Most Memorable Song Midyear: talker’s “irl”
Photo by Trini Sin Two Story Melody has kindly granted me permission to do a story on the best indie pop song I’ve heard this year. And the winner is…talker’s “IRL” from her new EP In Awe Of Insignificance. talker is the indie rock project of Los Angeles-based Celeste Tauchar. In Awe’s eight songs run […]
Charles on TV: Where Marvin Gaye Meets Gorillaz
Photo by Gus Aronson If you love the music of Marvin Gaye, Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, Smokey Robinson and other melodic masters, don’t miss Charles On TV’s latest music. He’s like all those artists rolled into one. Like those iconic predecessors, COT also writes great lyrics. You can get halfway into one of his hook-laden […]
Billy Woodward’s The Boy from the Bay Is a Brilliant Modern Western
Written as a self-described “therapy album,” Billy Woodward’s The Boy from the Bay covers the scope of human struggling with vivid imagery, evocative lyricism and brilliant instrumentation. Detailing everything from grief, substance abuse, traveling to salvation, Woodward’s album reflects the stark realities of the world as he sees it. Putting listeners directly into what feels […]
Retrospective Review: Hozier’s “Cherry Wine”
It’s February 14, 2016, and millions of people worldwide are waking with typical expectations that Valentine’s Day has implanted within most in the Western world; some will expect gifts. Some will expect acts of revelatory romanticism. Most will hope – perhaps fantastically – to be surprised by somebody in some movie-worthy capacity. For fans of […]
nina gala on “we looked like angels,” Her New Album, and Baltimore
I don’t have synesthesia. I don’t “see” sound or music in color, floating out of the speaker in a rainbow mist. But I do strongly associate colors with music, to the point where it’s self-evident in my head; a song can be blue, as plainly and simply as my bedroom walls are gray. A song […]
Lizzerd Kween Unmasks to Share a Healing “Lullaby”
Photo by Niles Gregory Gibbs L.A. indie artist Lizzerd Kween (aka Kianna Znika) has the talent, authenticity and self-awareness of Taylor Swift when I first heard her in 2006 in Nashville. Lizzerd Kween’s acoustic version of her new single “Kianna’s Lullaby” is immediately engaging and honest. Like Taylor, she’s a master at “unmasking” – stepping […]
poolblood on “Twinkie,” Influences, and Inspiration
When you write for an independent music blog, you hear a lot of different independent music. Duh. But you realize that after a while, the stuff that really gets big isn’t soulless or indifferent. Rather, it’s the stuff that makes you a bit emotional or even reminiscent in some way. I like to compare the […]
Kramies on “Hotel in LA,” Collaboration, and Old Letters
“Hotel in LA,” the spellbinding new song by Kramies, doesn’t sound much at all like the Los Angeles of our collective imagination. Even in the darkest and most cynical tales of the City of Angels, there’s always sunshine, if only to better light the terrible things that occur there. But there’s no sunshine in “Hotel […]
Why The 1975 is Still So Good: The Value of Making Music with Context
The 1975 is the only alternative-pop band that isn’t trying too hard to sound like The 1975. And of course that’s intentionally an overstatement, but I really do think it’s kind of true. And I think it can help us make better art. Here’s what I mean. I remember when their first full-length record came […]
Late July Has a “Remarkable” Flair for Music and Cinema
Nicole Simone uses her birth name for acting and performs music as Late July. Her resumé in both worlds is as impressive as her flaming red hair. Yet she’s very unassuming, not haughty, about her many talents. Maybe that’s because she grew up in Canada, where people seldom boast. Late July/Nicole now splits time between […]
