I am taken with the vibrant new mix of horns, keyboards, guitar, and singing that longtime touring musician and vocalist Doug Kistner achieves with his latest single “Don’t Look Down”. It further elevates his profile as a solo artist following the satisfying success he achieved with its preceding singles “Only Road I Know” and “Since We Left Our Dreams”. This trio of tracks shares a similar pedigree, without question, but…
You can be forgiven if you believed that South American prog rockers Aisles were possibly finished in 2018. Longtime lead singer Sebastián Vergara departed the band in 2018. It is difficult to overestimate the effect such a departure has on a band; a band’s lead singer, for many listeners, is often the avenue people initially travel towards loving a band. Many associate a band’s work with the sound of that…
On Love Me Love, Rob Murat has created a sound that is quite unlike what is currently garnering airplay. While the framework is not unlike most current R&B, there’s a delicateness and care taken into each dynamic expressed on the effort. There are bits of 1990s new jack swing interspersed here with a haunting backing beat. The presence of Adina Thembi’s voice on Murat’s latest single adds considerable depth to…
“Nice To Meet You” has dreamy vocals start things off before iHateJulian’s style brings the track a bit more of an Outkast-meets-Kendrick Lamar vibe. The rapid-fire patois here works perfectly with the dreamier backing bat. Even the most jaded rap heads will be nodding their heads after a few seconds of this track. The keys that start off “Come Wit It” impart a more deliberate sound to the track; iHateJulian’s…
Kovan Baldwin’s “Last Man Standing” is an ode to all of those dedicated men that are inspired by the love of a strong woman. There’s so much passion and love that is presented during this single. Kovan has perfectly captured the burning desire that one has when they’ve found the right person. There’s a clear and crisp delivery that Baldwin brings to bear on this single, while the keys and…
OneTwenty’s “Tora Tora” is one unique sort of tracks. There’re sections that draw their inspiration from synth pop, traditional pop, and even 1990s R&B here. The 808/clap track firmly ensconces the single in a retro style, while OneTwenty’s dreamy style is part Weeknd, part Kid Cudi in its delivery. Tora Tora is elegant and expansive in its execution. Fans will be able to hear new dynamics and approaches after multiple…
Lalo The Don’s “Til The Break of Don” is a victorious type of track. With a braggadocios style in the vein of Rick Ross or Fat Joe, Lalo The Don is able to tell a story while a haunting sample plays in the background. The song will have listeners hanging on every bar, while the chorus will burrow its way deep into the meat of fans. The presence of Japanese…
4Pack Boss’s “Johnny Dang” is a tremendously fun track that calls back to the Atlanta scene of the mid-oughts. This means there’s a bit of drill, a bit of hooky chorus, and influences as wide-ranging as Gorilla Zoe, Young Jeezy and the St. Lunatics. 4Pack Boss’s got swagger by the boatload while crafting a track that is crisp and clear. The back and forth between his flow and the backing…
Keary Kase’s “Remember The Time” is an engrossing tale that is punctuated through repetition of “remember”. Moving back and forth between this more introspective instruction and a set of faster bars being dropped, Remember The Time ends up having a little bit of something that all rap heads will be able to appreciate. Remember The Time is able to tell a story, impress with its lyrical content and get fans…
Five Rings is a banger of a track. The keys and drums create a solid backdrop upon which DICI’s flow can shine, while DICI himself is able to change things up depending on where he’s at on the single. There’s a harmony that is weaved through his flow that marries together these two elements perfectly. The song is able to complete everything that it needs to do before the three-minute…
Kjersti Long’s cover of the Beatles classic Eleanor Rigby is a fascinating trip. There’s so much raw passion and emotion that is contained here, all while Long’s vocals are able to hit impressive highs and deep lows. There are influences here as wide-reaching as Hayley Williams and Korey Cooper (Skillet). The song waivers between hard rock and pop-rock, ensuring that fans of orchestral performers like Apocalytica and Mannheim Steamroller will…
Ride is a laid-back track that showcases the allure of Dom Whalley’s vocals more than anything. The effort refreshes new wave and pop styles – there’s a bit of Tears For Fears and Mr. Mister that can be sussed out here. Luxurious synths provide ample backing upon which Whalley’s voice can ride. The song has a bit of funkiness that rises up at points during Ride that feels more honest…
On The Weekend, JayBandsome is able to create a rapid-fire flow and pair it with a more introspective type of beating beat. The unity moment here occurs when listeners happen upon the single’s chorus, which has JayBandsome lay down some of the hookiest bars we’ve heard so far this year. The track has a bright and crisp sound to it that would slip in easily to the playlists of modern…
Lucia Cifarelli’s “Girls Like Me” is a dance / pop effort that is able to hit all the touchstones of the style from Ray of Light-era Madonna to ATC. There’s an insistent drum beat and soaring synths that virtually drags fans out on the dance floor. Charisma drips off of each lyric presented here by Lucia. The track is dynamic, with an instrumental-heavy side shifting into a brief dubstep-infused interlude.…
There’s something remarkable about the entire world coming to a complete standstill for just about a full year due to a global crisis. The amount of togetherness experienced in the face of a daunting, truly antagonizing force was something to cherish and the way that folks who might have lost sight of their artistic ambitions or creative spark were able to slowly whittle themselves back into creative form with the…
“Blender X” sends Hard Nips’ latest album release Master Cat into the stratosphere from the outset. The sinewy attack present in the opener continues across the remaining seven tracks and plays like a team effort rather than a vehicle for any individual performer. The Ramones are among the four-piece’s self-professed influences and you can hear that in songs such as this. Their punk sound is tempered, however, by a much sharper commercial…
Who is Sarantos? Is he an artist? Is he an author? A spy? An alien from Mars, sent to Earth to infect people with the disease of music? According to Sarantos, himself, he is all of these things, and a few more. His newest single, is an introspective piece, called “I Never Catch The Train.” If you only knew Sarantos for his music, you’ll have a specific, but possibly incomplete…
Audiopharmacy’s “Lose Your Mind” has an experimental flare to it that ties together so many distinct musical styles that it will be a challenge to suss them all out. There are tribal beats, eclectic Massive Attack meets Plastikman-styled electronic, and scratching that is a blend of DJ Premier and DJ Joe (Linkin Park). All of these elements together transform Lose Your Mind into a track that is continually shifting and…
The Tennessee Werewolves’s “Amy’s Gone” calls back to the country performers of the 1980s and early 1990s. There’s a tremendous narrative that is told through this single that will have fans holding on for dear life. The taut instrumentation that the Tennessee Werewolves incorporate to Amy’s Gone will further cement the single’s legacy among The Dixie Chicks’s Goodbye Earl or Deana Carter’s We Danced Anyway. Even with the act performing…
On their live version of Idiology, Last Giants are able to unite fuzzy, distorted guitars with a ropy bass line and splashy drums. The act is able to call forth the spirit of influences like Audioslave, Jane’s Addiction and Queens of the Stone Age. Last Giant’s charismatic vocals shine as brightly as any of the band’s arrangements, making for an extremely well-balanced composition. There’s an insistence to the drum /…