What Moon Things will release their debut self-titled LP on June 3. The New Paltz, NY band cite many influences, and their single, “Doesn’t Make Much Sense” is a mix of both punk and shoegaze influence.  Loud vocals, distortion and a lot of ambient noise, it’s a pretty interesting track and I’m intrigued to hear the whole record when it […]

For Those Who Like: John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John Dating back to co-founding Canadian folk group The Be Good Tanyas to her solo career that has spanned more than a decade, Jolie Holland has explored almost every genre of music. On her latest album, Wine Dark Sea, Holland visits the era of blues, roots, and soul music and […]

DARK MEAN For Those Who Like: Amos the Transparent, early Death Cab for Cutie, Stars, The Uglysuit Back in February, Dark Mean from Hamilton, Ontario, released a superb four-track EP with a great name, Samuel the Phoenix. Formed in 2012, the young trio has focused on writing melodic, dreamy indie pop-folk. Similar to early Death Cab for Cutie, lead singer […]

The Walkmen have been one of my favorite bands since the first time I heard them many, many years ago.  I attended their last show ever, and wrote about their break up last year.  The members of The Walkmen have been keeping busy, however, and they have been releasing some great stuff. Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser has always had one […]

Funk, soul, and roots music are slowly creeping back into the mainstream mindset, thanks in large part to veteran musicians like Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley, Lee Fields (more on him next week), Gary Clark, Jr., and a wave of Australian musicians such as Johnny Lang, The John Butler Trio, Kim Churchill, and Ash Grunwald. Canada, too, has […]

In her first three albums – Because I Was in Love, Epic, and the remarkable Tramp – the beauty in the music lied in the sheer, emotive power of Sharon Van Etten‘s voice and the subtlety of her arrangements that would soar as each song progressed. Her music, too, was personal yet familiar to many of us, often speaking about […]

I’ve really liked most things Conor Oberst has been involved with. Bright Eyes have released some fantastic albums, and his collaboration with Monsters of Folk may be one of my all time favorite records. I’ve even dug Desaparecidos. This week, Oberst released his latest solo effort, Upside Down Mountain, and it’s really, really good. The opening track, “Time Forgot”, feels […]

For Those Who Like: Sarah McLachlan, The Bright Smoke, Marissa Nadler On her debut EP, young Toronto singer-songwriter STACEY has released an extremely intimate and honest album. In each of the five tracks, there is a sense of loss, whether it is someone close or one’s innocence. The minimalist feel of the album, which involves just STACEY’s vocals and her […]

For Those Who Like: Sum 41, Diarrhea Planet Is it possible for post-punk rock to be harmony laden? In the case of San Diego band Weatherbox, the project of Brian Warren, they have just done that. On the 13-track, Flies in All Directions is an apt description for Weatherbox’s third LP, as the San Diego band has written mostly post-punk tracks, […]

Named as one of our most anticipated albums of 2014,  Are We There is the fourth album from New York based singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten. Are We There is set to be released next week, on May 27 in North America and May 26 in Europe.  Her first three albums are some of my all-time favorites, so I immediately pre-ordered the […]

Lee Fields, the 63-year old legendary soul singer, returns with The Expressions to release his umpteenth album (his 11th studio album and he’s released countless others), Emma Jean. The album, which is named after his mother, will be officially released on June 3. If you want a sneak peak, the album is being streamed on NPR.

Cloud Caverns Long Island, New York based experimental and acoustic band Cloud Caverns are a bit of a mix of everything.  Their first full length album, Gypsy Loft was released on May 4, and is a great folk rock record.  The project of Brandon Peterson and Dan Bouza, Cloud Caverns feel a bit like what would happen if M. Ward […]

For Those Who Like: The Verve, The Great Lake Swimmers, Juan Wauters While I had heard of previous songs from Amen Dunes – the project of upstate New York native and now Brooklyn resident Damon McMahon – I was not overly familiar with his work until he opened for Mac DeMarco at The Blacksheep Inn in early April 4. Despite […]

For Those Who Like: Reignwolf, Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes Christopher Wild on his self-titled debut album, which was released on April 15, has produced a record that I hoped The Black Keys would have produced (not to say Turn Blue is a bad record) – raw, gritty, explosive garage rock that is absolutely relentless from start to finish. From the […]

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to interview Chris Ayler, the young, Westland, Michigan teenager and emerging producer with a tremendous talent for sound, soundscapes, and melodies. It is an innate ability that few possess. After dabbling on his own and producing several songs together, including the trippy, mesmerizing “Praise”, the 17-year old Ayler – now referred to as […]

UMMAGMA – Lama For fans of: Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, CHVRCHES When I wrote about the Canadian-Ukrainian Ummagma last year, I said they were going to have a busy 2014, and so far that has been proven correct.  Last month we were one of 20 blogs from all over the world who premiered their video for “The […]

CHAD VANGAALEN Even though Chad VanGaalen has been recording music for thirteen years, he has been able to retain a raw, innocent beauty in his music. Every album is filled with short stories and fables, some about VanGaalen’s own life and others just crafted from his imagination. His early recordings were predominantly indie folk songs, but over time he’s added […]

Pink Mountaintops is the name of a rock n’ roll band that is the project of Stephen McBean from Vancouver. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s also part of Black Mountain, and many band members from Black Mountain play or have in Pink Mountaintops.  They released their fourth and latest album, Get Back on April 29 on Jagjaguwar Records. […]

  PAWS For Those Who Like: Yuck, Cloud Nothings, Swearin’ Two years ago, PAWS, the Glasgow, Scotland trio, released their debut album, Cokefloat!, a splendid record of post-punk rock. However, as band member Phillip Taylor said, “It feels like everybody considers our debut LP to be ‘lo-fi’, which really bothered us as we felt it was the complete opposite by […]

I’ve loved Wye Oak since the first time I heard them. The Baltimore based duo of Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack have released some rough and heavy sounding music in the past, but their latest record, Shriek, turns a corner and Wye Oak has developed a more electronic sound on Shriek.  Released April 29, Shriek is not a natural evolution […]