Chicago – This year brought an 80s resurgence like no other. From movies, TV, and fashion, the decade of excess swooped in hard, taking its biggest hit in pop music. Artists like Carly Rae Jepson, Bleachers, The Wombats, and Walk the Moon have been echoing the sounds of Debbie Gibson and Madonna to Hall &
Chicago – Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing Gary Clark Jr.‘s live album, simply titled Live. I declared it a masterpiece and hailed the Grammy winner as the new Hendrix and called him a “legend among men, the musician of our generation, and when parents school their children in what ‘real music’ is, they’ll reference
Los Angeles – FIDLAR’s second album Too was released on September 4th and has debuted at the No. 1 position on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums Chart, which tracks the week’s top-selling albums by new or emerging acts. Too is available now via Mom + Pop Records HERE. Following appearances on the main stage of Reading and Leeds, a free hometown show
Los Angeles - Petite Noir has successfully created one of the best albums of 2015 with La Vie Est Belle / Life Is Beautiful. 24 year-old South African artist Yannick Ilunga takes his electronic post-punk to a new genre, noir wave. If not the best album, than it is certainly the most imaginative. Petite Noir’s aesthetic
London – So, just when you thought the world was running out of great tunes, along came Alvvays. There are nine of them on its self-titled 2014 debut album while four new songs worked in to the band’s brisk hour-long set heralded more to come. The Toronto five-piece was in London town to shower affection
San Francisco – Chris Baio now finds himself in somewhat of a unique position, at least amongst his bandmates. The bassist for the unstoppable indie quartet Vampire Weekend may not be as recognizable as frontman Ezra Koenig or keyboardist/producer to the “indie elite” Rostam Batmanglij, but things are looking bright for the multi-talented Baio, seeing
New York – Thursday in the city was a blustery night, but firekid brought the heat with a packed show at Irving Plaza. A voluminous crowd of rain-drenched New Yorkers turned out in droves to catch firekid’s set, filling the venue to capacity ahead of closing act Moon Taxi. Dillon Hodges is the face of
London – It’s difficult to pin Meniyka Kiravell’s music down to a single genre. The San Diego artist has concocted a sound that is part indie, part jazz-fusion, and part world music. What binds these influences is an ever-present, palpable sense of inspiration. Kiravell’s debut album Vaudevillia! is a journey through her life as a seasoned traveller.
Los Angeles – There is a certain art to perfecting a break-up record; it is a fine line to tread between emotional, heartfelt catharsis and over-the-top bitterness and resentment. While the finality of a failed relationship can cause an artist to reach deep into the accompanying well of misery, unpleasant feelings also have a
Chicago – The final day of Riot Fest was a beaut! The sun was shining, the mud was drying, the temps were rising, and the legendary Jimmy Cliff graced Douglas Park with his presence. (I know, right, Jimmy effin-cliff! His set was fantastic, by the way.) More importantly, Sunday proved to be one lucky band’s day, earning them my