If you love hearing Christmas songs around Christmas time, you’ll love AM‘s new EP, Holiday Happiness and Cheer. AM’s voice sounds strikingly beautiful over a soft and comforting version of the Charlie Brown Christmas classic, “Christmas Time is Here.” AM’s take on “Home for the Holidays” is irresistibly fun and features playful sounding orchestral strings [...] Read More…
Category Archive Reviews
AM – “Christmas Time Is Here” December 22, 2009
Lateef – Truth Is Love December 1, 2009
Back in March, DJ D Sharp put together a mix tape for Lateef the Truth Speaker but it wasn’t released on any major online distributor like Amazon or CD Universe until November (it’s not available on iTunes). Truth Is Love is a collection of songs featuring Lateef taken from albums released in the last 10-15 [...] Read More…
The Recordings of The Middle East November 15, 2009
I first heard the song “Blood” by Australian band The Middle East on KCRW a couple of months ago. The harmonies and soft, melodic progressions build to create moving, stirring music and the same is true for all of their songs, most of which are between 5 to 7 minutes long. ”Blood” immediately reminded me [...] Read More…
Florence and the Machine – Lungs November 15, 2009
There are a lot of great artists and albums that I haven’t posted anything about yet. I guess that’s why I wasn’t really surprised when I realized that I hadn’t posted anything about Lungs by Florence and the Machine, one of the best albums of 2009. Lungs was originally released in early July. That’s when [...] Read More…
Portable Payback November 3, 2009
Jurassic 5 members Soup and Marc7 formed Portable Payback and released their debut single “Relax” earlier this year. The self-titled EP was just released in late October. The focus of the former underground hip hop artists is clearly moving toward a more mainstream hip hop audience with production by John “BiggJohn” Myers (Ludacris, Usher, David Banner, [...] Read More…
Memory Tapes – Seek Magic October 25, 2009
Memory Tapes is the name of New Jersey producer/one-man-band Dayve Hawke’s latest project. The debut album, Seek Magic was just released in late August and it’s got a pretty impressive, distinctive style that I wasn’t expecting. At it’s core, the album’s sound is electronic, dance music but there’s an unusual blend of psychedelic-progressive rock which [...] Read More…
People Under The Stairs – Carried Away and Remix Contest October 24, 2009
People Under the Stairs released their 7th album, Carried Away, on Om Records earlier this month. The Los Angeles duo are known for creating west coast style party hip hop with distinctively chill, sample heavy beats. The sound of the new album is just as fun and cool as PUTS has ever been. Tracks like [...] Read More…
Zero 7 – Yeah Ghost September 29, 2009
Zero 7 is well known for clean electronic, sonic-landscapes. Their new album Yeah Ghost is like cake; it’s warm, rich, and sweet. Soothingly downtempo beats are always accompanied by beautiful melodies (listen to “Pop Art Blue”). The duo blend together electronic and contemporary rock influences to create their own unique sound complete with serious pop sensibilities. [...] Read More…
Astronote Knows How to Make a Remix September 19, 2009
Check out Astronote’s awesome remix of “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” from Mayer Hawthorne‘s A Strange Arrangement. Hawthorne’s vocals perfectly matched the neo-motown sound of the original beat, so I wouldn’t think a different beat would be any better. Astronote’s remix suggests otherwise. He nailed it with this one. MP3: Mayer Hawthorne – “Just Ain’t [...] Read More…
Rob Laufer – Excruciating Bliss September 12, 2009
Rob Laufer‘s new album, Excruciating Bliss, is very well written and produced showcasing not only the singer/songwriter’s natural talent as a musician and producer, but his experience as well. His is a sound that has been crafted and honed throughout a career of writing songs and performing for artists such as Johnny Cash, BB King, [...] Read More…