Lucas Jack appeared on Vodka for the first time in 2013 with the mini-review for Don’t Get Carried Away. He’s kept making music and releasing an LP every few years, with his signature style paying homage to an earlier time in music when the piano was king. With Dear Life (seen/heard here), the famous upright piano is replaced with an electronic keyboard, but the musical style is very much 70s throw-back pop. It’s delightful! Joined by bandmates Michael Gomez (drums) and Justin…
Read MorePop singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Peter Wise makes his Vodka debut with Only Gotta Start (seen/heard here). This is the first single from a forthcoming as yet unnamed 13-track LP. Wise has a beautiful tenor voice, and he’s not afraid to let it ring out. I was torn between using this version, which includes other instruments and backing vocals, and this one with Wise, a microphone, and a keyboard. In the end, I chose the full-instrumentation version, but they are both…
Read MoreA few weeks ago, Vodka had the pleasure of hosting singer-songwriter-producer Mike Vitale for a house concert. The weather was blissfully moderate. Mike and the crowd were ready for what came next. It was a wonderful concert full of stories. Everyone enjoyed the food and the music. It ended all too soon. Mike started the show off with the only song that wasn’t an original, Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, complete with extensive looping pedal work. It was a phenomenal opener, but just…
Read MoreArielle Silver first crossed Vodka’s path in 2020, and I was impressed. She had been making music at that point since around 2004, so she wasn’t new to the business. The review for What Really Matters appeared in March 2020, followed by the review for Headlights in May. With the pandemic happening during that time, many musicians had to get creative to continue to make money in the many months that followed. She hasn’t had an LP since 2020’s…
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 band…
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