“Pebble” is a multi-genre banger
Every song should take you somewhere. Tugaloo’s “Pebble” takes you to places without you even realizing it. The song starts, and your first thought is that you’ve stumbled upon a solid singer-songwriter acoustic piece. It builds a bit, it’s all lovely, then after a minute comes a shift. And from that point on, it keeps […]
Joy Oladokun’s “Taking Things for Granted”
There’s this ritual you may or may not be familiar with, called immersion baptism. It’s an evangelical Christian thing, and generally involves people in their teens or adulthood formally becoming members of a church. Stay with me – it’s my partial analogy of Joy Oladokun’s song “Taking Things For Granted.” One of the meanings attached […]
Meditation in loss: “Holy Smoke” by Nicki Wells
It seems fitting that “Holy Smoke” is highly minimal. It’s a track that invites you to quietly join it in the open space, to have the room to feel what you need to as the track slowly calms you. Nicki Wells seems to have been influenced by a wealth of different musical styles but here […]
Jettee wants you to dance like no one’s watching
This is a song that will, without a doubt, make you feel good.
Demanding Answers on Tom Waits’ “What’s He Building?”
The American Dream. Long heralded as one of life’s ultimate destinations, it immediately evokes untattered images of picket fences, manicured flora, children’s laughter, and, of course, “keeping up with the Joneses” – the everlasting opportunity to peek over said flora in attempts to truly understand and out-class your neighbors. Now, what happens when we subtract […]
Old Friends, New Friends writes lyrics to get lost in
Life, in many ways, is a set of routines. Some are small, such as putting the cutlery away in the correct order. Some are a little bigger, such as putting the recycling out on the allotted night. Other routines impact us in ways we don’t always recognize. “Now That You’re Older”, the debut single from […]
Radiohead’s “Exit Music (for a Film)” is at Once the Most Haunting and Yet Sparse Offering of Their 30-Year Career
Most 13-year old boys’ primary endeavors revolve around extracurricular sports and navigating budding romantic feelings for schoolmates. At 13, Thom Yorke, singer of British music icons Radiohead, was reduced to tears during a scene of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Fast-forward 14 years. Radiohead is on tour supporting their sophomore LP The […]
Noele Flower’s Debut EP “Wait For Me” is a Stunning Retrospective
image: Luca Pearl Khosrova Noele Flowers’s debut EP, “Wait For Me” is a journey, a diary, a biopic – a testament to letting go of regrets and holding onto hope, and ultimately? A damn good listen. Ranging from optimistic, bright surf pop, to heavy-hit ballads and soft forest-folk, Flowers has taken inspiration from the path […]
Shana Cleveland’s “Walking Through Morning Dew” Buzzes with Love
Anyone who has spent time with beetles knows that weird things can have a deep and fascinating beauty. Shana Cleveland’s “Walking Through Morning Dew” is weird in that way. One may wonder, “What is that, and why is it buzzing?” Or one may just sit tight in incredulous delight. Cleveland populates the song with sounds […]
Jacob Humber wants you to “Stick Around”
I’m in the town where I went to college. It’s spring break, but I’m not going anywhere. Students and certain migratory birds are on the move. I hear spring makes people restless. Jacob Humber may have had this restlessness in mind when he wrote “I like it better when it’s colder / seems everything has […]
