THE CLEARWATER SWIMMERS THE CLEARWATER SWIMMERS NEW MARTIAN RECORDS How does a roots and slow core combination sound to you? Well, if it on first pitch sounds a bit incongruous, Portland/NYC band The Clearwater Swimmers escape the possible murky [...]
ADELINE HOTEL WHODUNNIT RUINATION RECORDS When artists pick up monikers, these may be telling signs, and yet, they may not be. Brooklyn’s Dan Knishkowy goes under one – Adeline Hotel, and based on his latest album Whodunnit, that [...]
BIG SHARE PRINTED PICTURES INDEPENDENT Some just might remember Bent By Elephants, a collaborative musical effort that produced some interesting music from 2009 to 2015. Part of that effort were Chesley Walsh & Luke Fowlie, the [...]
FUR TRADER WHOSE DREAM IS THIS INDEPENDENT It has become a sort of a tradition for artists to pick more than one role in the creation of their art, and in this case, music. So, it might come as no surprise thar Los Angeles singer/songwriter [...]
VARIOUS ARTISTS WHY DON’T YOU SMILE NOW: LOU REED AT PICKWICK RECORDS 1964-65 LIGHT IN THE ATTIC RECORDS Back in the sixties Pickwick Records were supposed to be a budget version of the then-dominating songwriter powerhouse that was New [...]
CLINIC STARS ONLY HINTING KRANKY RECORDS There’s always a specific feel to artists releasing their music through Kranky Records, but also a very individual take on that specific feel. There’s no exception to that ‘rule’ [...]
LEA THOMAS COSMOS FOREVER TRIPLE DOLPHIN RECORDS Dream pop in any shape and form has become a bit of a jaded (sub) genre these days if it is handled by the artists that only go through the motions and simply use it as an empty musical shell. [...]
ULNA GAZEBO INDEPENDENT Is there anything wrong when the music of a certain artist/band seems to follow in the footsteps of another? Not really, particularly if it is the footsteps of a great one, like in this case, late great Eliot Smith, and [...]
ALLYSHA JOY THE MAKING OF SILK FIRST WORD RECORDS An instantly recognizable voice is something that can make or break an artist’s work. If it works, it gives the music that specific touch that the listeners could attach to, even if the [...]
ROBYN HITCHCOCK 1967: VACATIONS IN THE PAST TINY GHOST RECORDS When you have been hailed as one of the key players in the neo-psychedelia for such a long time, at some point you have to go back and look at where, when, how, and surely why, you [...]
WAYNE GRAHAM BASTION WATERLOO RECORDS No, Wayne Graham is not a singer-songwriter, nor is he a single person (in this case at least)—Wayne Graham is a band from Kentucky, and Bastion is their ninth and latest album. The quartet picked the band [...]
BOB SUMNER SOME PLACE TO REST EASY NORTH COUNTRY COLLECTIVE/FLUFF & GRAVY As an artist, there are two ways to go about tackling Americana music- you can play it straight, picking up the traditional elements (country, folk, other roots forms) [...]
MO KENNEY FROM NOWHERE INDEPENDENT Mo Kenney (they/them) is up to their fifth album titled From Nowhere. Yet, from wherever that is, Juno-nominated songwriter’s music here is coming from somewhere good. Presenting all the usual as well as [...]
DAVID LUNING LESSONS INDEPENDENT Yet another Americana artist? Well, yes and no really, as Americana as a genre has long been an expanding musical category that includes so many disparate musical elements that often don’t have much in [...]
THE NEW STUDENTS LITTLE BLUE DOT INDEPENDENT Can modern be old? Sure, if you ask Long Island collective The New Students, who seem bound to try and reverse the process that is ongoing in Americana music. Instead of taking old songs and music in [...]
SIMA CUNNINGHAM HIGH ROLLER RUINATION RECORD CO. High Roller might officially be Sima Cunningham’s debut solo album, but the Chicago artist has already been making a name with that city’s duo Finom, as well as one more prominent [...]
SHADY COVE PART II INDEPENDENT Working within the sub-genre that is defined as dream-pop might sound a simple task to some listeners, but bringing in something else there, that touches upon other musical streams like bedroom or jangle pop, or [...]
AVI C. ENGEL STRANGLING VINE INDEPENDENT With some 20 years on the music scene, Toronto’s Avi C. Engel (they/them) is no newcomer. During that period, they have accumulated quite a serious catalogue, which their Bandcamp page will amply show [...]
EDDY LEE RYDER SWEET DELUSIONS INDEPENDENT When the title track of Eddy Lee Ryder’s debut album Sweet Delusions, opens the album you are hit with that Deja vu sensation that is both familiar, but at the same time fresh and new sensation. [...]
ENERGY SLIME PLANET PERFECT WE ARE TIME Coming up with picture perfect (or video/streaming perfect) pop these days is much harder to achieve as copycats (including AI) are hovering all around with something that sounds like chewing on an empty [...]
QUIVERS OYSTER CUTS MERGE As is the case with any other band, Melbourne, Australia’s Quivers and their latest album Oyster Cuts can be described in a few simple words, but as is the case with some other Australian greats like Go-Betweens [...]
MILO BINDER THE UNSPEAKABLE MILO BINDER REAL GONE MUSIC It takes some artists three days to come up with new stuff, but it takes others quite a bit longer. In the case of Vancouver/LA artist Milo Binder, it was ‘only’ 33 years [...]
JULIA-SOPHIE FORGIVE TOO SLOW BA DA BING! RECORDS With any form of electro music, pop, or ambient (take your pick) the key question these days is “what is that new element an artist can bring to the genre?” It can be big, it can be small, just [...]
LITTLE MYSTERY LITTLE MYSTERY RUINATION RECORD CO New York’s Ivy Meissner is one Little Mystery, and her self-titled debut album amply shows that she has chosen quite a fitting moniker to present her music. With quite an intriguing voice [...]
