The Spiders - Another Mile

 

The Spiders Another Mile

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725524LY

The Spiders are an authentic band with real people. Watching their video Another Mile you see four regular guys jamming out. They are not dressed in leather or spandex. They play in an American flag t-shirt and a pair of jeans or a bowling shirt. One of them even wears a Spider-man T-shirt. They could be your neighbors. In that music video you also get the feeling from these guys that they’re close and that they really care about the music they make. Their biggest concern is their lyrics and the sound of the song.  

One of their newly released songs is Another Mile. This song is all about being able to overcome difficulties in life and making it to that next mile. The video on YouTube features scenes from the American Classic movie, Forest Gump. It also has sections of the video containing bits of the band itself. The song is very much about the American spirit and running towards your dreams. Election Day is their better known song. It was played all over radio stations for awhile. The song is about the working class. It’s about Americans who work at minimum wage jobs, like Starbucks and fast food to get by. The song is also about those who fought for their country. The Spiders are including all people who pay taxes in this segment of the song. It’s also critiquing those who are paid by those taxes. It’s about those who run the country and whom we elect, or rather who we have to choose between. This band is definitely a band about America. They are pointing out obvious flaws which almost everyone sees with these elected officials. However, the song is still from a Patriotic viewpoint. It’s about the choices you have on Election Day and how even though there is a choice when you vote you still don’t feel like there is much of a choice. This is because voters only get to choose between two bad candidates.  

This band originates from LA. Their lead guitarist and Vocalist, Nick DeStefano was in a few videos which were featured on MTV. He’s played pretty much everywhere in the US and he also was signed for a solo career in his earlier days. The sound of the band is rock is a quick pace and easy to listen to. Their songs are relatable and have a real AC/DC feel to them. Also the instrumental parts of the songs have a country sound, soft and nice. 

This vibe the music gives off goes well with their style of music and the lyrics they are writing. It gives The Spiders an authentic feel and watching and listening to them just makes you feel good. These guys are writing and playing these songs in a way which you don’t see any more, without the need for a flawless image. They could be your neighbor or uncle. Also they really look like they’re having fun while they play. All of them wear a smile at some point in their videos. Jamming out with friends and singing a great message.

RELATED ARTICLE: https://exposedvocals.com/features/spiders-another-mile-leading-riff-track-indie-anthem-kind-vibe/

Kevin Hardy

Swaylex - Raging Rapids

 

Swaylex - Raging Rapids 

MIX DJ: http://www.mix.dj/video/4809395/swaylex-raging-rapids/ 

Swaylex’s “Raging Rapids” is probably the hardest and heaviest of his recent YouTube uploads.  Swaylex’s warm, yet crunchy, Ibanez guitar sound is the primary mover for this tune, but he also shows the same tendency for interesting drummer complementing this track that listeners can hear on his other upload “Scrale”. To Swaylex’s credit, he avoids the same over-indulgence plaguing many of his contemporaries – everything here is focused and streamlined to the best possible effect. The composition and performance, likewise, exude a confidence you can detect in both the music and video presentation – there’s a swagger here that never stretches the boundaries of taste and, instead, draws you deeper into his musical world despite the song’s brief duration. Swaylex, even at his crunchiest, gives listeners numerous melodic hooks to hang onto. “Raging Rapids” is a powerful performance and composition from the first. 
 

There’s a lot of power in this song. Swaylex structures it just right – from the opening wash of wailing guitar notes, the seamless segue into the song’s primary riff, and the perfect accompaniment from rhythm guitar, bass, and drums, “Raging Rapids” has an impressively full sound that never dips in quality or intensity. His home recordings might strike some, without taking a listen, as doomed to amateurish. That isn’t the case. He has full command over each instrument and weaves the different parts together with the sort of clarity we expect from longtime musical veterans, not relatively newcomers to the scene. It is obviously that this is a young performer who has worked mightily to polish his skills and presentation alike in such a way to make the best possible impression on his listeners.  It has a surprising horror or thriller movie character with its sustained, sharp guitar notes and the menacing riffing accompanying those touches underscores this effect in a memorable way. 
 

