One of my favourite stories, which seems to draw its roots from a Native American tradition, goes as follows. An old man is teaching his grandson about life, telling him that a fight between two wolves is going on inside every single person on this planet. One is evil: anger, envy, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity,… Read More Music Review: Unfathomed of Abyss – ‘Arisen Upon Oblivion’
Central Washington-based self-described groove, rock, reggae trio Dimestore Prophets seems to be dedicated to bringing to their listeners music they dub as “feel good” since 2009. In April of this year, guitar player and vocalist Ray Glover, drummer John Wilson, and bassist Eric Groff released their EP Be Yourself in which they explain they brought… Read More Music Review: Dimestore Prophets – ‘Be Yourself’ EP
With Andy Bs on the guitar and taking care of vocals, Ty Dennis on the drums, Brad Cummings on bass, Brian Swislow on the keyboards and on the Hammond organ, Don Hammerstedt wielding his trumpet, and Russ Thallheimer taking care of the saxophone, Cold Blue Water’s self-titled release is a collection of five songs that… Read More Music Review: Cold Blue Water – ‘Cold Blue Water’ EP
A modernised blast from the past, this self-titled and self-produced nine-track EP from Los Angeles pop band The Great Escape is a fusion of indie rock and pop greatly influenced by big names of the past (such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin) and of the present (such as Adèle and Amy Winehouse). This engaging… Read More Music Review: The Great Escape – ‘The Great Escape’
Released earlier this month, the album Big Apple Blues is the result of a collaboration between scholar, professor, and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa and soul and blues music man Tomás Doncker, and backed up by a number of talented musicians: David Barnes on harmonica and sometimes adding his vocals, Nick Rolfe on keyboards and… Read More Music Review: Tomás Doncker Band – ‘Big Apple Blues’
The nine-track, full-length release entitled True Believer features Sydney’s Michael Cullen, a moody, poetic singer/songwriter who weaves an interesting listening experience built around the singer’s baritone voice. Released at the start of this month, this alternative rock album features Cullen on both vocals and instruments. In a world of digitally produced music, he makes his… Read More Music Review: Michael Cullen – ‘True Believer’
With four songs totaling a little over 15 minutes, post-punk trio Manilow released its EP Cease and Desist earlier this month. Hailing from the United Kingdom, Dean Moston (lead vocals, guitar), Paul Chamberlain (bass, keys, backing vocals), and Gary Cardno (drums, percussion, backing vocals) have put together songs that explore themes of relationships, escape, psychosis,… Read More Music Review: Manilow – ‘Cease and Desist’ EP
The solo project of a Germany-based singer and multi-instrumentalist, Boris Rogowski, The Big Sleep is a dreamy sounding neo-folk, pop, and indie rock fusion marked by mid-song stylistic shifts. Rogowski is the main contributor here (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, woodwinds, percussions, drums), supported by Moishe Lichtfuss on saxophone, Benedikt Filleboeck on trumpet, and Isabelle Holder… Read More Music Review: The Society Islands – ‘The Big Sleep’
The Voices of Terror is a name that inspires fear, dread, and, well, terror. It’s not an emotion that I look for in music, but because they claim to be an alternative rock and hip-hop music duo, I decided to give their debut album, Rock-Rap Dynasty, a try. Mike Walker and Zero, both from New… Read More Music Review: The Voices of Terror – ‘Rock-Rap Dynasty’
Perhaps it comes as no surprise that an artist from New York City cannot be contained within one genre, just like the Big Apple can’t be described in one word. A bit of folk, a bit of pop, a big of rock, a bit of punk, a bit of Americana, and a bit of electropop… Read More Music Review: Nehedar – ‘The Warming House’