Nestled in the heart of downtown Staunton, Virginia the Darjeeling Café provides much needed opportunities to experience both the local and traveling performance circuits. Last weekend I was lucky enough to catch just such an event and see Christopher Bell of Silent Home Records play. Read More »Christopher Bell: Feature
Brooklyn based Lightouts are Greg Nelson and Gavin Rhodes. The duo creates thick and fully developed rock music pulsing with electric guitar solos and clean, rolling harmonies. Progressive and balanced, the band’s sound is reminiscent of 90’s alt rock and 70’s glam rock dance halls; their music just makes you feel good. These guys have a true gift for musicianship, structure, and layering; they know what they’re doing and they do it well. Frivolous, motivated, tightly focused and refreshingly energetic, Lightouts are a welcomed cure for winter blues. Read More »Lightouts [Feature]
There’s nothing like the joy felt in realizing an artist sounds just as good live as they do on a… Read More »Figurines: Five Songs Recorded Live At Vega, Copenhagen (Album Review)
You might remember a piece about folk artists Shiny and the Spoon we ran in April of last year. With more than a year having passed and a new autumn season upon us I am excited to once again have the opportunity to write about the duo’s latest album Ferris Wheel. Read More »Shiny And The Spoon: Ferris Wheel (Album Review)
Living amidst the wheat fields in eastern WA has reminded me lately of how well small towns can be suited to particular things. Locally grown food, irresistible coffee shops, and most importantly the glory of house-shows. The independent music spectrum lends itself well to the intimacy of a house-show performance. Read More »Eternal Summers: Live in Pullman, WA
As wintertime gives way to the warmer days of spring and summer I find myself craving music reflective of the change of seasons. I want to hear upbeat, energetic, light-hearted songs. Thankfully there’s the music of Garret Jones. Working under the moniker of Mister Suit, Jones creates music that just exudes sunshine. A little bit retro and deliciously uncomplicated, Mister Suit’s tracks are the perfect pick-me up. Read More »Mister Suit [Feature]
It’s not too often an album hooks me in the first 15 seconds of the opening track. New York duo Duchess Leo (Daniel Ryan and Todd Buchler) has managed to do so however. Heavy and loose, stable and whimsical, clean and a little bit hazy their debut album Golden Gray is tightly woven music with just the right amount of contrasts. The opening song “Your Sweet Love†sets us up for a mix of sounds including ambient washes, lo-fi vocals and reverb, even a taste of early 90’s grunge. Read More »Duchess Leo: Golden Gray [Album Review]
Yellow Ostrich create brilliantly peculiar songs. Their latest album, The Mistress, is a delicious mixture of refreshing sound oddities. Listening to their work is like taking a trip on Willy Wonka’s wild boat ride, only less frightening. Clever lyrical themes and a clean composition make their music whimsical yet unpretentious. These guys know how to weave an element of surprise into their work offering an ideal album for our intermediary pre-spring days. The songs generate an unavoidable lightness in demeanor; they just feel good and are sheer fun to hear. Perhaps most striking is how smoothly the vocals are layered while blending with unexpected instrumental structure and chord progression. Read More »Yellow Ostrich: The Mistress [Album Review]
I have no idea how many hours of my life are spent swimming through music land listening to bits and pieces of various things only occasionally finding anything worth remembering. Even worse is once something incredible is actually found the journey there is rarely if ever remembered. Happy Valley is a perfect example. Yeah sure bandcamp is a fairly surface level exposition of music but there remains little to no information about the majority of its artists. All I can definitively say about the songs of Happy Valley is: they’re intoxicating. I have no idea how I found them but every part of me this thankful I did. All together pervasive and pulsing these songs just feel good. The intricately-textured instrumentals with muffled-vocals sound seems to be everywhere these days producing good, bad and even mediocre songs. Happy Valley feels to be in its own category of pure, reflective escapism. Simply mesmerizing. Read More »Happy Valley [Feature]
Berlin based band White Wishes have created some smooth songs; tunes that feel good and flow effortlessly. Their 4-track E.P. Today (via Shelflife records) is a delicious listen from beginning to end, full of irresistible hooks, hazy vocals, and clean instrumentals. Pulsing and progressive, these guys have balanced that tricky line between loose and focused. Read More »White Wishes: Today [Album Review]
