MUSIC REVIEWS

The Toronto Tabla Ensemble are back this fall with their most expressive track yet in “Dream Symposium,” an instrumental beat ballad with a penchant for the provocative. If you’ve heard their music before, you already know that the Toronto Tabla Ensemble are no strangers to the eclectic when it comes …

The duo of vocalist/guitarist Chris Tapp and drummer Brian Mullins, under the name The Cold Stares, isn’t your everyday indie act. The pair commands national recognition thanks to their cracking blend of rock and blues. The mix they bring to these time-tested forms balances the fundamentals giving each style its …

Gilded strums flow through our speakers in “Whatchoo Gonna Do,” and despite their regal quality, theirs is honestly just as soothing a sound as that of the rumble in “(Meet Me at the) Delaware Water Gap,” the gentle picking in “Angelina of the Sky” and the angst-ridden chug of “The …

The fourth full length album Zephyr from Gold Light is, for the most part, the work of one man. Joe Chang’s new release under the Gold Light moniker draws inspiration for its title from the town of Zephyr, North Carolina, where many relatives reside. Chang plays with a band on the release …

Surreal soundscapes that demand as much of a reaction out of us through the texture of their melodies as they do the substance of their soulful lyricism. Guitars that ache with the pressurized wonderment of youth. Basslines that bleed out of our speakers and drown everything within earshot. Percussion that …

In “Runnin’ Round,” one of the best tracks on Lesibu Grand’s The Legend of Miranda, the guitars are rife with a textured grit that has become next to impossible for listeners to find in most contemporary mainstream rock, but the fiery riff work isn’t limited to this song alone. Though a …

People have been talking about AV Super Sunshine a lot in 2019, and after taking a look at his latest single, “Candyland” (not to be confused with the first instalment in his Candyland series of LPs), it’s more than clear to me why. Available in a rock mix as well as a …

On the surface, Here In Dead Lights, by the indie rock band, Byre, is not exactly what it winds up being underneath the surface. The reason for this phenomenon is that it defies much categorization in the process of coming off more-straight forward at first. This is not some pedestrian …

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Darian’s solo project, Living Darian, reaches new heights with his latest studio release Live for Love. Some may balk at an eighteen song selection for this release but I can say, without reservation, there isn’t any obvious filler dragging down the collection. Moreover, it isn’t an album …

URL: https://www.chrismardinimusic.com/ Chugging out of the silence with a lusty charge that is rooted in classic rock aggression, the deluge of distorted strings that adorn every beat in Chris Mardini’s “Retrospective Outlook” go unmatched and unrivaled this year (and unless there’s a drastic twist of fate for American rock music …