Saiah has been in the rap game in one form or another for about a decade. It has been in the last few years that Saiah’s star has rapidly started to rise, growing from a Richmond attraction to an East Coast phenomenon seemingly overnight. It is on this wave of success that Saiah comes forth with his “Evolutionâ€, a fourteen track tour-de-force that accurately describes the effect that Saiah’s album…
“The Beast Within†will be Reed Waddle’s claim to fame. The first single off of his new album “Piece By Pieceâ€, the track has a timeless quality to it given by the honest and smooth vocals of Waddle. The slight hint of electronic fuzz that plays at the corner of the track links the alt-rock of Waddle to storied acts like the Red Hot Valentines and Desert City Soundtrack. This…
“The Blazing Heart†is the first release by Davina Robinson. “Making Love To Your Girlfriend†is the track that listeners may already be familiar with; the track was a runner-up for VH1’s Song of the Year contest, and received honors in the Great American Song Contest. Beyond that, our Japanese readers (all 1.2% of our traffic) may know Davina Robinson from playing a number of shows around the country. For…
“The Day I Wasn’t Attacked†is a perfect piece of melodic rock, with Julian’s vocals taking a dominant position, while the instrumentation provides the perfect highlighting for everything that Sakata does on the track. The strong opening to “See?†continues with the disc’s second track, “Suffer The Youngâ€. “Suffer The Young†shows Sakata’s vocals as being influenced by the past and present in pop music, taking on hints of Jakob…
“Jonah†is a good place to start with Jimmy Reeves. The track needs little more than an acoustic guitar to paint a perfect backdrop for Reeves’s vocals to flitter over. The emotional content of Reeves’ lyrics here are similar to the work of the Goo Goo Dolls, Collective Soul, but vary from those two acts in the presence of a slight bit of Thom Yorke in the overall mix. What…
While I have heard of a number of different technology and art projects that were done in the Steampunk style, I don’t believe I had heard of a Steampunk band until I had a chance to hear Abney Park’s latest album, “Lost Horizons: The Continuing Adventures of Abney Parkâ€. The album starts out with “Airship Pirateâ€, a track that ties together Depeche Mode, Apocalyptica, and even Sisters of Mercy into…
This re-release of Dennis Wilson’s “Pacific Ocean Blue†marks the 30th anniversary since the album was originally released, but does not just stop with placement of the original album on CD. Rather, the Legacy Edition has a number of additions and bonus features that very few, if any Beach Boys and Dennis Wilson fans were previously familiar with. The first disc features the album as it was originally released, from…
The Cure are getting a ton of buzz for the two singles that they have released off of their latest, as of yet untitled, double-disc. “The Only One†was the first track, and “Freakshow†is the second. The Cure have come out with a very different sound than they have in the last few years, tying together the punk style that they first started off with in the late seventies…
James Hunter starts off “The Hard Way†with a brand sixties rock that has no direct contemporary influence. I could hear “The Hard Way†on the radio and be assured that the track is from over 40 years ago, that is how solidly Hunter is entrenched in that style. After that introductory track, “Tell Her†comes forth with a sound that follows pretty directly from “The Hard Way†but approaches…
The beginning of “Magic’ starts out with a decidedly seventies Latin-tinged type of instrumentation. The funk and soulful clap present in this track, which come forth like those in a Teddy Pendergrass track, soon gives way to Thicke’s vocal stylings, which pose themselves as drawing from a rich musical tradition that plays a little bit on Stevie Wonder, more on Lionel Richie, and some Justin Timberlake to bring some younger…
Rev Theory – Light It Up / 2008 Interscope / 10 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/revtheory / Rev Theory has been around since 1997, and their rise to the top has been absolutely stratospheric in the last year or so. This is largely due the band’s break out single, “Hell Yeahâ€, which was featured as Wrestlemania 24’s theme song. “Favorite Disease†has the unenviable position of being stuck between the two singles…
Nick Motil – Everything’s Alright / 2008 Self / 5 Tracks / http://www.nickmotil.com / Nick Motil is rapidly becoming a household name. After selling over 5,000 copies of his previous releases and playing shows with acts as varied as Jason Mraz and Duncan Shiek, it just seems to only be a matter of time before Motil is topping whatever chart a major label is positioning him. “Everything’s Alright†is Motil’s…
Richard Frankz – The Traveler / 2008 Self / 14 Tracks / http://www.richardfrankz.com / “Just Being Me†is the first track on “The Travelerâ€, and the song is the perfect introduction to a singer that blends a contemporary sound with a late eighties / early nineties type of country music. Frankz goes into a slower, more sorrowful sound for the disc’s second (and title) track. The narrative style of Frankz…
Trueheart – The Road / 2007 Self / 12 Tracks / http://www.trueheartexas.com / “The Road†starts out with “Still Timeâ€, an adult contemporary track that plays on pop, rock, hair rock, and eighties music to make something that pretty much everyone can find something that they can appreciate and love. What is perhaps the strongest element to this first track is the ability of Trueheart to change musical directions at…
Brandie Frampton – What U See / 2007 D&LF Records / 9 Tracks / http://www.brandieframpton.com / “Ain’t That Life†is the first track on “What U See†by Brandie Frampton, and one can immediately hear a modern, compelling brand of country music present in the track. “I Want You 2†shows the fury and intensity of Frampton’s vocals. In much the same way as a Carrie Underwood, the sizzling fury…
Janelia – I’m An African / 2008 JaneliaSoul / http://www.janeliasoul.com / http://www.myspace.com/janeliasoul / We rarely get African or African-centric albums for review at NeuFutur, so it really is an honor to receive Janelia’s “I’m An Africanâ€. Set to be released on July 3rd, 2008, “I’m An African†is sang in both English and Yoruba, representing the two sides to Janelia. This split identity speaks to the fact that Janelia was…
Douye – Journey / 2008 Self / 11 Tracks / http://www.douyetheartist.com / “Fly Away†is a very chill track, drawing on the early nineties style of R&B put forth by early Mariah Carey and TLC, while couching the vocals in a style that is influenced by the smooth jazz movement. What results is a track that is catchy, sultry, and smart all at the same time. “On For You†keeps…
Carly Simon has been around in some form or another in the music industry since 1971. That’s thirty-seven years, if anyone was counting. “This Kind of Love†is the first album that Simon has released featuring all new tracks in the span of eight years. Hear Music, the official label of Starbucks, has taken that bold step forward and is releasing this album despite the fact that Simon could be…
The Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up / 2008 Interscope / 2 Tracks / http://www.pcdmusic.com / http://www.interscope.com / “When I Grow Up†is the new single by The Pussycat Dolls. The track will undoubtedly be the big hit of the summer, but why? The track is a high-energy romp that blends equal parts Gwen Stefani (“Wind Me Up), later Britney Spears, and throws in some newer styles – the…
Broken Poets – Everything In Nature / 2008 Wordvendor / 11 Tracks / http://www.brokenpoets.com / “Once Before” is the track that makes the Broken Poets for me. Whether it is the confident vocals or the intricate arrangements which these vocals rest, “Once Before” is a track that will remain with me long after “Everything in Nature” ends. The rock of the Broken Poets play on a number of genres and…