Because of The Mountain's emotional depth and Erika Wennerstrom’s amazing voice, this album is a rare and a very beautiful work, reminiscent of the old time blues that inspired Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and countless others.
Keane, much like several other contemporary British acts have the terrible luck of getting record deals around the time Coldplay and David Gray became world-renowned acts – and unfortunately to the untrained, American ear, there’s almost very little sonic difference between Keane, South and others.
Like their adopted African roots, Toubab Krewe’s music is meant to be shared, not locked behind soundproof glass, so while Orange Peel does at times lose some bite beneath the club’s high ceilings and constant white noise, it captures the band better than their 2005 studio debut.
Following his epic solo debut, The Land of Pure Imagination, Roger Jospeh Manning Jr.'s Catnip Dynamite is an addictive concoction of hook-laden melodies, soaring harmonies and complex arrangements that would astound the likes of Brian Wilson and even Prince.
Though Wellspring is only the second offering from singer-songwriter Ashton Allen, it seems that he’s got the relaxing-acoustic-pop-art thing down to a science.
What did you learn today?" asks Kaiser Chiefs' frontman Ricky Wilson. His answer: "I learnt nothing." How about letting us be the judge of that. "Never Miss A Beat", the lead single from whence those lyrics came, actually does tell the audience pretty much all it needs to know about the British band's third album – Off With Their Heads.
It may be a select few musicians who have the audacity to name their album Maestro, but in the case of Taj Mahal, the title is well deserved.
It is rare to hear an album that’s different than most anything else one’s heard in quite some time. It is also rare to find one so different it both falls into that category and is enjoyable. Unfortunately, Deerhoof’s “Offend Maggie” fails to surpass that relatively high bar.
When Justin Vernon speaks these days, people line up to listen at every corner. It wasn’t always this way for Vernon, who now records under the name Bon Iver. You know him because of his beautiful For Emma, Forever Ago, a record that everyone seemed to love because of its cold truth—that pain is somehow always around us.
Marco Benevento’s second studio release in less than a year comes on the heels of his critically acclaimed LP, Invisible Baby. Me Not Me, a series of interpretive covers with three originals sprinkled in, is a natural extension of his last album, focused on layered, dissonant sound-sculpting, while beautiful piano leads carry the melody. Featuring diverse artists such as My Morning Jacket, Deerhoof, Leonard Cohen, and Led Zeppelin, Benevento has incorporated some of his favorite songs into his own musical milieu.
