Released today, November 8, Far Away (heard here) from JB Elwood is a pop-rock earworm worthy of repeat play! It’s a song about leaving home in search of your dreams. Sure, that song has been written many times, but Elwood breathes a firey breath of new life into the narrative. While his stated influences include Slash and Guns N’ Roses, I can’t hear those influences on Far Away. Instead, I hear a fresh sound, a wonderful singable song, and a refrain that clings to you like…
Read MoreSweet Imperfections is led by singer-songwriter Bri Schillings and a collective of some of Southern California’s most talented musicians and writers. Ignorance Is Violence (seen/heard here) takes on climate change and humanity’s unwillingness to do what is necessary to curb or reverse it. It’s a sobering message: Smoke filled hills, covering the earth everywhere I go feels like the whole world is getting ready to explode We don’t to stop, think it’s not our fault, no matter what the cost, we keep on living as it…
Read MoreAt the beginning of August, Maria Wilman released her debut LP, Dark Horse, which is chuck full of interesting melodic creations, that stray from modern music’s tried and true formulas. That is an excellent thing! Mastermind (seen/heard here) is one of the singles from the new LP. Maria has a beautiful alto voice that she uses at times with a Grace Slick or Chrissie Hynde sort of slide-in bent-note instrument. In fact, Maria Wilman has more in common with…
Read MoreIntroduction If you are longing for some slick, accomplished, power-pop music in your life, then sparkle*jets u.k. has just the recipe for you. After more than 20 years absent from the music scene, the band has returned with a vengeance, and the results couldn’t be more positive. sparkle*jets u.k. last had an LP in 2001 with Bamboo Lounge. A single followed in 2005, Christmas in July, and then the band went dark. Most people would have given up hope for the…
Read MoreBen Folds is well known, so it may seem strange to see a review for an artist that is not in one of those dark corners that Vodka is always talking about. He hasn’t had an LP since 2015’s So There but has nonetheless been very busy, and it is this lack of an LP in 8 years that makes this a milestone moment for music lovers, particularly for Ben Folds lovers. Winslow Gardens (heard here) is the…
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