MUSIC REVIEWS

Just Breathe is the galvanizing new album from singer/songwriter and disability rights activist Pidgie. With themes of empowerment and creative perseverance Just Breathe is a breath of fresh air. Packed full of inspirational rock anthems and a dynamite cover of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel …

Pennsylvania’s Little Wretches has carved out a niche for themselves in the Americana/roots music community based on exceptional playing talents and idiosyncratic songwriting. The band’s 2020 album Undesirables and Anarchists racked up impressive sales, garnered critical praises from multiple outlets, and rode higher still thanks to its memorable single “The Ballad of …

Instrumental albums are too often associated with pomp and elitism, when in fact they can be some of the most endearing listens a pop fan can stumble across. There are no synthetic hooks or rap verses to be found in the elegant Jaguar Love Letter from pianist Chris Goslow, and yet the …

While one of the more deliberately paced numbers in the tracklist, the title song in David Sparrow’s new LP Beggars & Choosers is certainly one of the more urgent compositions included in the album. Sparrow has a restrained adrenaline here that is almost as brooding as his lyrics are, and although his …

Juan Tigre’s Azúl Arriba, Blue Below isn’t your typical instrumental collection. It’s full-on progressive for me with strong classical influences any attentive listeners will pick up on. A description like that may prime you to believe Tigre’s eleven songs are stereotypically remote or overly cerebral fare. It isn’t the case …

From the opening song “Shooting Star” to the final track, “Point Me East”, singer-songwriter John McDonough crafts a well-polished, interesting, grained body of work much the same way a carpenter works wood in the EP We’ll Answer The Call. Molding together the knobs and crannies of the medium, We’ll Answer The Call, has …

Don’t let a term like “radio edit” fool you when encountering Chalice Collective’s “Flame of Truth”. It doesn’t tacitly acknowledge the Collective’s latest single is a compromise, chopped indiscriminately for airplay, or lesser in some way. Chalice Collective wouldn’t dare. Sedona Swan Soulfire leads the Portland, Oregon-based group as its lead vocalist, …

Electronic composer Lewis Mander’s work under the moniker dark passenger has earned him considerable attention from aficionados of the style. His preceding single “designed for rejection” introduced a sound that is, in turn, dissonant, abrasive, and unforgiving and dark passenger’s new single “i see your mask” continues developing along similar …

Approaching us with an alluring groove that only gets stronger as we press on, Mariea E. Watkins’ “The Great I Am,” featuring Seanie Ranz, features a lustiness that I rarely hear in gospel music, but truth be told, this is true of the majority of songs in Watkins’ debut album …

It might be popular to say that rock is dead, but while it’s true that there are certain components of the genre’s past that have gone out of style, its core principles remain as in as ever. Take for example the live single “I’m Falling off of the World” by …