MUSIC REVIEWS

Making the jump from French pop to music in English can be a tall order, as the general expectations of each market can differ greatly. Thankfully, in recent years, the lines have become significantly blurred thanks to artists such as TV Girl and Belle & Sebastian, and pop music has …

Springy and as bright as a rising sun, the opening salvo of string melodies that chime through the air after pressing play on the new single from Roots Asylum, “Shuckin’ in a Cornfield,” is a brief but meaningful introduction to a simple, barebones Americana tune fashioned with a deeply evocative …

The act of listening to an album from front to back is still something more people than you think have trouble committing to; no judgment, of course, but the art of an album that is meant to be consumed in one sitting, front to back, is just about one of …

If you’re keen on the independent metal scene, you’ve by no doubt heard of the enigmatic tour de force that is Iva Toric. New or old, buckle up and strap in because a new single of hers has just dropped! Released just far enough off of the heels of its …

Mike Montrey has been moving up and down the Eastern seaboard over the last decade and change delivering his personalized brand of bluesy R&B soul far and wide. The New Jersey-based Mike Montrey Band’s latest collection entitled Searching for My Soul is a seven song excursion through Montrey’s songwriting world …

Children’s author, songwriter, and singer Tia McGraff, a native and longtime resident of the Ontario area has returned with a new seven-song collection entitled With Love. The new release hit during the first week of September commemorating the anniversary of her dog Jake’s passing to the day. McGraff’s songwriting is unabashedly …

Denmark’s Vinyl Floor is the personal project of brothers and songwriters Daniel and Thomas Charlie Pedersen. Their fifth full-length studio album Funhouse Mirror revisits the symphonic pop ambitions of earlier releases such as 2012’s Peninsula and Vaudeville (2014) while retaining the same individualistic songwriting bent. Working with producer Emil Isaksson and a small cast of musical …

Singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Byron Lee Scott should not really be labeled bandleader of the Harmony Dreamers Project. Coordinator or orchestrator are better titles and infinitely more appropriate. The Harmony Dreamers Project brings musicians and singers from across the globe under one creative banner. They contribute to a collection of …

Like a ripping desert rock riff that has somehow found its way into the 21st century without the likes of Josh Homme getting his hands on it, “Keep Me Guessing” soars through the sonic atmosphere with more muscle than I knew Pistols at Dawn were capable of breaking off. It …

From its opening seconds, Handbags from The Nylon Admirals pushes itself into the absurd. The opening track “In A World” lends itself to being exactly what listeners think it will be, featuring the iconic movie trailer narrator voice (originally attributed to Don LaFontaine) speaking in movie trailer-isms via “In a …