It never reaches too far either. He knows what he wants the song to accomplish, seemingly from the first, and it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the song has been well rehearsed before he ever dared commit the performance to recording or film. Fortunately for us, however, it has a live and off the cuff quality that sounds like he hasn’t lived with the song too much or too long and, instead, is striking while the iron of inspiration is hot. This is the central factor that sets his work apart from similar musicians promoting themselves in such a way. Swaylex’s music is alive with a passion that is quite impossible to fake and it comes across with a very first take feel. There’s no sloppiness here however. Instead, it’s a direct and powerful track that grabs listeners’ by the ear and forces them to listen. Never under duress – instead, you will be grateful to hear every note and it never threatens to overwhelm you. 

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKyQkKKElj4 

William Elgin

The Chameleon Project - Funk ‘n’ Space

 

The Chameleon Project - Funk ‘n’ Space  

URL: http://chameleonproject.ca/  

The Chameleon Project is based out of the Toronto, Canada area and has established a growing reputation as one of the most inventive young acts working today. The four piece’s eight track (excluding two remixes tacked on at the end) release Funk n Space shows them to be one of the foremost units today in terms of creating a fusion of various styles into a distinctive and highly unique sound. They are just as adept with the traditional elements of great music, like melody, as they are at invoking heady atmospherics with their use of electronica and spoken word passages in conjunction with one another. There is a strong underpinning of tradition making these songs go, but the surfeit of experimentation that colors the songs is equally key to making these tracks work. It’s never self indulgent however. Even at their most daring, there’s a mastery of fundamentals that makes this material fly.  
 

Few songs better exemplify that than the opener “Milky Way”. The aforementioned atmospherics are a big part of its success, thanks especially to the even handed manner with which they are handled, but another key part of the success is the chemistry struck between the band’s instrumentals. The rhythm section, above all else, makes the groove manifest itself deeply and instantly. It isn’t a track, however, that browbeats listeners into submission. Instead, it’s spacey overtones and a well defined funk sound that never overstays its welcome. “Playhouse” takes things in a different direction. It’s much more superficially simple, but there’s clear evidence for their versatility They are capable of bringing out a strong layered disco and funk influence in their music without ever overburdening the song with too much action. “Steppin’” certainly beefs up the customarily streamlined approach of reggae music and the form’s influence is quite heavy in the song, but The Chameleon Project is able to bring that influence to the fore while still embellishing the track with a number of their signatures elements – sounds that would have been quite foreign to the genre’s bygone icons. 
 

They go down the electronic dance music road in the biggest way yet with the song “Reactor”, but tweak listeners’ expectations by bringing rock overtones into play. The often beautiful guitar lines, however, never sound out of place with the synthesizer work. The following song, “Bigfoot”, steers the band toward much more definite rock music territory thanks to the thunderous rhythm section, but The Chameleon Project fortunately avoids the bash and thud so often associated with attempts to bring these influences into play. “DiMiTri cOde” recalls the earlier “Reactor” in its invocation of EDM elements, but things are played much straighter here in that regard and there’s little of the rock guitar poses here that we heard in the earlier tune. Funk n Space ends with the album’s seeming centerpiece – the six minute twenty six second “Wako”, a cinematic and bold confluence of all the aforementioned sounds into a stunning last curtain that stakes the band’s claim as one of the foremost instrumental acts (sans the aforementioned spoken word bits – not a significant amount of the album’s duration) working today.  

