rescuing musical virtue in distress.
As the name suggests D.U.Nx.G. (D.U. Next Generation) is what happens when the next generation gets the opportunity to write a new chapter in a band's already long history and also the sound of a new hip-hop supergroup keeping a legacy alive. As one-time D.U. member Tupac once said, "You either evolve or become irrelevant,"... Continue Reading →
Blurring the lines between 80's sonic nostalgia and futuristic pop-rock, Rocky Gibraltar covers a lot of ground, yet does so in a very unfussy and uncluttered way. It takes a touch of New Romantic sheen, pop smarts, ambient electronica, blends them seamlessly together and then throws in some sassy rock grooves to power everything along.... Continue Reading →
Goodbye, Molly Jenson's sophomore album is a remarkable, spacious and utterly gorgeous affair. Built of gentle swathes of dreamy pop vibes, drifting sonics, and fantastic use of space, the music ebbs and flows, digital waters crashing on analogue shores, often gently and seductive, occasionally employing more dramatic tones. On top of this, you have Jenson's... Continue Reading →
Making music based on a clear understanding of its healing qualities, Arienne Hearts Charlie write soulful and uplifting songs which come from a personal place but which are also universally relatable. Opening soothing salvo, Voyeur, is a song about total love, an entwining of hearts into the greatest show, hence the album title and a... Continue Reading →
Well, that came out of nowhere. 364 days since West of House dropped their debut album, Crescendo of Silence, we find its follow up, Drown The Wind heading our way. No fanfare, no teaser, no hype…well, there might have been, I may have missed it, I'm so out of the loop these days, but anyway,... Continue Reading →
Whilst other, perhaps less imaginative, artists are still patting themselves on the back for merging existing genres into new hybrid forms, Star Goes Nova seem to be able to create whole new genres from the ground up. And that is a much more satisfying sonic scenario, certainly for the listener, so I should imagine for... Continue Reading →
North Canada’s band, The Lucky Ones, play the kind of music that I call ‘Moonshine Music’. This isn’t the official term, of course, it’s wider recognised as bluegrass, but for some reason, the style of music and the instruments being played put me in mind of people racing around the countryside in Ford pickups during... Continue Reading →
Ahead of a four-track ep to follow, Trey Connor has released Aloof, an infectious and effective piece of indie-pop. Not only is it an addictive slice of contemporary music, but it also has some wonderful hidden depths. Aloof, and indeed the rest of the e.p. that it features on, tackles the very real and always... Continue Reading →
Any scene, sound or style is created through the building of sonic pyramids. These start by the establishment of a solid platform as a musical base, followed by additional layers of reinterpretation and evolution, creativity and flashes of inspiration, leading to a pinnacle upon which the current bands of that scene sits. And it isn't... Continue Reading →
I probably say this every time I have an instrumental album under the pen but listening to music without lyrics makes for a wholly different and fairly special experience. If I'm honest, lyrics can often get in the way. They lead you directly to the conclusion that the artist wants you to. Where's the fun... Continue Reading →
Opening with the beautiful Cross My Heart, this new EP from the wonderfully monikered Ranzel X Kendrick is a fine and understated affair, as we have come to expect. You can read about that first tracks soft and seductive sounds elsewhere but what follows it is equally as tasteful and masterful. Economy is the name... Continue Reading →
You always know that you are going to get something chilled and melodic, full of grace and groove when a Ranzel X Kendrick record emerges from the review pile. But even within that understated country-folk place that he calls home, he wanders a lot of sonic miles, pushing at boundaries and finding new ways of... Continue Reading →
Timing is everything. Releasing your debut record of big, brash, old-school, classic rock anthems just as the Grunge wave crashed on the musical shore meant that even though he was signed to his hero Paul Stanley's label, Tim Steinruck had to wait a bit longer for his dream of becoming a stadium rock and roll... Continue Reading →
If the recent single, I Can't Breathe, was a response to one specific dark chapter in the history of Tischleder's beloved Minneapolis, the writing of the song seems to raise more questions than it answered for him. Specifically, in light of these recent, tragic events, was the town that acted as the backdrop to his... Continue Reading →
For a long time, the city of Minneapolis was associated in many people's minds with iconic acts such as Bob Dylan, Soul Asylum, and Prince and just as iconic music venues which helped drive many of its creative offspring on to greater things. Sadly, following the death of George Floyd on those same streets, many... Continue Reading →
