SUGAR CANDY MOUNTAIN MYSTIC HITS ROYAL OAKIE Sugar Candy Mountain’s Mystic Hits is an album that has been out of print for a while now (a decade or so), and in the meantime has earned that mystic tag from its title. Starting out as duo of [...]
ASHA JEFFERIES EGO RIDE NETTWERK If you are of the opinion that well-crafted, sophisticated pop is not worth your time, you just might as well move on and pass on Asha Jefferies’ new album Ego Ride. On the other hand, even if you do have [...]
ISKWĒ NĪNA INDEPENDENT iskwē’s highly anticipated new album, nīna, stands as a pinnacle of empowerment and artistry in her discography. Delving into intimate themes, iskwē invites listeners into her world through the mesmerizing inflection [...]
TORN BOYS 1983 INDEPENDENT PROJECT RECORDS This is a very interesting album that has shades of the “what could have been” vibe, as it is not an album per se, but a collection of songs by a band that seemed to have a brief blast in the music [...]
EMERSON, LAKE & POWELL COMPLETE COLLECTION SPIRIT OF UNICORN MUSIC/CHERRY RED RECORDS Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) formed in 1970 when Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (bass, guitar) and Carl Palmer (drums) came together to form a [...]
BLUE ÖYSTER CULT GHOST STORIES FRONTIERS MUSIC One has to love and respect Blue Öyster Cult. When they decided to assemble and release an album of tracks recorded for but left off their albums from 1978 to 1983 (with one exception of “If I Fell” [...]
JADE BIRD BURN THE HARD DRIVE GLASSNOTE RECORDS Expressing your personal life, feelings, and observations would be quite a double-edged sword for singer-songwriters. To make it work, the artists who take that route have to make a solid [...]
KHRUANGBIN A LA SALA DEAD OCEANS/NIGHT TIME STORIES, LTD. Khruangbin has returned with A La Sala, their fourth studio album and first since 2020’s Mordechai. Over the course of 12 songs, the nearly instrumental trio continues to develop their [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS UNDER THE BRIDGE 2 SKEP WAX RECORDS Sarah Records is one of those stories in pop that long-lasting fandom is made of. The artists recording for the label at the time it was active were dubbed twee, and the whole scene surrounding [...]
FLUNG ALL HEARTBEAT GET BETTER RECORDS With All Heartbeat, her third album, Kashika Kollaikal, aka Flung has just confirmed that she is currently one of the more inventive artists using electronic music elements in their music. She already [...]
PHILLIP LAMMONDS COWBOY THINGS CURB RECORDS The name of Phillip Lammonds might not be so familiar, even for some avid fans of Americana/country music, even though Lammonds has been on the scene for decades now. The reason for that might simply [...]
STILL CORNERS DREAM TALK WRECKING LIGHT RECORDS A dusty old cowboy in a dusty old saloon finishes the dregs of his now warm beer and rises up off of the bar stool. He steps out into the day, hot as hell, the intense sun casting a glare of white [...]
KABIR DALAWARI LAST CALL SHIFTING PARADIGM RECORDS Having made an impressive debut with 2022’s Awareness, Kabir Dalawari has returned with his second album. Featuring the performances of Dalawari on drums, Kyle Brooks on alto sax, Chris Maden on [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS MOVING AWAY FROM THE PULSEBEAT: POST-PUNK BRITAIN 1977-1981 CHERRY RED RECORDS When ‘punk rock’ exploded on the scene in 1976, the bands (and fans) had to know that there would be a ‘best before’ date on that music. It either [...]
CREATION REBEL HIGH ABOVE HARLESDEN 1978-2023 ON-U SOUND After being quiet for a while, dub innovators Creation Rebel returned last year with a new set of dub delicacies, again under the helm of Adrian Sherwood and his On-U-Sound titled Hostile [...]
FANCLUBWALLET OUR BODIES PAINT TRAFFIC LINES COOL ONLINE Our Bodies Paint Traffic Lines is the latest EP by fanclubwallet and the first as a full band. Up until now, 24-year-old Hannah Judge was DIY. Three of Judge’s close friends who were also [...]
HIGH LLAMAS HEY PANDA DRAG CITY The High Llamas are back with their first album in eight years. Hey Panda is creative from start to finish, with wild production and layered instrumentation. Some songs are quite interesting, especially the first [...]
MAJESTY CRUSH BUTTERFLIES DON’T GO AWAY THE NUMERO GROUP Majesty Crush were a 1990s ‘shoegaze’ band with a 1980s sensibility and vibe. Formed in Detroit, the band consisted of the late David Stroughter (vocals), bassist Hobey Echlin, [...]
SUM 41 HEAVEN :X: HELL RISE RECORDS/BIG PICTURE MEDIA Sum 41 has once again graced our ears with their latest studio album, Heaven :x: Hell and it’s nothing short of spectacular. Heaven delivers a punchy collection of 10 tracks brimming [...]
MAGANA TEETH AUDIO ANTIHERO For singer-songwriters, or any artist going solo, it has now almost become a must to step out of the standard expectations for the genre and go the way of introspective personal music with just a voice and a single, [...]
GLASS BEAMS MAHAL NINJA TUNE Mahal is a very fascinating EP, as is the band Glass Beams. There is not a whole lot known about the band, such as who are the three members, but they do make a great sound with influences as far reaching as Ravi [...]
DANTÉ RAVENHEARST HALF SUN/HALF MOON SUN MILK RECORDS Toronto-based Danté Ravenhearst (originally from Kawartha Lakes in Ontario) is not only a singer/songwriter, but she is also a conservationist and scientist. Not the usual combination one [...]
GARY CLARK JR. JPEG RAW WARNER MUSIC Five years ago, Gary Clark Jr. established himself as one of the most impressive creative forces to emerge in the last decade with his impeccable opus, This Land. Since then, the anticipation for his fourth [...]
R.E. SERAPHIN FOOL’S MATE TAKE A TURN/SAFE SUBURBAN HOME RECORDS It feels a bit like power pop was in a bit of a doghouse after its second upsurge in the 90s, but with quite a new number of artists favoring the genre (or sub-genre, if you [...]
