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 [...]
THE DREAM SYNDICATE MEDICINE SHOW: I KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE (DELUXE EDITION) DOWN THERE/FIRE RECORDS Whatever the reason was that The Dream Syndicate didn’t become one of the biggest bands around at their 80s prime it is a damn shame, (and the [...]
CHARLIE KAPLAN A HAT UPON THE BED GLAMOUR GOWNS If you’re an avid reader of Spill Magazine, you have certainly come across Charlie Kaplan’s name at one point or another. Along with some nifty albums, Kaplan is also the bassist of Office [...]
ALEXANDRA ALDEN WHEN IS IT TOO LATE? INDEPENDENT Picture this . . . You put high hopes and incredible effort into your second album, decide which track is going to be the single for it, and submit that single to your country’s Eurovision [...]
GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS CAUGHT LIGHT PHEROMONE RECORDINGS/HARBOUR SONGS INC. Yes, Great Lake Swimmers have been around for a while, and have a slew of recordings under their belt, but that is not the sole reason they are one of the greatest current [...]
LARKIN POE BLOOM + AN ACOUSTIC COMPANION VOL. II TRICKI-WOO RECORDS Rebecca and Megan Lovell (more professionally known as the duo, Larkin Poe) have become favourites for fans of blues and rock, even though they have had a relatively muted [...]
DAVID GARLAND THE SPARK INDEPENDENT Looking at the track records of many artists, it is no wonder anymore that some old hands keep on producing music at later stages in their life. Some keep making great music, some don’t, and others keep [...]
BADLANDS NOBODY DIES RITE Badlands is transboundary Swedish producer, composer, and sound designer Catharina Jaunviksna, who has so far released some quite intriguing albums, and her latest, Nobody Dies, is her fourth. So, what would that [...]
PURITY RING PURITY RING THE FELLOWSHIP MUSIC LABEL No, Purity Ring’s self-titled album is not the duo’s first, it is actually their fourth. There could be a variety of reasons why bands and artists come up with a self-titled album [...]
AFTERNOON BIKE RIDE RUNNING WITH SCISSORS FRIENDS OF FRIENDS MUSIC Another not so easy to define Montreal band, this time a trio that goes by the name of Afternoon Bike Ride. Their third full-length album, Running With Scissors, is more proof [...]
CUDDLE MAGIC UNDERWATER EGGHUNT RECORDS Is there such a thing as ambient folk or folky dream pop, or both? Of course, there is a resounding yes there, as bands and artists like Big Thief have amply shown, and now you can add Cuddle Magic to that [...]
WILDER MAKER THE STREETS LIKE BEDS STILL WARM WESTERN VINYL Brooklyn’s Gabriel Birnbaum seems to be all over the place these days, either as a music curator/PR man, solo artist, or as a member/principal songwriter of dark, jazzed-up folk [...]
MAURA WEAVER STRANGE DEVOTION FEEL IT RECORDS To devoted fans of pop punk, the name Maura Weaver might sound familiar as she was a member of such an outfit that went under the name of Mixtapes. Weaver decided to leave and pursue a solo career, [...]
TEKE::TEKE HAGATA DELUX KILL ROCK STARS Labeling Montreal’s Teke::Teke can be a tricky thing. With seven members, it is more a musical collective than a band. On the other, most critics label them as a psych rock band, but with so many [...]
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND AND LEON RUSSELL PRESENT: MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN REVISITED LIVE AT LOCKN’ FANTASY RECORDS Reviving an original live show that captivated audiences some 50 years or so ago is an extremely tricky [...]
WHITNEY K BUBBLE FIRE RECORDS Sometimes, when an artist has a great voice, it just might not matter what they sing about or what the songs are like. Well, there should at least be a song there. But if the lyrics do have some substance and the [...]
LÉNA BARTELS THE BRIGHTEST SILVER FISH GLAMOUR GOWNS Does being a solo artist these days mean that you have to stick to the quieter, gentler realms of music? Not if you are Portland transplanted to NYC artist Léna Bartels, as her second album [...]
CARSON McHONE PENTIMENTO MERGE RECORDS Some intriguing music brewing over in Ontario when it comes to the very broad category of singer-songwriters these days. Carson McHone’s latest album Pentimento is here to show us why. The reason is [...]
