If given the opportunity would you listen to music that gives you joy and love, or would you listen to music that makes you dance? We all have different reasons for what we choose in our tastes of music, but every once in a while my world gets shook and I get swept away by
Jodi Marxbury
With a thrusting stomp, an acoustic guitar sparks “Little Bit of Texas” to life. The lead single and title track of Carlos Washington’s Steel Horse Swing’s new album doesn’t start us off with a lot of pomp and predictable country intro stuff – from the moment we press play on this track-forward, the rip-roar rhythm
Something happens in the streets of a large city. It’s its own ecosystem of sounds and assembly lines of people, day-in, day-out. It’s one thing to capture that sound, it’s another thing to infuse the listener into its world. Rapper extraordinaire Shemie Rozay’s “City Drop” takes the listener deep into an atmosphere of persistence and
“Hold me close when the hour nears / Close the curtain before you fade / Tonight… It’s Alright…” croons a cryptic voice from behind a haze of string play in “South of Yesterday,” one of the four songs on Izzie’s Caravan’s new EP Zephyrs. A follow-up to 2019’s Leo’s Guitar, Zephyrs is by far the more melodic and poetic
Despite coming up through one of the most competitive ages in the history of popular music, the New England-based Ilyah has a lot to be proud of at this stage of his career. He’s dropped marvelous singles in “Come Get It,” awesome videos in “The Only One,” “Miscommunication” and “Girls Like You,” all in addition
Project Grand Slam have been making headlines in both the independent and mainstream music press for years now, and when listening to their latest album, East Side Sessions, it’s easy to understand why. Led by the one and only Robert Miller on bass, Project Grand Slam are a band that doesn’t play by the rules, and
“Theme from Kiss of the Spider Woman” begins Houston based Ricky Comeaux’s first solo album If I Ruled the World and I knew, a minute in, I would likely enjoy the entirety of this eleven song release. Comeaux first came to prominence as one half of the Atwood//Comeaux duo with multi-instrumentalist Jerry Atwood and retains the vocal
Toox’s new single “Own the Night”, produced by the threesome of Michael DeBarge, Juicegotkeys, and Chey de Los, is a memorable release made all the more so by the contributions of featured guests such as Daimen Carter and Rose Culture. The additional vocal firepower makes a fine track even better and the producers have a
“Smile” is the latest single from Wisconsin’s AV Super Sunshine, the latest entry in a discography that began in 2015 and has accumulated many fine moments and powerful recordings during his nearly five year musical journey under this moniker. We often laud artists in reviews as being “unique” or “like no one else today” and
When we personalize our efforts to engage the world, the positive impact we create is powerful. Anyone can hold up a sign, march shoulder to shoulder with others in the name of a particular cause, or reel off a bevy of slogans and adages we believe illustrate solidarity with an issue. This observation does not
Swathed between two flutes and a mesmerizing piano, the new instrumental song “Liama” is a lovely reminder to slow things down and listen to the music. Ensconced in an imaginative song for the listener’s taking, the duo behind “Liama” are New Jersey’s Steve Markoff and Patricia Lazzara, with Allison Brewster Franzetti helming the piano. As
Slow-churning but slicker than most anything else I’ve heard out of the underground lately, the beats that define the mood of the music in “The Coronavirus,” Darrell Kelley’s latest single, are by far the most evocative component to behold in this white-hot track from the acclaimed indie R&B crooner (which is saying a lot considering
Artists, particularly in pop music, use a lot of different weapons when they get into a battle for their audience’s affections, and for Giadora, vocal harmonies are the bread and butter of her war chest. Songs like her latest single “Naïve” require a lot of moxie from behind the microphone, but she doesn’t back down from
Though rather barebones by design, the strings that produce the foundational melody in Captain Dane-O’s single “A Long Time Ago” are strangely hypnotic right out of the box, and despite their jagged arrangement, they arguably serve as a more entrancing element than any other in the whole of the song. In a “A Long Time
A piano’s keys issue a painful melody that Mike Rickard picks up and turns into a pointed harmony with little more than his soft, entrancing voice as we listen in on the opening bars of “Surrender,” the closing track of his album Out Loud, but despite the heady dose of emotionality that we receive in