RELATED ARTICLE: http://livemusicnewsandreview.com/the-chameleon-project/  

Montey Zike

Round Eye – Monstervision

 

Round Eye – Monstervision  

URL: http://roundeyeband.com/en/

The self-proclaimed “loudest band in China” are Round Eye, from Shanghai, and they’re making their way around the globe, having toured with UK greats like The Boys, and US legend the Paul Collins Beat. These tours are constantly going, and many have had the opportunity to play on these packages with the likes of Paul Collins. They are usually punk or pop punk bands, but Round Eye are a different animal. They have everything from 50s jazz to ska and R&B to blend with their punk intentions. You can’t keep that bottled up in one country, so away they’re sailing with Monstervision on their plate.

Joe Bob Briggs(John Bloom of the Daily Show) narrates in the house of monsters to get the blood flowing, and he does by letting the “Commie Blues” loose. And it quickly passes into the deeper thinking “Billy” which almost verges on horror-punk with its shock rock tactics. But there is much more to meet the eyes with a video that gets pretty graphic in its delivery. It’s nothing to be scared about, but Round Eye also aren’t playing to the bubble gum chewing pop punk crowd either. This is a troupe of seasoned players with a horn section, which even puts Joe Bob in his place as he pleads for a lighter shade. But it is not found on that or the following two, in the shape of “Sifter” and “Troma.” As they too, burn the candle at both ends with no slowing down as the guitars take over and the pogo dancing comes directly to mind, body, heart and soul. This is mostly found on the former, but the latter rocks more along its own lines. Then Joe Bob comes back with the funnies and throws John Goodman into it, to double take an ear or two. The music is much better than the spoken word is funny, but it doesn’t take away from the program as it serves the purpose for the taking. Getting lost in the music still happens, and that is all there is to really shake a stick at while you play along.

“Hey Dudes” could even be reminiscent of “All The Young Dudes” if it weren’t about culture being in a tailspin. But glam isn’t the strong suit of Round Eye or anything. You just feel some influences where they come on strong. The last thing they’re up to is being serious, but that doesn’t mean they don’t tackle serious topics. They do occasionally go into them, but they get out of it in some places on Monstervision to contrast that. “Pink House” is one of those times you fall or you don’t, but it’s one of the more well-crafted songs, so there is no ignoring it. They have a good repetitious go at the government with some fine jazz tones to back it. And it plays out very nicely with a howling tone. And that has Joe Bob Briggs telling female jokes before “Cats” and “Richie” get by with upper marks, to still leave Briggs bewildered. But the listener is then treated to “Curami” and gets whisked off to another place, where the outdoors are felt and even smelt for a few long minutes on a thing of beauty which captures one of the best efforts on the whole LP. It just sways with the breeze and takes you away and leaves you wanting more. This is where it pays to get into Round Eye and their eclectic pieces of Monstervision. With the rest coming in as the last, but not least, as it should be.  

RELATED ARTICLE: http://teamclermont.com/roster/24418/round-eye

10/10 

Todd Bauer  

Blue Room by Johnathan Cavier

 

 

Blue Room by Johnathan Cavier 

URL: http://caviermusic.com/ 

Blue Room, Johnathan Cavier’s 2017 full-length album, takes him to higher highs and no lows to report on these ten tracks that smolder with pop star qualities. If you could nail his influences does they’d have to be firmly grounded in the 70s and 80s R&B crooners like David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Simon Le Bon and Martin Fry. And if that is calling it far from the mark, then take your pick of others with the same front man swagger. He’s a throwback in every sense of the term, but doesn’t forget he’s not living in the past, he’s just paying his usual homage to the finer things that used to fall off trees compared to now. With much more to know in his background, it’s been told and this is about the room of life’s mellowest color, blue. And so that naturally has the LP starting with the title number “Blue Room” where you get the first ripples of the smooth Cavier effect. You almost find yourself dancing at the clubs of youth or early adulthood. It has something so familiar about it that he’s like a ghost from the past, here to set the clock back a little and put some happiness into the world. You’ll be glad you heard him after just this one song, and if you’re already aware of him it will bring a smile to your face.

