Son Little makes wonderful rhythm and blues and soul. He’s grown from the seeds that he planted with his 2015 debut self-titled long-player, which heralded the roots of this music, to construct new funky soundscapes for his sophomore effort, New Magic (due out September 2017). Blue Magic is from that soon-to-be-released LP. Working as both a singer, songwriter and musician as well as a producer, Son Little has toured with diverse acts such as Shakey Graves and Mumfort & Sons to name just two. In 2016, his production talents won…
Read MoreThe Dead South is a gravelly, gritty, road-worn bunch of Canadian misfits. Their brand of bluegrass and Americana influenced folk is full of stories of misdeeds and mayhem, but it’s something that you can get your feet into. Coming from diverse musical backgrounds that included metal and singer-songwriter, this unlikely amalgam somehow manages to make great and infectious music. In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company (seen/heard here), is from the group’s first long-player, Good Company (April 2014), but the band has a recent…
Read MoreYou 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…
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…
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…
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