Diane Patterson’s “Somewhere There’s a Song Still Singing” is a more than worthy addition to her extensive catalog of music reaching back to the early 1990’s. Patterson has maintained a high level of songwriting quality for nearly three decades and has appeared on impressive live bills along the way with luminaries such as Ani Difranco
Staggering out of the silence with a firmly toned melodicism, the piano that guides us through Luis Mojica’s “Shaman Food,” one of my favorite songs from his new record How a Stranger Is Made, is undeniably the most attractive element within the instrumentation, but make no mistake about it – it’s far from the only reason
Slithering out of the silence like a python, the first few strands of melodic ribbonry that we encounter in “Fanning the Flame,” the new single from Chloe Tang, are easily enough to evoke a moody sense of seduction in anyone listening to this latest release from the acclaimed pop singer, but it isn’t until our
Searing its melody into our minds one plodding note at a time, the piano keys that adorn the backdrop behind Kellie-Anne’s evocative lead vocal in “Legacy,” her latest single and music video, bring as much passion to the table as our star’s singing does, and if you’re at all familiar with her discography, you’ll understand
In “Life As We Know It,” the third official single from his latest album Being Myself, Rob Alexander changes things up and goes after the crowd that occupies the dancefloor in what could be described as his most rhythmic effort yet. Alexander applies his signature brand of singing to a previously untried framework in this
Electropop beats adorn a reggae rhythm with a little bit of extra color in “More Than You Know” much as they sneak their way into the backdrop of a righteous rap-style grind in “Savanna.” “Liberation” is slinky in its delivery of supple grooves where “Moses” is much more deliberate, although stoic, in the same department.
Even though it runs a little over six minutes in total length, the progressive electronica tune “Spores in My Dermis” is actually the shortest song on Earthadelik, the new album from Silvermouse released late last year, and let me tell you – it uses every second of time it occupies our speakers to crater the listener
Executive producer and actress Linda Collins recently accepted an award for Best International Film award at the Brightside Tavern Shorts Film Festival for the short film Perception, an Andres Irias written and directed film approaching the subject of race and immigration from two perspectives. Collins plays Lauren, the mother of an American teen taught to hate immigrants
Whether he’s searching through the haze of a distant harmony in “Through Is Through” or the dark “Wake Up,” indulging in self-aware exposure as a lyricist in “Hold On,” “Afterglow” or “The Way I Feel Now,” or simply digging into a swinging beat in “Tip Top Bobs,” the swaggering “Working Class Heroes” or Johnny Cash-inspired
Instrumental records are often tailored to one specific audience over another, whether it be fans of jazz or heavy metal enthusiasts, but that’s hardly the case with the new virtuosic guitar album Lifting the Curse by Darren Michael Boyd. Though most of the material on Lifting the Curse qualifies as rocker approved, with tracks like “Circle of Sixes” and
If you’re in the mood for some smoky beats and clandestine harmonies that, once they’ve revealed themselves to us, are difficult to shake from your consciousness, David Gelman’s got the right tunes for you in “Lonely Tonight,” “Let It All Go” and “Soft Surrender.” If instead it’s twang, tone and richly surreal (but nevertheless evocative)
Welcome Sean! Thank you for your time! We would love for you to share with readers who may not know, a little about your story of where you started and where you are now. I am from a hidden Star System . Secluded between Sirius A and Sirius B. I have portages myself, through time,
In her new single “Sweet Persuasion,” Destiny Malibu works to establish herself as a melody-first singer with a penchant for turning out stunning pop beats as often as she does supple, verse-driven harmonies. Malibu doesn’t hold anything back from us in this latest single to emerge from her ever-growing brand, utilizing the bright tones in
“All That I Want,” the new single from Kings County, opens up with a slow-motion galloping vocal that immediately clues us in to the kind of rip-roar hurricane the band is about to unleash, but for as furious as this introduction is, it doesn’t hold a candle to what this sizzler of a song will
Leaving nothing to wonder, the dramatic and forceful “Because Of You” from Boston, Massachusetts’ born Darrell Kelley is a pointed and poignant statement on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and gun violence. Kelley’s daring music beds and auto-tuned vocals may seem jarring at first, but the justifiably emotionally-charged message channels the desperation and anger so