With a visual element that matches the sweeping synths of Summertime is Here, Szandra Mayer is able to make an engrossing multi-media effort. Showcasing the carefree experience of youth, the videography of Mayer’s latest blends together sunflowers, horseplay, and verdant landscapes. With smart use of vibrant colors and an overall palette that just pops, Summertime is Here showcases well the considerable potential of every summer to be special. Ending the…
Cover albums usually go one of two ways: They are either exhaustingly mediocre exercises in stalling while the performer buys time until a new record is finished or, in very rare instances, it’s an example of an artist being able to stretch way beyond expectations and their relegated genre and deliver a satisfyingly compelling album. For Corb Lund, the latter applies here. The only real downside to Cover Year Tracks,…
Make it Better is an alt-pop track that looks back to the halcyon days of the late 1990s. With hints of Bloodhound Gang, Hanson, and Smash Mouth interspersed with his own unique approach, Mark Ian is able to make a single that will have fans singing along after their first play-through. The chorus sufficiently changes things enough to keep fans’ interest levels high through the entirety of Make it Better.…
Terry Robb is able to call back to blues rock with his new single, How a Free Man Feels. By marrying a traditional music style with modern recording techniques, Robb is able to make a song that resounds loudly with a wide segment of listeners. Terry’s vocals are integral in both providing a narrative for the track while adding a further layer to the already intricate instrumental arrangement that plays…
Runnin’ Through My Mind is a mid-tempo track that is able to deftly tie together slower, more contemplative sections with a quick chorus that will bury itself deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. The vocals presented to fans here are particularly fun as they both compare nicely to other pop cuts and possess a tremendous pathos that will have one continue to play this cut long after they’ve…
On Que 9’s “Be Long”, a dark and brooding instrumentation is able to provide a compelling counterpoint to the richer, lighter word play that plays at the top of the track. Booming bass ensures that one is able to step out on the dance floor, while the rapid-fire flow that Que 9 spits at the 45-second mark will keep fans firmly stuck in their seats. Be Long is an effort…
Coming off with a vibe close to the first Jonny Polonsky record or the output from Daniel Johnston, Matthew Squires latest is bedroom pop at it’s best. The production, though cleaner on Squires album than the other examples, is minimal at best allowing for the songs to come across in the most organic, natural form possible. It’s been just three years since his last release, but his knack for writing…
URL: https://smomid.com/about/ Smomid’s Pyramidi Scheme is the latest electronic-themed release from guitarist Nick Demopoulos and his most defiant release yet. I use the word defiant, but it isn’t aggression. His defiance, instead, manifests itself as a resolute refusal to give more than passing acknowledgment to conventional musical structures and instrumentation. Smomid, instead, prefers to follow the road less taken. There are some tracks recorded for Pyramidi Scheme with familiar sounding elements, even melodies, and…
At the invitation of longtime friend Lucinda Williams, Jesse Malin caught her opening set at Tom Petty’s final show. That moment eventually led to Malin writing the beautifully sanguine “Shinning Down” (complete with a perfect Petty jangle guitar sound throughout), a track midway through Malin’s latest Sunset Kids. The song is a brilliant encapsulation of the record, carrying on Malin’s punk-bred singer/songwriter vibe that has defined his solo career; songs…
Giadora has made quite an impression on the local Los Angeles scene without ever embracing the attendant eccentricities often defining the pop/dance music style. Her first singe “Twisted” shows she is far from some cookie performer and, instead, rates as one of the more fully rounded talents active in the pop music world today. Despite a beginning in Los Angeles venues that featured Giadora alone with nothing but her acoustic…
Ezra Furman made the declaration recently that Twelve Nudes is his punk record and as much as he’s flirted with the genre over his past few albums, the anger, spiked guitars and red-throated vocals are clearly front and center here. That vibe is underscored perfectly with the scorching opening track “Calm Down aka I Should Not be Alone” careening to a crash after a Ramones-appropriate two-minutes-and-22 seconds. Some of the…
It’s been almost a decade since Rob Laufer last focused on his own music. In the interim, he served as a producer, songwriter, guitarist for hire and music director for Wild Honey Orchestra. While he was in high demand from others, his voice as a solo artist was sorely missed over the past nine years. The Floating World is proof that not a bit of rust set in on his own work.…
Soft vocal harmonies adorn the lush opening bars of the surreal acoustic ballad “Almost an Angel,” and while their boldly evocative textures are all the more pronounced thanks to a brilliant delivery from singer Rachel Adams, they represent but a sliver of the unfiltered emotionality that listeners will discover when browsing the tracklist of Still Gushing, the first studio album from Nocturnal Blonde. Nocturnal Blonde was formed with the mission of…
“The Smoke And The Stars,” the opening track off of Jason Hawk Harris’s debut album is an impressive, emotional ballad, but one that belies what’s to follow shortly. The building swell of strings and deeply personal lyrics sounds amazing, but ultimately (and thankfully), Harris devotes much of the record to a more stripped down, laid back, wink and a nod approach to Americana. “Cussing At The Light,” the very next…
Rollicking strings saturated in pristine white fuzz adorn the opening bars of “Discover,” but as we’ll soon discover, their measured strut is but one of the sensuous ingredients that Kazyak will employ in the sonic stew that this engrossing composition is. A powerful vocal harmony soars into the heavens from which it came in the climactic chorus, and believe it or not, its staggered catharsis is only a drop in…
Not long before Kim Fowley pulled together and ultimately terrorized (or inspired depending on whose version of the story you’re following) the brilliant teenaged, all-female rock band The Runaways, he helped establish the nearly as brilliant, but short-lived, glam rock/power pop five piece The Hollywood Stars. Fowley pulled in a disparate collection of Southern California musicians and went about co-writing, producing and working on his Svengali-in-training role with the group.…
Trap Boomin immediately stands out from the rest of modern rap music due to an unmatched backing beat that incorporates a bit of an Asian-inspired sound. DLRN’s flow hits all the high marks in terms of memorable repetition of phrases and strong, confident lyrics. The feature laid down here by Rich The Kid keeps things fresh while dovetailing nicely with the main body of Trap Boomin. A bombastic introduction, DLRN’s…
Heels is a beautiful track that showcases the passion and ability of Mike Jay. Heels shines based on a lush beat that blends in sweeping synths and a fat bass line. The sultry, sexy vox of Mike Jay here build upon the tradition of Chris Brown or Trey Songz. There’s an addition layer of vocal harmony impressed upon Heels that catapults the effort into the upper echelon of pop-radio performances.…
During Lost Identity, Sonic Rade are able to cultivate a 1980s-synthrock infused sound. A thick, chunky bass line highlights the ethereal vocals, which will appease fans of Peter Murphy or Disintegration-era Robert Smith. The act is taut, crafting a backing instrumentation that holds up to repeat plays. A driving beat punctuates the back of the track as the vocals and guitars are given the spotlight. A particularly poignant moment occurs…
On Chasing Whatever, Trouble in the Streets are able to blend pop, haunting new wave, and EDM into something that is wholly unique. Multiple vocal layers and a dense instrumentation ensure that fans will find new twists and turns even 5 or 10 plays in. The rap-infused flow that is weaved through Chasing Whatever provides further variety to an already eclectic output. Trouble in The Streets shake off any potential…