CD Reviews on projects by Pop Artists
Specky Cults A Different Kind Of Difficult Independent A band who tells a story, a story about themselves, their journey and about life in general That’s Specky Cult: Andy McGrevy, Rob Glover and Carol Stephen. Coming from the north east of England. Local heroes Specky Cult are serving up a dose of laughter with their new […]
Ross Pederson Identity Self-released Drummer and producer Ross Pederson’s Identity is a digital release. When viewing his credits, the album title is certainly apropos as it would be difficult to peg just where he fits musically. He’s collaborated with Snarky Puppy, supported Patti Austin, is the regular drummer for Manhattan Transfer, and is currently working […]
Frank Joshua “Sense Life” Frank Joshua, singer/songwriter from London has just released his debut album “Sense Life”. An album that gets under your skin and is as rich and diverse in themes as life itself. 10 songs that don’t leave out any feeling and that take us emotionally into the singer’s emotional world. Frank says […]
Lil Nas X Montero This year has brought us so much music, most notably the highly anticipated debut album by Lil Nas X. The 22-year-old Atlanta native’s album “Montero,” named after himself—Montero Lamar Hill—is full of musical self-growth from his June 2019 EP ”7.” “Montero” is a pop-rap album about the intersection of being queer and […]
MARRANDRO Dark Light Emotions When two musicians meet who could hardly be more different … The result is something that can justifiably be called incredible … the new album by the duo MARRANDRO. Who is this duo? MARRANDRO is on the one hand the songwriter Andrea Hager who has an unmistakable tendency towards the mystical […]
Jon KT The Real Cover Up KT Productions Jon Lindley was born in England and currently lives in Wisconsin. He is an independent music producer and audio engineer. He started with music at an early age and taught himself to play drums and keyboards. After many years of working in the woodworking industry, he decided […]
Taylor Swift Folklore In a stroke of marketing genius,Taylor Swift dropped a surprise album with 17 hours notice on Friday. Swift’s 8th studio album titled Folklore proves that even as the world is in the midst of a pandemic, the music doesn’t have to stop. Fans went wild upon hearing the news of the lengthy […]
G Love and Keb’ Mo’ The Juice Philadelphonic/Thirty Tigers This is the eighth album for Philly born and raised, now Cape Cod resident G. Love (aka Garrett Dutton), a masterful multi-instrumentalist with a diverse set of influences, a knack for reinvention and a penchant for collaboration. You may be familiar with him through his usual […]
Whitney Tai Sleepwalking to the Moon Patrick O’Heffernan Sometimes Whitney Tai’s music is fragile, delicate, barely entering your ears. At other times it is fierce, dense, demanding of every one of your senses. But either way, it touches your heart with a power that is hard to define but instantly recognizable. “Sleepwalking to the Moon” […]
Snave and the Third Stream Tin Can Fish House In 1957, Gunther Schuller described the Third Stream as a place where jazz and classical music meet halfway. For Snave and the Third Stream, that definition expands. It is where jazz, pop, country, blues, Cajun, folk and rock come together. And they do merge beautifully on […]
Lauren Desberg Out for Delivery Self-released Out for Delivery is a different kind of jazz vocal album because songstress Lauren Desberg wants to be anything but predictable You may not even think it’s jazz as you know it. It’s an album that doesn’t rely on standards although there are two of them transformed into almost […]
SISSTER Wows LA at the release party for her debut self-titled EP Patrick O’Heffernan (Los Angeles) SISSTER wowed a n LA audience when she released her self-titled EP last week and demonstrated why she is so popular and so beloved. You could feel the love in the air at the Sunset Blvd multi-venue Los Globos […]
Violet Days Made in My Head Patrick O’Heffernan Violet Days’ music has always been addictive. This Swedish collaborative project made up of singer-songwriter/artist Lina Hansson and renowned producer Kris Eriksson knows exactly how to create earworms that stay with you. Happily, Violet Days just released their debut EP, Made in My Head, produced by Eriksson. […]
Paul Kelly Nature Gawd Aggie Paul Kelly considers Nature a companion piece to 2017’s Platinum-certified Life Is Fine but although it bears some similarities, it’s not exactly a sequel. It’s not one coherent statement or even one focused theme but instead a collection of different elements, come originals and, as we’ve come to know from Kelly, […]
The Textones Old Stone Gang Blue Elan It’s hard to believe that the Textones have been together for thirty plus years and are just now releasing their third album, recently signed to Blue Elan Records. Fans will remember the Austin-based releases Midnight Mission and Cedar Creek from the ‘80s which were reissued by Omnivore in […]
The Imperial Sound The New AM Pravda This is AM radio pop for the 21st century. For their debut, Chicago-based The Imperial Sound deliver brassy, shiny, vocally bright arrangements with hooks that linger in your head for days. In fact, some of the riffs and chords seem to reappear in several songs, as a means […]
Catherine Russell Harlem On My Mind Jazz Village Catherine Russell is a jazz singer with a blues heart. Her appreciation for blues can be found in her song selection and passionate intonation. Russell is the daughter of Luis Russell the musical director for Louis Armstrong. Her father passed when she was very young and she […]
“All Things Must Pass” The rise and fall of Tower Records (96 minute DVD) www.MVDb2b.com – MVDvisual The death of Tower Records was a major blow for many of us who grew up purchasing vinyl LP’s, seven inch forty-fives and CD’, laser discs, and DVD’s. This triumphant and reflective DVD “All Things Must Pass,” is […]
Camille Bloom Pieces of me (self) Seattle based artist Camille Bloom get very personal on her 5th full length album Pieces Of Me released September of 2016. Self-produced and recorded at her new home studio Bloom delivers ten new tracks that reveal the breadth and depth of her songwriting skill, by mixing together folk, funk […]
Charlie Faye and The Fayettes have effectively conquered time travel in this self-titled album. The proof is that if you heard these 11 original songs and did not know it was a contemporary group, you could honestly believe you were listening to a girl group of the 60’s. Even the album cover is just right. […]
Carlos Calvo – “Further Down the Road” by Rhetta Akamatsu Carlos Calvvo has a life that sounds like the plot of a book. He provides music for TV and film, is a guitar coach for actors like David Duchovny and Marg Helgenberger , has taught guitar to the children of stars like Joe Perry and […]
Wilson Pickett “Mr. Magic Man: The Complete RCA Studio Recordings” (2 CD’s) www.RealGoneMusic.com This two CD box-set encompasses Wilson Pickett’s four RCA albums: “‘Mr. Magic Man,” ‘Miz Lena’s Boy,” “Pickett in the Pocket,” and “Join Me and Let’s Be Free” from 1973 through 1975 with four previously unreleased CD singles. The best tracks were recorded […]
Little Richard “Directly from My Heart: The Best of the Specialty & Vee-Jay Years” www.ConcordMusicGroup.com Little Richard was and will always be known as one of the originators of rock & roll. Richard successfully merged gospel with New Orleans R&B pounding it out at the piano with his signature wailing vocals. Numerous other R&B greats […]
by Rhetta Akamatsu This Legacy Edition marks the 40th anniversary of the original release of Elvis Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis . It features the completely remastered original recording. There are also extra tracks that were left off the original because of the space limitations of vinyl records, so you get the complete […]