You may remember Emily Barker from two mini-reviews in close succession to each other four years ago just before the Dear River long-player was released. Well, Emily Barker has continued to make fine pop-influenced folk music since then with an ever-increasing focus on polishing and fine-tuning her style. Enter her latest long-player, Sweet Kind Of Blue (May 2017), from which Sunrise (seen/heard here) comes and the metamorphoses continue. It’s like a beautiful butterfly that has somehow turned into an even more beautiful butterfly. The title track and opener is almost but…
Read MoreWork Drugs is a band with a super relaxing groove as noted here on Love Higher from the duo’s forthcoming August 2017 long-player, Flaunt The Imperfection. The prolific duo (Benjamin Louisiana provides most of the instrumentation and Thomas Crystal most of the vocals), has released two handfuls of long players, singles, and EPs since 2011. If you have work to do, Work Drugs is the sort of band that you can put on and groove to while you work. It’s a feel-good sound, with ethereal vocals, prominent but understated beats,…
Read MoreTaos, New Mexico duo, Trummors, recently released their 3rd long-player, Headlands (May 2017), and the opening track is the sun-baked psychedelic folk-pop of Spanish Peaks (seen/heard here). It’s the kind of song that makes Vodka wish we had discovered these two earlier-their first long-player was released in July 2012. The next three tracks, Desert City Gold, Mendocino, and Hollis Tornado are steeped in Americana with touches of country. Psychedelic pop returns on L.A. River, a meandering piece of work that is more than a bit pleasing. That’s just the first…
Read MoreDedicated to the memory of John Wetton, co-founder of the band Asia and member of King Crimson, who passed away in January of this year from colon cancer, Meadowland is an absolutely beautiful ballad from progressive rock aficionado’s Big Big Train, a Vodka favorite. Meadowland appears on the new long-player, Grimspound (April 2017). We haven’t been shy about our praise for Big Big Train. We introduced Grimspound with a review of Telling The Beesfrom the Folklore LP just a month or so ago, which took the opportunity to look…
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