A groove has the power to shape an entire song. From the mood to the very tone in which it’s delivered, the beat plays a role in making the new single from Battle Tapes, “Brand New,” as beastly as it can be, and I must say, it’s quite the monster …
Read More »Single Review: Smilez – “I Hate My Ex”
Smilez melds more pop elements than he does hard hip-hop rhymes in his new single “I Hate My Ex,” but while his lyrical wit is certainly something that should feel like the proper showcase here, it’s hardly the only reason why I would recommend serious rap fans give the track …
Read More »Single Review: Honey and Blue – “All in My Head”
Simple lyrics and untold melodies from a pair of artists who know their way around a beat or two – that’s essentially what Honey and Blue’s “All in My Head” is made of, and yet it feels as stacked to the brim with charisma as a song can be on …
Read More »Single Review: Vili V – “Tupelo Rhythm”
Vili V’s “Tupelo Rhythm” isn’t shy about trumpeting its musical debts. He’s an artist who wears his influences on his sleeve. The rough-hewn guitars, spot-on drumming, and robust vocals burning bright in this song are enough to put it over the top, but he adds a little extra fairy dust …
Read More »Album Review: Silent Skies – “Dormant”
Silent Skies’ Dormant is the third release from the highly praised duo of pianist/composer Vikram Shankar and Tom S. Englund. The pair are renowned for their work with other musical outfits; Englund with the band Evergrey and Shankar with acts such as Lux Terminus and Redemption. Their partnership under the Silent Skies banner, however, affords them …
Read More »Album Review: Jonah Leatherman – “Ensuring My Uncertainty”
Jonah Leatherman, the enigmatic sonic craftsman hailing from the heartland of Indiana, has unveiled his latest creation Ensuring My Uncertainty. The very title of this record serves as a poignant harbinger of the emotional terrain we are about to traverse. Leatherman’s offering beckons us to grapple with the ineffable uncertainties that pervade …
Read More »Album Review: Rob Equiza – Refugees
Rob Equiza is currently touring in support of his latest release, Refugees, having just now completed the second gig of a three-night stint in Calbayog City, Samar. Since debuting in 2006, Equiza’s brand of rough-hewn, melodic indie rock, strewn across a wealth of band, solo, and collaborative efforts, has earned …
Read More »Single Review: The Dead Daisies – “Make Some Noise”
Erupting like a stadium rocker in the style of classic chest-beating bands like Led Zeppelin but quickly shaped into something too grungy and disobedient to live by the disciplined rules of metal, it’s obvious from the first couple of seconds we hear in The Dead Daisies’ “Make Some Noise” forward …
Read More »Album Review: The One Eighties – Minefields
In what feels like an AOTY-worthy moment for indie rock fans everywhere, The One Eighties deliver a new record this summer that has left me on the edge of my seat from my very first spin. Appropriately named Minefields, The One Eighties’ most recent affair is hardly another entry in a …
Read More »Album Review: Carla Patullo “So She Howls” (LP)
Carla Patullo’s So She Howls is a lot of things. The nine songs comprising the album are neo-classical, ambient, and cinematic in scope. It’s really quite unclassifiable as one thing. It defies easy labels. Listening to these performances suggests that the creative outburst producing this material likely took a year to write, …
Read More »Single Review: Clash Bowley – “Warm and Fuzzy”
Massachusetts-based Clash Bowley continues his prolific ways with yet another new collection entitled Warm and Fuzzy. His idiosyncratic songwriting bears no ready comparison with his peers and contemporaries; much of this is due to the nature of the recordings, DIY affairs laid down in his home studio setting, but there’s more …
Read More »Single Review: Makes My Blood Dance – “Heaven Collides”
There aren’t many sacrifices in this world that can compare to that which a group of musicians makes when they give their soul over to the audience for nothing more than a round of applause, and in the new single “Heaven Collides” by Makes My Blood Dance, the up and …
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