This is followed by what could be part two because it’s just as good, but it also seems to invite someone back into the room on “When You Come Around” if you try to nail the feelings. It’s worth the try, as he insists is the case himself on this tune about a disenchanted lover’s chances of coming back around. And all of these backing arrangements are spot on as every track flows along. There is no letting up after that, and the place where all your dreams come true gets fully explored on the streets of “Hollywood” and there’s no secrets hidden as he tells it like it is when you’re living it up out there.

This is toe tapping stuff for the masses to bump and grind to on the dancefloor, as it has the easiest beat for dancing away. It’s a finger snapping good cut with all of that retro comeback content done the right way. This isn’t quite R&B, but it’s closer to that and straight up rock, than disco or funk. Such a title cannot lose unless it’s done in poor taste, so, it wins with flying colors. But so does “Phoenix” in every other way possible, as it stacks up to being the most modern edged piece, with only slight inflections of any ambiance yesteryear. The bird wants to fly closer to real time than time wants it to. This track features some biting guitar to sink its claws in as far as possible. You’ll be swept away by this time, or not. But if not it only takes another crack at drawing you in to take you “Far Away” with an over the top acoustic trip to wonderland. Cavier seems to manipulate the wind in your sails on this easy listening masterpiece that reminds of sitting around the campfire, telling spooky stories to family and loved ones. It offers up as much as any track in the Blue Room of poetic pop and crooner musings. And don’t let any of these chosen titles stop you from hearing it all in one experience, as albums are meant to be heard. But “Someday” and the final cut “Edge Of A Singularity” are worth every bit of time they take to absorb, as I did like a sponge.  

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanCavierMusic/

10/10 

Mike Tabor

David Starr – The Head and Heart

David Starr – The Head and Heart

PRIMARY URL: http://davidstarrmusic.com/

With Arkansas roots and Colorado wings, David Starr has been making music since the age of 10. He is an Americana singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer with hundreds of live shows and seven releases under his belt both as a solo artist. Starr was awarded the Hotdisc Top 40 Most Successful International Artist of 2016 by participating UK DJ's and radio programmers.  Love and Sabotage was also reviewed very favorably by Glasgow's Paul Kerr in Blabber and Smoke in May of 2016.

He has a new six-song EP entitled The Head And Heart produced and arranged by John Oates, and this is review and a look at the songs, which features a surprisingly cool re-worked cover of the Mamas and the Papas classic “California Dreaming.” And it’s not only a highlight, but a bold effort to do something different with the well-known folk-heavy monster. And to get right to the tracks it comes off slowly but surely with “Edge Of The World” with its sad but enlightening lyrics about angels and redemption. This actually reminds me of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always A Woman.” And the great thing is that it gives him a run for his money. It could just be me, but that’s what I take away from it.

“The Head and Heart” keeps the same intentions but goes a little deeper and probably gets the best message across on the EP, which if were an album would just be twice as good. But being an EP, it manages to pull off all of the more power in one little package. It even questions the lack of EP appeal when that happens. I just don’t find that many prolific artists doing EP’s, but maybe that is changing. I still like full albums but this provides no skippers. And it is another good song but takes nothing away from the rest. But I think he could’ve named the EP after any of these tracks and kept the same meaning.

It almost gets smothered by the next track, the cover of “California Dreaming” but once the dream is over, it comes right back to mind. And that is a testament to it. But moving right along this is an extraordinary cover with sweeping violins and a slower, but much more powerful and even almost scary in some parts. It’s like making another song out of it, and doing it as well as the original without disgracing its standards. This isn’t always done with such great results but when it is, you get something not only refreshing, but way outside the box. And you have to credit David Starr for doing something brave and not pulling off a massacre at the same time.

It’s like he approaches his originals, with that same integrity. It’s not easy following up such a peaking point as that, but “Waiting In The Dark” keeps it real with a few welcoming bursts of excitement to bring you out of the trance of the previous animal. It keeps things as fresh as possible and quickly makes you forget you just listened to something that is now around fifty years old. But you’re still in the same century on what is essentially a track about getting tired of being alone. And it might just be me, but this is another one of the best tracks. They all have something compelling about them. But if you’re anything like me, this one stands on top.

