If there’s anything to be learned from the recent political uprisings in the Middle East, it’s this: everyday people can do extraordinary things – if they have courage. Now, obviously I’m not comparing Egypt and Tunisia to The Fervor‘s new album that came out today (lest I be labeled the new Kenneth Cole). Arise, Great
Smart, jazzy piano-driven pop is The Sound Of Growing Up. Justin Kao’s Boston band releases its debut EP today, Drifting, a short yet powerful collection of songs filled with punchy vocals, ukelele and horns. The sound is simple, and yet the simplicity is the beauty. It’s honest and bare, kind of like we all are
&a Hailing from Denton, Texas Seryn (Chelsea Bohrer, Aaron Stoner, Nathan Allen, Chris Semmelbeck, Trenton Wheeler) just released their latest addition to the music world This Is Where We Are and the ten tracks are so totally worth the itunes investment. The quintet’s arrangements are an effortless audio treat and the band floating somewhere in
Fans of Le Tigre looking to relive the beautiful madness of their electro-punk/riot grrl days may not know what to make of MEN‘s Talk About Body. JD Samson, who joined Le Tigre when Sadie Benning left the band, is the first of their current lineup to put out a record, and while MEN is just
Listening to the alt-country duo The Civil Wars’ debut album put me through the emotional wringer. Joy Williams and John Paul White write and perform heart-wrenching duets full of breathy vocals accompanied by sparse acoustic instruments. With voices like theirs that harmonize so beautifully, that’s all they really need. The subject matter of the songs-
Blaqstarr can drop big names—the Baltimore native toured with Diplo, produced tracks for Mos Def and Talib Kweli, and discovered the heir to M.I.A.’s musical throne, Rye Rye. The DJ is also credited for both songwriting and production on M.I.A.’s albums, Kala and MAYA. Yet Divine, Blaqstarr’s debut EP on M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T., proves that
This is one of the best feelings ever: you’re rooting through a bargain bin in that favorite record store of yours – you know, the only one in town that still lets you sample records before committing to them – when you stumble upon the perfect buy. That underrated band from the early 80’s you’ve
After a long layoff since 2007’s Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge, The Pierces are back with their latest EP, Love You More. Allison and Catherine Pierce continue with the songwriting excellence that made Thirteen Tales a cult classic amongst music lovers. The songs on the EP, which was just released in the U.S. after
Orange County-based piano songstress Emily Simonian’s is one of the better debut EPs you are going to hear. The singer/songwriter has been carefully crafting Pale Green for some time and the result is one of the early surprises of 2011. Simonian has one of the best natural voices out there. Her songwriting plays to her
Modern Skirts, a four-piece from Athens, GA, sure know to groove on a sick pop hook. Gramahawk, Modern Skirts’s latest album, drops today. It’s ten tracks of clattering cymbals, soaring synth and lilting lyrics. The devil really is in the details with Modern Skirts. They manage to produce thrillingly catchy songs that unfold, little by