On their way to their next full-album release, The Persian Leaps have dropped this gorgeous track like enticing sonic breadcrumbs through the dark and dangerous forest of modern music. Hang on, that trail delivered two innocents into the hands of a malevolent witch…maybe that wasn't quite the best analogy. Anyway, When This Gets Out is... Continue Reading →
Just as before with Mid-Evil, (the more rap orientated project from the same artist) the cover of this latest release from Hider suggests something altogether more brutal and bombastic. Not that it doesn't have plenty of those sort of moments but the music found on ThoughLoops is always tempered with more well-crafted and seductive sounds,... Continue Reading →
One can only imagine the hotch-potch of musical genres that crop up at band practice and jam sessions when the three members of American band, Yonder Boys, meet up to discuss ideas. Such is the varied background of each member (the lineup sounds like the beginning of a joke; “an American, an Australian and a... Continue Reading →
Not knowing what to expect from this record but the cover artwork made me pick it up from the review pile. The first thing that strikes me is the beautifully harmonious musical arrangements throughout that are expertly augmented with intelligent lyrical devices. The vocal range is impressive. At times, a modern interpretation of nostalgic crooning... Continue Reading →
If you decided to boil hip-hop down to its basic essence, just its vibe, and underlying groove, you would eventually end up with something so understated and refined that it would probably be better labeled ambient soul. Just before you get to the point, you will pass through a sound that is typified by It's... Continue Reading →
Hi, Gabriel. Before we talk about the music can you just tell us about the interesting route which brings you to the field and in particular to the attention of Scott Healy? Gabriel: I grew up in a family that was wonderfully supportive of my artistic proclivities, so as a kid I was at once always... Continue Reading →
So, the performers have all gone home, the songs have been sung, the judges have mused and the votes have all been counted. That leaves only one thing left to do. Announce the finalists of this year's Great River Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. As always, it was a close event, after all, choosing one musician... Continue Reading →
Having already had the chance to experience Light Me Up under my pen earlier in the year, a full album from Ratinoff was something I have been looking forward to. That initial sonic meeting alerted me to his ability to take everything good about pop - addictiveness, groove, fun - and everything great about rock... Continue Reading →
Rock music has, to a certain degree, found its final, perfect form. Yes, it occasionally gets subjected to certain make-overs or experiments, is spliced with other genres or given a new, fresher image, but what rock and roll is really about, what lies at its heart never changes. Other musical genres might go through identity... Continue Reading →
If I was one of those people who clung desperately to generic labels, we would now be having a discussion about where prog-rock ends and post-metal starts. Thankful those days are long gone and the discerning listener doesn't concern themself with such nonsense, preferring to just let the music do the talking. And talk it... Continue Reading →
Music has many masters and can be turned towards many different ends from the poignant to the petty and everything in between. Mankind has used music to talk to its gods and make political points, to inflame the masses and soothe their sorrows, we have used it to have fun and celebrate the frivolous. It... Continue Reading →
Nick has a cool way of making opposites, not only attract but wonderfully attractive and this latest release is the perfect example of his ability to do this. Butterflyy Mind drives on a robust beat, a sort of motorik take on a disco-dirge but, as is his way, he cloaks that simple and groovesome device... Continue Reading →
The word ethereal is much overused in music writing these days. I should know, I'm more to blame than anyone. But sometimes there is no better word to use to sum up a piece of music that seems to have been beamed down to this world from somewhere far beyond. This is one of those... Continue Reading →
Since I first wrote about The Triplet Code, their music has taken me off in all sorts of directions, driven by side-projects and solo albums. Returning to this gloriously ornate take on heavy electric blues, as seen through a cosmopolitan filter, one that blends east and west, past and present, feels like I have come... Continue Reading →
The thing I love about Left L.A, one of the things anyway, is the way that it begins in a jaunty, upbeat sort of rocky/country sort of place but, just when you think that you have its measure, throws you a curve-ball, heading into some more introspective and melancholic territory. And once it has set... Continue Reading →