Clever Hopes Artefact Independent When a band (in this case a duo) takes its name from a W.H. Auden poem, you simply have to prick up your ears and listen. Sometimes such a build-up can be a big letdown, but in the case of Clever Hopes’ debut [...]
Tall Folk Wiser Independent Having a good sense of humor in any kind of music, even more so in melancholy-oriented folk/roots genres certainly can further artists’ cause: “Lara is from a long line of long legs. Jack is an extension of [...]
SHIPS IN THE NIGHT CAN TAKE YOU TO DREAMS OR TO NIGHTMARES A CONVERSATION WITH ALETHEA LEVENTHAL OF SHIPS IN THE NIGHT Playing with your dreams and nightmares, transforming them into music can be a tricky game. On one hand you can come up with [...]
Alex Albrecht Resolve Constellation Tatsu Sometimes, album covers can be deceptive, other times, they can be dead on. This is particularly true of albums that contain some form of ambient music and all the shapes and forms it comes in. In the [...]
AURA BLAZE OPEN MINDEDNESS INDEPENDENT There is a trend these days for solo artists working under a band guise to create their music based on the ‘everything, including a kitchen sink.’ Of course, more often than not that concept backfires where [...]
1st BASE RUNNER JUST MIGHT COME UP WITH A HOME RUN A CONVERSATION WITH TIM HUSMANN When we mention the term singer-songwriter, the first thing that comes to mind is a single person crouched over their acoustic guitar, say somebody like Joni [...]
The New Pornographers Mass Romantic (Reissue) Matador When A.C. Newman formed The New Pornographers 22 years ago, he seemingly had no high hopes that the project would make any serious impact. After all, Zumpano, his previous brilliant effort [...]
1st BASE RUNNER ELLIS INDEPENDENT Austin Texas electro-rocker Tim Husmann, aka 1st Base Runner has been on quite a roll this year. After two singles and a mini-album, Seven Years of Silence, he made a few videos with Matt Mahurin, who directed [...]
Various Artists Home Warm Mood compilations have been around for a while, and with the advent of ambient and all that can be cramped within the lounge category the actually started dominating the ‘shadow charts.’ If you’re wandering what ‘shadow [...]
Jason Boland & The Stragglers The Light Saw Me Thirty Tigers I’m sure most of you who are reading this have heard all sorts of country music variations, conventional country, left-field country, country rock, Americana, roots, what not. [...]
LUKE MICHIELSEN LANDLOCKED INDEPENDENT Somehow it seems quite fitting for singer songwriters to have a connection with nature and environment. Yet, very often, the music they come up with covering these themes can sound contrived or kitchy. The [...]
THE HAPPY PILL ACADEMY POSTCARDS TO AND FROM A DOOMED CIVILISATION INDEPENDENT Being all over the place musically does not usually spell good things for an artist and their music. On the other hand, if you are so well-versed in a number of [...]
Allison Lorenzen Tender Whited Sepulchre Records Sometimes an artist can truly resemble another. At other times, they are creating their art along usually a very thin line between two or more artists. In the case of Allison Lorenzen, [...]
Brian Wilson At My Piano Decca Records How should you consider an all-instrumental piano album of the songwriting genius that is Brian Wilson, best known for coming up with probably the best vocal harmonies in modern music as a member of The [...]
MIKE CIDONI LENNOX & CHRIS MAY WITH RICHARD CARPENTER – CARPENTERS: THE MUSICAL LEGACY PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL PRESS BOOK REVIEW BY LJUBINKO ZIVKOVIC Karen and Richard Carpenter were making music at the time when prog and heavy rock [...]
Lee Ranaldo In Virus Times Mute In Virus Times. What might have seemed like a science or speculative fiction title even in Autumn of 2019 now is a reality check one two years on. Many artists have decided to record music dealing with their [...]
Log Across The Water Funny How The Colors Crash Symbols When an artist dubs himself (or herself) as Log Across the Washer, you are bound to hear something that is certainly a bit out in left field, something that you would either love or discard [...]
LIONLIMB SPIRAL GROOVE BAYONET RECORDS Lionlimb is yet another moniker, this time of one Stewart Broanaugh, a bandmate of ever-growing talent of Angle Olsen. And on the evidence of his solo album. Spiral Groove, Broanaugh, or Lionlimb might just [...]
Willie Nelson The Willie Nelson Family Legacy Recordings Even with all Willie Nelson fans there was always a sense of familiarity whenever one of the greatest country (and other music) stars releases a new album. They would always know to expect [...]
The Roseline Constancy Buzz Music Does Lawrence, Kansas sound like a good place to breed a band that is hitting exactly the right target when Americana music is concerned? It should, because The Roseline, from Lawrence hit exactly that target [...]
Various Artists Brown Acid: The Thirteenth Trip RidingEasy Records Those who are already following this series, possibly now have one question – when are RidingEasy Records head Daniel Hall and his crate-digging partner Lance Barresi, [...]
Janet Batch You Be The Wolf Independent Very often, it is impossible to escape your past. This particularly holds true when your musical influences and inspirations come into play. More or less, it all comes down to the music you’ve [...]
Tōth Death EP Northern Spy Records If you expect some cheerful music on a release that is titled Death, you just might stay away from the new 5-song EP by Brooklyn’s Alex Toth, who goes around just by his slightly modified last name, Tōth. [...]
FRED WICKHAM CARAVAN TOWN WITHOUT SOUL BLACK SITE RECORDS If you think it is an easy thing to combine the intricate elements of The Band with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, then you haven’t heard that many roots/country/Americana [...]
