Music Review, Rock

Music Review: The Hydrothermal Vents – ‘Secrets of the Deep!’

From the moment the listener presses play on Secrets of the Deep!, he knows that he is in for one quirky ride. It should not have come up as much of a surprise, seeing the album’s cover art, but then again, the cover does not always represent the contents well. I digress. Hydrothermal vents are… Read More Music Review: The Hydrothermal Vents – ‘Secrets of the Deep!’

Classical, Music Review, Rock

Music Review: Clocks and Clouds – “Aliantha” (Single)

The idea of classical music combined with rock and a bit of dubstep is intriguing enough to give songs like “Aliantha”, released last month, a try. Sometimes, listeners are eased into this attention-grabbing combination of genres. Clocks and Clouds. however, simply throw us into the ride from the first note. The Minneapolis-based trio have been… Read More Music Review: Clocks and Clouds – “Aliantha” (Single)

Music Review, Rock

Music Review: Keith Alan Mitchell – ‘This Clumsy World’

My systematic foray into independent music has only recently started, and although not all the music I have listened to matched my personal preferences, I have been pleasantly surprised at the consistent quality and passion that shines through every single track I listened to. It makes me wonder if there is a way to transcend… Read More Music Review: Keith Alan Mitchell – ‘This Clumsy World’

Folk, Music Review, Pop

Music Review: Juliette Jules – ‘Black Crow’

There are a lot of 16-year-old singers who go down the pop music path. But there are also a number of them that go somewhere completely different. I am reminded of Montreal’s Nikki Yanofsky a few seconds into listening to Juliette Jules’ EP Black Crow, in which she displays a vocal know-how well beyond her… Read More Music Review: Juliette Jules – ‘Black Crow’

Music Review, Pop

Music Review: Eric Frisch – ‘Goodbye Birdcage’

Currently from New York City but originally from Toronto, Eric Frisch wrote, performed (vocals, piano, guitar, bass, and percussion), produced, and released his first full-length album, Goodbye Birdcage, on 14 April of this year, in which he brings back to life 1950s and 1960s pop music. Frisch says that he wanted to create an album… Read More Music Review: Eric Frisch – ‘Goodbye Birdcage’

Music Review, Pop

Music Review: Dust on the Radio – ‘Halfway to the Stars’

Los Angeles’ Dust on the Radio is releasing its newest EP, Halfway to the Stars,  on January 20. It’s a critique of Hollywood vanity built on sounds of new wave and post-punk. The five-member band seems to have a bit of a bone to pick not with Hollywood per se, but rather with the current… Read More Music Review: Dust on the Radio – ‘Halfway to the Stars’

Hip Hop, Music Review, R&B

Music Review: Klassik – ‘Spring’ EP

Milwaukee hip-hop and R&B artist Klassik released last month the EP Spring, the second installment of a project titled Seasons following his January 2015 EP named, you guessed it, Winter. The season’s new life, emerging after a cold, hard winter, is reflected in the themes touched upon in the three tracks of this EP that… Read More Music Review: Klassik – ‘Spring’ EP

Music Review, Punk, Rock

Music Review: Attik Door – ‘Never in Agreement’

San Francisco alternative rock group Attik Door released their new album Never In Agreement last month. Originally from various corners of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), Liana Tovmasyan (vocals), Margarita Grabarova (bass), Igor Boyko (drums), Alex Shrayber (guitar), and Tim Shulepov (guitar) aim to lock in the culture from their countries of… Read More Music Review: Attik Door – ‘Never in Agreement’

Music Review, Rock

Music Review: The Splashing Pearls – ‘Tabloid Tales’

Delaware trio The Splashing Pearls is set to release later this month its fifth album since 2011, Tabloid Tales. The title was chosen both because of the LP’s strong emphasis on storytelling and the clever portrayal of characters similar to that found in the tabloids one typically sees in check-out lanes. Band members Peter Scobell (guitar,… Read More Music Review: The Splashing Pearls – ‘Tabloid Tales’

Electronic, Music Review, Pop, Rock

Music Review: Alden Penner – ‘Canada in Space’ EP

Montreal’s Alden Penner released last June his latest musical offering, the five-track EP Canada in Space. Penner explains that “there are more Canadians than any other nationality represented in the planned Mars colony. [This] EP is an imagining of the dreams, reveries, phantasms, hallucinations, psycho-spiritual projections, naïve mythologies, actions, visions and experiences of an abandoned… Read More Music Review: Alden Penner – ‘Canada in Space’ EP