Vodka likes to expose all sorts of music, but honestly, it usually isn’t straight-up instrumental. There are several exceptions, Lydian Collective, Snarky Puppy, etc., but for the most part, the music that I cover here has lyrics. That seems to be shifting a bit over time. Perhaps because the quality of instrumental music itself has increased, or perhaps I’m just noticing it more these days. Enter Daniel Sherrill, whose traditional banjo compositions are beautiful and breathtaking. Fortune, (seen/heard here) is from Sherrill’s forthcoming…
Read MoreVodka did a double-take as soon as the vocal kicked in. That voice is hauntingly familiar, yet not familiar. It’s like, but not quite like, Nick Drake. Even compositionally, Chris Brain has a Nick Drake-ish take on music creation and sound. Don’t get me wrong: Chris is 100% original. I’m sure many of you have never heard of Nick Drake. It’s unfair to bring him up without discussing him just a bit, but just know this review is not for…
Read MoreLoud Forest’s Easy To Love (seen/heard here), is a country-flavored folk-pop offering, from a duo more inclined (at least in the past) for indie-pop music. Made up of husband and wife team, Bernard and Rachel Chadwick, the two have been making music together for a number of years, and while their music is often influenced by folk artists, this is one of the first times that it has captured that sound. Sans the electronics and echo of previous offerings, the…
Read MoreOne of Vodka’s favorite indie-pop duos, Natalie and Sebastian Brice, better known as Sinnober, has been churning out some excellent singles of late. Enter It Meant Something To Me (heard here) which was released a little over a week ago, and could be the best new track yet. It’s the sort of song that will have your head bobbing while the melody gets stuck in your head on repeat as any good pop tune does. The upbeat music belies the…
Read MoreLydian Collective is not new to Vodka, but I’m not-so-patiently waiting for the follow-up to the absolutely fabulous Adventure LP, named Return, due out in almost exactly one month (May 27, 2022). November (seen/heard here), which is not new compositionally to the band, will finally have a home on an LP, and that is a very good thing indeed! Vodka coined the phrase “joyful jazz” to define the music that Lydian Collective creates. In truth,…
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