Album Reviews

Barista is the brainchild of Istanbul-based pop / rocker Bahadir Han Eryilmaz. Featuring a cast of special guests from multiple genres, including Simon Phillips (Judas Priest), Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp), Brian Duffy (Guns N’ Roses) and Lydia Salnikova (Kenny Rogers), the Barista project is intriguing in every way. Each album is …

When listening to any portion of Pennan Brae’s “El Camino,” it’s virtually impossible for anyone to escape the pendulum-like swing of the instruments – nor the urgency with which Brae himself is hurling the lyrics at us – but if you’re thinking this track is all about physicality exclusively, you’ve …

Massillon, Ohio artist Master Puff has just dropped his debut single single, “Good, Real Good”. The track is feel good, low key track showcasing the linguistic gymnastics of Master Puff. “Good, Real Good embodies the idea of staying positive through the negative,” Puff says, “Sometimes you can’t stop how you feel, so you might as …

“A Monday night like any other / Might as well be invisible / Which doesn’t leave us much to work with / It’s lots more fun to get in trouble” sings Jared Hallock in a soft melodic voice, much of his vocal tone channeling the essence of the material even …

Indie rock hasn’t been the same since AV Super Sunshine stepped into the game. He’s thrown just about every kind of mysterious sonic smoke one can conceive in our direction just in the past three years, but this isn’t stopping him from getting right back into the grind of things …

Malou Beauvoir has been a rising star in the Haitian-American crossover pop movement for a minute now, but in her new single “Kenbem,” I think it becomes fairly impossible for anyone to call her anything other than the real deal. This spring has seen a ton of output from her …

Pouncing on us with a ton of fuzz and even more charisma behind the beat than it does the polish of the production quality, Brett Copeland makes a point of pressing on the gas pedal as hard as he can right out of the gate in his new single “Gunmouth” …

Young Jimmy is a singer/songwriter, rapper, and guitarist based in Bronx, New York. Growing up, Jimmy discovered slave ancestry on both sides of his family, and gradually recognized rock n’ roll as a product having originated within the African American community. After attending high schools centered around art and design, …

The pandemic has spawned some good things. One of those is Philadelphia’s Brian Shapiro Band. Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Shapiro composed eight tracks for the band’s debut studio full-length All We Can See that are, by turns, musically challenging, physically engaging, and percolating with idiosyncratic intelligence. Shapiro came together with Berklee College …

Hailing from Turku, a town on the southwest coast of Finland, born Mauri Kosonen, is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and professional visual artist. With a rebrand to Mauri Dark as a stage name, he has achieved quite a lot, including eight albums and over 500 shows in 25 years with different …

Arkansas’ Billy Jeter is currently readying himself, alongside a cadre of supporting musicians, for a much-anticipated return to live performances. His new full-length album release Shine Eye Landing gives him a full slate of new tracks ready to be incorporated into his live set. Those familiar with Jeter’s past work will likely …

Country music has never been one style of music. It has always been a mixture of many types of music and voices, springing from so many other roots and branches that have later led to the growth of a country music tale. Since the old days of Little jimmy Dickens, …