MUSIC REVIEWS

The late John Prine provided a unique voice to some of Americana’s greatest songs. His storytelling, his talent for finding the beauty in everyday people and plain livin’. Not as widely known, but just as poetic and talented is the witty Paul Mark & The Van Dorens. The New Yorkers’ …

Churning in a vortex of seduction, the beat in JTK’s new single “No Be Mouth (feat. Tunji)” grabs listeners from the get-go and doesn’t release us until the song has come to an end. Perhaps even more powerful than JTK’s swarthy vocal in a couple of spots, the rhythm in …

Go Back Where They Came From is the latest album from Montana’s King Ropes. Featuring interpretations of songs that have greatly influenced the band. Among the gems are covers from Ray Charles, Beastie Boys and even Arcade Fire. True to the spirit of the originals, King Ropes’ versions bring a …

So often we hear of bands or artists who are at their rope’s end, the turning point in their career where they either let the dream go or push through the brick wall. One such artist that captures both the essence of not giving up and unrelenting to the pressures …

Casting a dark yet wholly enticing shadow with every incredible beat it throws in our direction, “Living in My Dreams” gets Impresario’s new LP Songs from Inside started on a spectacularly smooth note to put it quite mildly. Leading us down a path beset with harmonies somehow both heavenly and menacing …

On the back of a blushing fiddle’s leading melody, listeners are prone to getting lost in the strut of “The Picture on the Wall” right out of the gate when examining the new album from High Fidelity, Banjo Player’s Blues. Though not the firecracker of an instrumental that “Turkey in the …

New York City never ceases to possess some of the most interesting and exciting musical artists. For a city thriving with all sounds and all genres, one singer/songwriter just on the outskirts of NYC is slowing things down and keeping things trim. Tim Brandt’s Long Walk Home, is an Americana, …

In her latest single, “Facial Recognition Technology,” Lily Vakili and her eponymous band deliver what could be their most angst-ridden, lyric-driven tracks to date. At a little over three and a half minutes in total length, “Facial Recognition Technology” doesn’t appear on the surface to be the most ambitious indie …

Though they’re not the typical flash point of warmth in a pop song, the synths that find their way into the mix of “Habibi,” the new single from acclaimed pop singer Ilyah, are undeniably one of the most sizzling components in the whole of the track. Whether encountered in the …

Carefully unfolding to an easygoing pace that emphasizes the understated tension in the lyrics, “Since Love Came Around” feels like a genuine statement piece in Steve Thomas & The Time Machine’s new album All Of These Years. All Of These Years sees Thomas and his band pulling out the big guns to deliver …