; there is little more present here than a man and a guitar, but the sheer gravitas and authority that is created with this song will have listeners focused in for the balance of the album. Can I Ever Be Noticed showcases the vocal ability of…
Heart & Soul Radio thieves CD Review
Ain’t No Life Like The Low Life is the first effort on Heart & Soul Radio’s latest, thieves. The track is energetic and will show listeners that Heart & Soul Radio is an act that can blend the emotive rock, pop-punk, and pop genres into something that is hard-hitting while still able to showcase a softer side to the band. True Romance- You Be Rosanna Arquette, I’ll Be That One…
Rhett May Insatiable EP Review
Cocktails and Cannabis opens up May’s current release, the Insatiable EP. The track has a unique style that builds off of the work of Peter Murphy and Midnight Oil, while having hints of funk bass and an epic, almost Peter Gabriel-like feel to the song. Hey Peter is wholly different from Cocktails and Cannabis, adopting the outward style of reggae. The guitar is stellar with all of the spirit of…
The RockTronix – Magnificent Obsession
The RockTronix are an all-star act that are looking to take the world by storm with their latest effort Magnificent Obsession. The specific constellation of influences and style that the band brings to each of their compositions on Magnificent Obsession ensures that listeners will both be on the edges of their seats and have no idea where the act will take them. Surrender is a tremendously introspective track that is…
Streets of Laredo – Vols. 1 & 2 (CD)
You can throw a can of mustache wax on just about any street in Brooklyn and hit an indie folk band. But finding a great indie folks band in the borough is a much tougher task.
The Tiger Club Mephisto Island CD Review
The Tiger Club starts their latest album, Mephisto Island, with a sound that ties together Gilberto and Getz’ version of Girl From Ipanema with a little hint of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The unity of lounge, psychedelic, and first-wave ska makes for an innovative and unique style to issue forth during the initial registers of Mephisto Island that will have listeners on the edges of their seats.
1OOOfacez Robokingdom EP CD Review
1000facez has just released a collection of their songs with the Robokingdom EP; during the album’s five cuts, listeners will be provided with considerable variation in overall sound. The one thing that is constant from beginning to end is how fleshed-out the tracks are; this is a cohesive and a coherent effort from stem to stern. Robokingdom is a track that links together goth, industrial, and alternative rock into a…
Bob Dylan and The Band – The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11
Aside from (maybe) The Dead, no other artists’ fans have been more rabid about collecting every scrap of recorded music put out by that musician than Bob Dylan’s acolytes. Ever since his label started releasing their Bootleg Series in 1991 – mainly comprised of outtakes, demos and live recordings, many that had never been heard outside of Dylan’s circle – fans have been speculating about the existence of more songs…
The Call (featuring Robert Levon Been of B.R.M.C.) – A Tribute to Michael Been (CD)
It’s always a tough act trying to replace a deceased front man. For every band like Big Country, who successfully (at least for a while) moved Alarm singer and longtime band friend Mike Peters to the front of the mic, there’s an INXS or Doors who have fumbled through various weak versions and ended up looking like sell outs. When the ‘80s band The Call lost its singer to a…
Alice Sungurov Broke My Heart Single Review
Broke My Heart is a pop effort that possible considerable instrumental ability; Alice Sungurov creates vocals during this single that tie together Jewel, Kelly Clarkson, and Avril Lavigne. The spontaneous approach taken by the instrumentation on Broke My Heart imbues the effort with considerable replay value, something that is further bolstered through a larger than life arrangement. The track may be a hair over four minutes but all of the…
Leonino Naked Tunes CD Review
I Think We Should Be Friends is the first track on Naked Tunes, and the effort provides listeners with a blend of styles that ties the track into the eighties (Pet Shop Boys), nineties (Julian Lennon, George Michaels) and something more current and contemporary (Robin Thicke). The presence of the guitar and strings during I Think We Should Be Friends provides additional complexity to the initial strains of Naked Tunes.
Organized Mess Topography CD Review
Kansas City’s Organized Mess have just released their latest album, Topography. Glass Shards utilizes an interesting time signature to imbue the track with a distinct sound that resounds loudly through the reminder of the disc. The track links together Defiance, Ohio and The Devil Is Electric with a very approachable and radio-friendly alternative / emotive rock style. The violin solo that links together the two sides of Glass Shards keeps…
Canary Burton Bird Song Review
Bird Song is the latest effort from Canary Burton, and it is one of the best albums we have heard this year. The One & Future Star has a wonderful opening that gradually expands into something that could be present in a Tim Burton film; there are so many things happening (And not happening) with the effort that listeners will continue to find new twists and turns after a fifth…
R.I.C.E The Proof No Religion Single Review
R.I.C.E The Proof is an artist that looks to completely place written and spoken poetry on its ear with No Religion. No Religion is a track thatstraddles rap and slam poetry while having all of the nuance and gravity of some of the most storied performers. The light amount of instrumentation that is present on No Religion provides a backdrop that provides highlighting for the relevant sections of R.I.C.E The…
Sarantos Not Where I Wanna Be CD Review
Not Where I Wanna Be slows things down and provides Sarantos ample opportunity to create an expansive and sedate effort that continues to twinkle long after the song has ceased. The deliberate tempo crafted here will indelibly tattoo the rhythms and melodies deep into the psyche and hearts of listeners, something that the song shares with Are You Sure You Can Last Long. Are You Sure You Can Last Long…
The Shivers Charades Anniversary Vinyl
Charades is an introduction to the complex and challenging efforts that are commonplace on the album of the same title. SoHo Party is a tremendously interesting effort, with the instrumentation setting up a narrative that is furthered through the alluring vocals – hints of Pinkerton-era Weezer can be easily discerned. I Could Care Less takes Tulsa emotive rock and links it to Death Cab for Cutie to establish something wholly…