It may seem odd to consider Holly Elle, the girl from Chestermere, Alberta, as a diva. Yet Leopardess, her new EP, seems to solidify that deep within the small Canadian town was a glam queen just waiting to burst out into the open and attack. Continue reading »
North Wales’ The Joy Formidable seems to have the knack for kicking off new years with panache. In January 2011, they released The Big Roar to considerable acclaim. In 2013, Wolf’s Law made its way into the public consciousness. Continue reading »
After an extended hiatus, I’m happy to announce that my Sarah Brightman discography series has returned. We’re in the home stretch and most of the Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff is in the rearview mirror. Also, Brightman’s newest album is in my possession so there will be a review of that to cap off To the … Continue reading »
Guitarist, composer and educator Dan Phillips has taken his game to a lot of different places, honing his skills in New York, Chicago, Tokyo, and Bangkok. His experience has served him well and he’s played the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Pattaya Music Festival, the Bangkok Jazz Festival, and the Hua Hin Jazz Festival. Continue reading »
With one of the awesomest band names around and an album that sounds like an intestinal disorder, Lightning Swords of Death take to the darkest corners of metal with Baphometric Chaosium. This is a blistering, intense release, one that packs more than enough blackness to please genre fans. Continue reading »
Leave it to a pair of twins from Canada to provoke listeners in such joyful fashion. With Heartthrob, a contagious chunk of pure pop bliss, Tegan and Sara Quin have taken apart the apparatus and replaced it with something flagrantly appealing and, iniquity of all iniquities, “radio-friendly.” Continue reading »
Following up the success of his 2011 mixtape Live.Love.A$AP was never going to be an easy task, but A$AP Rocky manages to build on that foundation with his 2013 debut record. Long.Live.A$AP proves that all those fires on the blogosphere were no accidents and all the hype over this young gun from Harlem was well-earned. Continue reading »
With Escapement, London-based composer and performer Poppy Ackroyd provides a moving, immersive experience using little more than the bare necessities. Continue reading »
In all the time I’ve spent drifting through the veritable sea of jazz vocalists, my ears have always perked up whenever a singer is able to express some sense of truth. Perhaps it’s my diminishing but acknowledged ignorance of the subject, but I’ve never cared all that much about the technical side. It’s always been … Continue reading »
