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’
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
The nine tracks on Kings of the Brushwood Thicket’s debut album, The Lies You Leave Behind, more or less follow the laid-back style of “He Was a Man”, the release’s first single. They are all stripped down to an almost bare minimum without sacrificing the richness of the final sound. The album, released earlier this… Read More Music Review: Kings of the Brushwood Thicket – ‘The Lies You Leave Behind’
Set to be released at the end of March, Fully Re-Covered is a follow-up to The True Groove All-Stars’ hugely successful remix debut, Funky World and features 13 covers, some of them sounding quite familiar, the others retooled to such an extent that they are not easily recognisable. The songs were chosen both because of… Read More Music Review: The True Groove All-Stars – ‘Fully Re-Covered’
Los Angeles band [debut], a fusion of alternative, rock, and electronic music created by Gareth Thomas, began as a solo project resulting in two instrumental studio albums. But Thomas meant it to be “more than a band”, a sort of “music and art collective with an ever-changing cast”. Released earlier this month, Postcards from Berlin… Read More Music Review: [debut] – ‘Postcards from Berlin’
The inspirational alternative rock of On the Horizon, to be released next month, is TJ Doyle’s follow-up to his 2009 debut, The One True Thing. The album will sound both familiar and new in the combination of the very Neil Young-inspired vocals and the 1980s Eric Clapton and Sting-like melodies. In this release, Doyle reaches… Read More Music Review: TJ Doyle – ‘On the Horizon’
Alternative electronic pop rock trio Ships Have Sailed are releasing this month Moodswings, their new full-length album. All tracks, even the most somber ones, would find a natural place on the soundtrack of a feel-good summer blockbuster featuring wide-eyed, hopeful teenagers. And yet, the album is nuanced in that the darker sides of life are… Read More Music Review: Ships Have Sailed – ‘Moodswings’
From Oakland, California, Winchester Revival (also known as WinRev) is an alternative rock band who just released its latest EP, Burden’s Landing. Members David Rosenheim (vocals), Andrew Lund (guitars, backing vocals), Ron Cruz (bass), Kirk Snedeker (drums), and Matt Glick (electronics) present five tracks inspired by such genres as ’70s California, punk, and alternative rock.… Read More Music Review: Winchester Revival – ‘Burden’s Landing’ EP
With a musical career that spanned five decades (1942-1989), the late Sarah Vaughan recorded quite a few tracks. What brings them together is of course her voice, a unique one that remains with listeners for long after the last note on Vaughan’s last track has been played. It isn’t an easy task to pay tribute… Read More Music Review: Delilah – ‘Sarah + 1: A Tribute to Sarah Vaughan’ – EP
Set to be released at the end of this month, Joy Williams’ later album, Venus, takes a close at her life over the last two and a half years, weaving into each layer of each track the emotions evoked by the experiences that have shaped her into the woman she is today. The songs are… Read More Music Review: Joy Williams – ‘Venus’