“I’ve Come For You” takes on another good notch of the same caliber with its quieter but by no means weaker or less meaningful vocals. It’s a lot more blunt in getting its message across but doesn’t show any less spirit from Starr, with its vibrant but aware of the shadows mentality. It keeps things rocking a little into the finale, which slows back down a little on “Dancing With My pride,” but it also brings everything back into perspective, as it closes with class. And that is what this EP seems to be most fortified with, and you can’t help but feel that John Oates it more present than it appears. But that also should be attributed to the long way David Starr has come by dancing with his own pride.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/davidmstarr/

10/10

Kevin Webber

Bradford Loomis - Bravery & the Bell

 

Bradford Loomis - Bravery & the Bell 

 

 

URL: http://www.bradfordloomis.com/ 
 

There’s a time when albums like this had hit written all over them in colored marker. That earlier era in our collective musical histories respected soul and meaning much more than modern audiences; the majority of the music listening public, these days, turn their ears towards the sound in full flight from meaning and substance desiring, instead, for nothing more than escape. Bravery & the Bell’s seven songs promise few escapes – except through love, acceptance, and forgiveness. These are exactly shopworn qualities in the wheelhouse of modern music. Bradford Loomis, as his official website bio states in different words, is a man and performer plucked from another time and the ethos informing his art will never fail to touch the hearts of those open to receiving its experience. The album, produced by Brandon Bee except for the closing number, is the pinnacle of Loomis’ solo career thus far.  
 

It gets off to a fantastic start with the song “Wind & Woe”. Loomis has tremendous confidence coming through from the first and he gives the vocal the same sort of treatment. Newcomers are unlikely to have a difficult time adjusting to his voice. Loomis may use a rough hewn delivery on a number of tracks, but this isn’t Tom Waits territory where gurgling nicotine gouged vocal chords makes phrasing frequently indecipherable. He uses his voice to similar effect on the second track “Chasing Ghosts” and, like the opener, the singing brings a believability and depth to his lyrical content that makes everything all the more richer. It isn’t nearly as straight forward as the first track, but accomplishes the same goals ultimately with a different thrust of attack. “In the Time of the Great Remembrance” aches from the first and the exquisitely arranged acoustic guitars give Loomis’ voice a memorable setting for the words. It takes on a different air near the song’s end and concludes in a much different fashion than it begins. The acoustic character of the track isn’t out of place – even shorn of his voice, the same sensibility clearly guides the performance that fills the earlier songs. 
 

He brings the pace up some more on the next cut “The Swinging Bell”. It’s a song that has an irrepressible arrangement beginning with hard-charging acoustic guitars before the full band comes in behind Loomis’ voice. It has a vaguely commercial air, different from the opener, but still has the potential to get over with a wide audience in a fashion unlike the gentler numbers on Bravery & the Bell. “Drive You Home” shows how Loomis is perfectly at home on the stairway of surprise as he throws himself with just the right amount of vocal panache into his take on soul music. There’s a strong Motown influence pervading the song, but he balances it quite well with choruses much more in keeping with his typical approach. Bravery & the Bell ends with “Across the Divide”. It’s a song that has some obvious influences and scores as a love song, but it also has much more widespread potential than the earlier tracks – a fact reflected in its choice as the first single. Bradford Loomis’ third release builds on the praise his first two have received and his development shows no sign of slowing down.  
 

