For the love of music
Beginning the year with fashionably great music is always a welcome addition. Now, for three of the past four years, Toro Y Moi’s main man, Chaz Bundick, has released a terrific new album at the beginning of each year. Commencing with his debut, Causers of This, where he, along with friends, ushered in the sounds of ‘chillwave,’ it was … [Read more...]
Throughout his short career, How to Dress Well’s Tom Krell has already garnered the tag of being ethereal and ultimately transcendent. On Love Remains, the fragments of his life were adorned with stellar hooks (“You Won’t Need Me Where I’m Goin’”) and moving, tremendously great melodies (“Endless Rain”); each song, paired with his … [Read more...]
It’s terribly hard nowadays to try and discuss an album one enjoys without sounding too preachy, too emotionally attached and too, well, in love. I’m not sure if that’s a facet of the times or perhaps, it’s always seemed that way (did everyone get annoyed when every single album by Stevie Wonder was universally loved or was it justly … [Read more...]
Where music often finds itself stuck inside of clichés and trite comparisons that do little for the contrast, there is some music that finds itself progressing through its brandished roots – sliding towards a new agenda, rather than sticking with the same old shtick. When it comes to soul music, some purists would have you believe the genre died … [Read more...]
It isn’t often that you hear a record that sounds like you threw your speakers in a bathtub full of water. To his credit, How To Dress Well has more than pulled off this feat that. The new album, Love Remains, was made entirely by Tom Krell earlier this year. This record isn’t easy to digest and I wouldn’t do it justice without backing up … [Read more...]
Prolific songwriters tend to flabbergast with their steady flow of releases, sometimes unfortunately casting aside true substance in favor pure mass. Kevin Barnes – operating, as always, under his Of Montreal guise – is no stranger to this trend, having time and again astonished audiences with both his rapid fire cadence of new releases and … [Read more...]
“But at the end of the day…we are just the same,” is just one of the clairvoyantly obvious lines Kirsten Price delivers on her sophomore album, Brixton to Brooklyn. The sultry singer sounds effortlessly soulful and lush in singing about the everyday troubles we go through. And as humble as such statements arise, Price isn’t the kind of … [Read more...]
One of the most dynamic aspects in electronic music is the skillful ability of being able to turn it into something organic, something almost real. The year’s been filled with massive talent across the board; standing tall and soundly amongst them is Bonobo’s Simon Green whose Black Sands is easily one of the truly great albums of the year. … [Read more...]
From the spirit that her music carries, to the mind-boggling spectrum of sounds she covers, to the sheer essence and superb skill of her voice, it was always obvious that what Janelle Monáe had in mind for us would be something truly out of this world. But seriously, the woman isn’t even 25 years old yet and her music is the kind of stuff that … [Read more...]
Amy Denio - Tutto Bene: Canzoni Sulla Fisa Spoot Music http://www.amydenio.com/ An album of accordion music? You betcha! This gifted composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Seattle, WA has more than 43 CDs to her credit. She tours with gypsy-core band Kultur Shock and collaborates with many others. Twenty tracks of accordion music … [Read more...]