SINGER. MATTRESS. CAT. SUBTROPICAL PERSONALITY INDEPENDENT There’s one question that might be looming among the melody-oriented indie rock fans; is bedroom pop a dying breed, or are they going into a sort of merger? If you ask Australian [...]
NICOLA CONTE VIAGGIO BLUE NOTE/SCHEMA/FAR OUT RECORDINGS With compilations, particularly curated ones, there’s almost never a middle ground; they are either great or they are simply bad. To come up with a great one is a painstaking [...]
ÁRNÝ MARGRÉT I MISS YOU, I DO: THE SJÁUMST EDITION ONE LITTLE INDEPENDENT RECORDS Excellent artists from Iceland—or anywhere else that is not U.S. or U.K.—are no big surprise for decades now, so neither was the fact that Iceland’s Árný [...]
BURS SIGNIFICANCE, OTHERNESS BIRTHDAY CAKE RECORDS How do you transfer the harmony-laden sound of early ’70s exemplified in CSNY, combined with a glance of that sound from the ’90s (Kingsbury Manx anyone?), and then brought to [...]
SHOLTO THE SIRENS DEEPMATTER RECORDS BBC’s Gilles Peterson is considered one of the most discerning DJs and music producers around. So, when he endorses an artist, you need to prick up your ears, no matter what kind of sounds you favour. [...]
JOE’S TRUCK STOP THE MAGNOLIA SESSIONS ANTI-CORP When a record company, in this case it is Anti-Corp, has a long-running series, there is bound to be a flop here and there, particularly if that series is directed at live in the studio [...]
LIA KOHL VARIOUS SMALL WHISTLES AND A SONG DAUW What is the current place of conceptual art within experimental music? Not an easy question to answer as there is an ongoing debate as to whether such conceptual art is worth anybody’s time. [...]
THE CINDYS THE CINDYS BREAKFAST RECORDS/RUINATION RECORD CO. Bristol England made a name itself with quite a few bands, and particularly with the Sarah Records roster at its prime. What would the latter mean? Melody at the forefront, chiming [...]
DUKE & GOLDIE ROMANCE AND RAMBLIN’ INDEPENDENT Duke and Goldie are Vancouver’s Eric “The Duke” Duquette and Jena “Goldie” Gogo, who some might be familiar as longtime members of roots rockers Blue Sky Miners. As a duo, Duke and [...]
AMY JAY MNEMONICS INDEPENDENT For many listeners it might seem a somewhat easy thing to navigate the currently widening field of singer songwriter pop. All you have to do is come up with some good melodies, engage a stellar producer/arranger and [...]
DEVIN SHAFFER PATIENCE American Dreams Many artists these days start out by releasing music completely on their own, including recording their music wherever they could, without initially getting to a proper studio. That is exactly the way Devin [...]
TOMO NAKAYAMA OCEAN PORCHLIGHT RECORDS Seattle via Japan musician Tomo Nakayama isn’t an artist that likes to stand still and tie himself to a certain genre or a specific musical setting. He’s been making music for over two decades, [...]
CATHERINE BROOKMAN IF A SONG FADES OUT, IT’S PLAYING FOREVER SOMEWHERE LONG ECHO RECORDS Brooklyn-based Catherine Brookman presents herself as a performer and composer, rather than going under the somewhat worn-out term of singer and songwriter, [...]
STRANGE PASSAGE A FOLDED SKY MERITORIO RECORDS Do you remember the heyday of the ‘80s guitar-driven indie rock where bands like R.E.M., Felt, The Feelies, The Church and the melody-oriented phase of Hüsker Dü were among those spearheading some [...]
SPIRACLE OSSIPHAGE (EXTENDED) ROPE OR GUILLOTINE RECORDS Coming up with a debut album that presents a fully formed artist, who previously officially had only three tracks available, just might be a miracle these days. In this case it is [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS BROWN ACID: THE TWENTY-FIRST TRIP RIDINGEASY RECORDS With the 21st issue of the Brown Acid series that covers all proto-heavy/hard rock releases of its first era, a number of questions come up to mind. First question could be the [...]
THE BEATROOT ROAD HUMANIMAL INDEPENDENT In most cases when artists/bands attempt to cover as many genres as possible or subgenres on a single album, the first thing that might come to mind to many listeners is that old saying, or a variation of [...]
ISABEL RUMBLE HOLD EVERYTHING LIGHTLY INDEPENDENT There’s not that many chances for singer-songwriters to hide behind others. Both good and bad music they create is solely connected to their name and it is a make or break. At the same [...]
ADELINE HOTEL WATCH THE SUNFLOWERS RUINATION RECORDS Come to think of it, you could easily classify the music of Dan Knishkowy and Adeline Hotel as autumnal. After all, if you look at the band’s back catalogue, the last five albums, [...]
THE NOISY THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS EVEN MORE MEAT Audio Antihero Listening to The Secret Ingredient Is Even More Meat, you start seeing why The Noisy have had quite a strong following on Philadelphia’s local music and performance scene. [...]
JOYER ON THE OTHER END OF THE LINE JULIA’S WAR RECORDINGS Is alternative/indie rock, as it was known during its prime in the late ‘90s, a dying breed? Not if you ask brothers Nick and Shane Sullivan, the duo known artistically as Joyer, [...]
TIMOTHY LAROQUE THE FLORIDA EFFECT DEF CAT RECORDS These days it is nothing unusual if a singer-songwriter hails from Hollywood, California. Yet, what about the case when that singer-songwriter comes from Hollywood, but the one located in [...]
HEATHER AUBREY LLOYD PANIC ROOM WITH A VIEW INDEPENDENT Is having great, emotional, gritty vocals enough to come up with a very good album? Well, such vocals can create an impact, and Heather Aubrey Lloyd certainly has it, but is that enough? [...]
JULESY FLIP THE BED STRONG PLACE MUSIC Finding your own place in music circles isn’t easy these days, even for fully accomplished artists, let alone those that are practically starting out, particularly if they are coming up with a debut [...]