GOOGLE PLUS: https://plus.google.com/118431831124818159688/posts
 

Dale Butcher

Threefifty - Gently Among the Coals

Threefifty - Gently Among the Coals 

URL: http://www.threefiftymusic.com/about 

The title alone tells some of the story. Gently Among the Coals is an understated image for an album bringing together strong musical and literary qualities in often surprising and dramatic ways. Threefifty has been working for some years now and has acquired a sterling reputation for their consistently high quality of achievement but, unlike many older and younger bands alike, Threefifty have proven rarely content for staying in one artistic place for very long. Gently Among the Clouds brings together the band’s penchant for classical composition together with a folk and slightly baroque sensibility. The sound, approach, and final result is singular. Some might say the world doesn’t need any more songs and the last half century plus flood of all manner of music might give the same impression to those otherwise uninformed. The bar has simply never been set high enough. Bands like Threefifty, however, are clearly aspiring to fare able to withstand posterity’s glare and succeed in doing so.  

Gently Among the Coals never takes shortcuts. The opener “Crossing State Lines” could have been much more traditional fare, but Threefifty thankfully hears the guitar in a much different way than many old and young bands alike. The instrument is recorded with great intimacy throughout the course of the album’s twelve songs, but the common theme in its presentation is that it takes on an orchestral role. The seeming chorus of guitars on the first song is arranged to perfection but still achieve recognizable effects. “Allegiance” will impress a lot of people. The song communicates with great simplicity, but likewise has a layered arrangement that will draw listeners in from the start. It is one of the few lyrical numbers on Gently Among the Coals and Threefifty makes the effort count by utilizing a superb vocal performance bringing the fine lyrics fully to life. Another musical high point comes with the song “Andromeda”. It’s another example of how this band inventively uses guitar in ways that few other bands would dare attempt, but despite the daring they show, Threefifty never loses the melodic plot. Their melodies are restless, forever evolving, sometime flinty or cracked, but it remains one of the band’s chief pursuits in nearly every song. 

Few songs on Gently Among the Coals better illustrate that quality than “Until Our Hearts Give Out”. Threefifty brings different styles together with a less than heavy hand and the conscientious artistry they show fusing electric guitar work with an electronica backing succeeds, in no small part, thanks to understatement. “The Door”, with lyrics by Vicki Kennelly Stock, has a disquieting effect on the listener thanks to its penchant for darker sounds, but there’s still the same attention to melodic detail setting it apart from the band’s peers and the expert way the band steers through a variety of textural changes should be admired. “More” features contributions from electronic performer and producer Daedelus, but it bears all the marks of Threefifty’s constant upending of expectations. They employ traditional instruments in unusual ways and the gripping backbeat frequently coming out of the mix will surely capture listeners’ attention. Threefifty’s latest release Gently Among the Coals is a new benchmark in an already impressive career.  

9/10 

Joshua Stryde

Cause for Paws – Rescue Me

 

Cause for Paws – Rescue Me 

RELATED ARTICLE: http://isisasheville.com/event/rescue-cause-paws-cd-release-benefit-concert/ 

Some of acoustic music’s most respected and gifted artists have come together with Blue Night Records for the creation of Rescue Me! It is truly a “cause for paws.” From its inception, the project has had one driving purpose: to support the furry creatures who so enhance our lives with love and loyalty. Now, at last, that purpose has materialized with energy and joy as a 12-track compilation album of tender tunes that honor our four-legged friends. Rescue Me! is a heartfelt collection of Americana music featuring songs that are thought-provoking, uplifting, engaging, and downright funny. These compositions are mostly family oriented but do occasionally get into more mature style of humor.

This CD doesn’t waste any time, so getting right to it, the compilation kicks off with a song about a cat with a job. Naturally it earned the appropriate title of “Barn Cat.” It has a light percussive effect behind some excellent guitar work and nice harmony vocals weaved in and out of the story. You’ll like this cat, if Americana, folk and even some country is your thing. It delivers. It’s by Mary Ann Kennedy. So does “Possum And Pearl” deliver just as much with its singer/songwriter aim, and bluegrass twist. It has a swirling ring to it if you like fiddles and banjos. Penned by Kathy Chiavola from the CD “Somehow” and it sets well among these other humorously poetic, low key tracks.

With “Our Cats” things get smoking with a classy acappella song featuring Cindy Mangsen and two other voices. You can’t miss this because it’s up there with what makes this CD work so well. Good storytelling. This is a cool way to liven up the whole collection of funny if yet somehow interesting music. These are veteran artists, so that comes as really no surprise either. They’re all good at what they do. On “Get A Dog” you get that command presence, even from a female vocal, to replace the bad with the good, and go out and get a dog instead. The CD starts to get better as it goes, and the rest is pretty much gravy.

There are songs with humor, as pointed out, but there’s also some melancholy stuff to even it out. “My Old Cat” by Heidi Muller from her CD “Giving Back” is a classic style vocal, not unlike Brenda Lee or someone from that era. It’s also very well done and worth its recommendation. Just about anyone can enjoy that kind of thing, young or old. And “My Best Friend” by Mark Weems is a love song to his pet. You can’t make this stuff up, yet it is so precise and almost as serious as it is not. The piano on this is what really brings out the best in it. You manage to feel for him by the time it’s over.

But that’s not all the piano you get, as the next number razzle dazzle’s the ears. It’s the cerebral “Kitty Kitty” by Ashley Joe Farmer, with its tales of mischief and laughter. The vocals here are of that classic style, heard a few times throughout, but the music backing this is light and bouncy with a hook that won’t quit. It’s an up-tempo boiler with cute lyrics. And it goes well with “Why, Why, Why” even though it is country, as it contrasts with it so well, you get the best of both worlds. This is by Aidan Quinn and Christian Stay. It features a nice vocal duet about the theory that dogs look like their people and vice versa. And that sums up the titles question.

And it gets more personal on “Catitude” with a song about a lover being replaced by a cat once they left. This is one of the funnier arranged vocals offered, but it’s not alone. It just rings of déjà vu because I’m sure a lot of people have wound up this way a time or two in life. And Effron White did a fine job performing it in the studio, which is vastly becoming a lost art form. And the rest floats along with such beauties as “I Miss The Dog” by Jamie Anderson, with its generally sad tale but uplifting string with mandolin and two part harmony vocals. “The Best Dog” which such a close title to the previous that it’s easy to fool but not when you hear it. It’s just another track that makes you want to hear the CD “Home Sweet Home.”  And last, but not least, is “The Kitty Ditty” about cat behaviors, which often adapt from our own. This is a solid closer that goes out on a good note and doesn’t leave a sad feeling. It leaves a feeling of wanting to buy it and donate to cause for paws.

8/10  

CD BABY: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rescueme 

Kevin Webber 

Pat Simmons Jr. - This Mountain

Pat Simmons Jr. - This Mountain 

URL: https://patsimmonsjr.com/ 

Pat Simmons Junior brings something of his own everyday life to his musical art. His sense of social justice, commitment to the environment, and concern for his fellow man comes through in each of the six songs on This Mountain. There’s enormous finesse coming through as well. Each of the numbers are cut to an ideal length and Simmons knows when to push certain elements while pulling back on others. His voice comes in at the right places and he reveals himself to be an exemplary singer with a deceptively wide range. The music primarily relies on guitars, largely acoustic, but other instrumentation makes its presence felt on a variety of cuts. This Mountain is an intimate effort, every song is full of that presence that comes with a singer looking to unload their heart, but it clearly looks to communicate as well and does so wonderfully.  

“Up and Out by Five” shows Simmons’ ability for taking common conversational speech and stringing it together in a fresh way. It has a decidedly chipper air, much like the idea driving the song, but there’s deeper meanings driving the lyrics here for anyone to discern. Simmons conveys the sentiments with an immensely artful touch. Blues comes to the fore on his track “Rust”. It has a much more downcast musical tone than the first song, but the change isn’t jarring at all as the song embraces many of the same strengths making the preceding track so memorable. It’s admirable how he handles heavier emotions without ever leaving the songs feeling somewhat lopsided. “Mauna Mele” is another example of that talent at work. It probably possesses the ideal length of any song on This Mountain and the immense likeability, thanks to its airiness and tempo, makes it one of the EP’s standout numbers. Simmons stretches out some on the song “How Many Years” and indulges his love for the blues in a more pronounced way, but he never loses his touch despite the extended running time. There’s a strong acoustic guitar presence in the song, existing higher in the mix, and Simmons responds with a perfectly tailored singing job.  

“Touch the Ground” is, conversely, the EP’s shortest song. It also shows off more electric guitar, by far, than any of the other songs and the instrument’s presence never seems incongruous. Simmons gives audiences one of his loosest, most charismatic vocals, but it never sparkles with the same presence that he brings to the closer “All The Way”. He throws himself into this jazzier tune with the same upswing to his phrasing that makes the opener so good. It’s a low-key underlining of the EP’s virtues and a great final curtain without ever being too heavy handed about it. This Mountain is about as good of a debut as you could hope for and Patrick Simmons Jr. comes out swinging with a confidence that’s quite impressive. 

9 out of 10 stars  

INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/patsimmonsjr 

Michael Saulman

Tow’rs - Grey Fidelity

Tow’rs - Grey Fidelity 

URL: https://towrsmusic.tumblr.com/ 

The eleven song release from Arizona five piece Tow’rs, Grey Fidelity, continues in the same vein as 2016’s The Great Minimum while further deepening the pensive songwriting style established by the band’s earlier work. Despite the fact that the band’s vocal and songwriting presentation largely revolves married couple Kyle and Gretta Miller, Tow’rs never fails to sound like anything less than a band who have been playing together for years and provide selfless and inspired accompaniment to each other’s efforts. They are able to present their unique point of view within recognizable forms that never aspire to imitation – instead, they invoke the familiar with an individualistic twist and their powerful flair for crouching otherwise quite adult subject matter within otherwise entertaining musical frameworks. Melody is never far away on Grey Fidelity, but it might and often does take on expressions that are outside the normal purview of popular bands. 

“Girl in Calico” serves notice to newcomers that Tow’rs is a band who does things their way. It isn’t a song that obeys the traditional rules of structure – atmospherics guide the way and only instruments like Kyle Miller’s voice and the lightly reverb-ed guitar line running through the cloud of keyboard and synth sounds emerge with the sort of clarity you’d expect. Choosing to begin the album with a fade in is further evidence Tow’rs follows their own Muse and it pays off for them here. There’s a deliciously traditional feel to “Revere” all the more impressive thanks to how thoroughly modern it continues to sound. The vocal harmonies are very strong here. One of the album’s real aching points comes with the demurely titled “Alright”. Even a cursory listen to the track will convince all but the dimmest that the speakers in this song are far from alright, but the fact they confront such bitter truths about life and relationships strikes a chord with the album’s theme of preserving hope. 

“Liminal” is one of the more interesting songs on Grey Fidelity. It seems to betray some traditional Americana elements, but utilizes an arrangement that will seemingly reveal something with each new listen and has some interesting rhythmic shifts along the way. Those same Americana elements return to the fore on “When I’m Silent”, but their use is more selective than before and thus never exerts the same sort of effect over the performance’s ultimate flavor. The vocal is quite lovely despite the apparent weightiness of the subject matter. “Consolations” is a shockingly slinky number with an artsy edge that never risks pretension. They bring together string music influences with fill-oriented electric guitar and expertly recorded drums that give their sound a real snap. “Revelator Man” is full of chiming guitars and a slowly striding tempo that gives both Miller a chance to stretch out vocally and shows off more of the subtlety defining this album at its best. The album ends with “I Can’t Help Myself” and, despite the enjoyable musical performance, one feels a little uncomfortable thanks to the clear desperation coming through in both the vocal and lyric content. The speaker, nonetheless, is still standing at the end. Catharsis comes in a lot of ways. Tow’rs has worked through some sort of catharsis on this collection and it results in their best recording yet. 

9 out of 10 stars 

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/grey-fidelity/id1205375057 

Montey Wright