Mackenzie Shivers writes some very pretty music and lyrics and delivers a convincing performance. I would have only one small complaint: Mix the vocals just a little higher so that the lyrics are more audible. The vocals are only marginally under mixed, so it isn’t a big complaint. There’s plenty to like about Mackenzie Shivers and with only two EP’s currently available, plenty of time to tweak things up in the production department. Musically, Shivers melody on Names (seen/heard here) from her first EP, Living In My Head (September 2016), feels…
Read MoreEmily Brown’s song Sometimes (seen/heard here) is a study of the play between consonance and dissonance, and how they can interact to pleasing results. On the one hand, you have Emily Brown’s sweet vocals which travel from the lower to upper registers with ease and carry the lyric delivery with moral conviction. On the other hand, you have the use of fuzzed-out guitar, which provides the dichotomy between. The guitars on Sometimes, start in as almost an afterthought, but by the time the final refrain is near the end, they…
Read MoreLive from Portland, Oregon, comes the wonderful folksy folk of Rebecca McDade and Needle In The Straw from her debut long-player, To Call Home (April 2018). Thanks to my daughter, who caught Rebecca’s performance in a house concert recently, and forwarded her information. An earlier video was languishing in my drafts folder. Why? Well, because the vocal / music balance of her self-produced videos just was wrong and failed to properly tell her story. In short: the mix was wrong. The Rye Room Sessions here, alleviate…
Read MoreSwedish singer-songwriter Kristoffer Bolander’s beautiful, anthemic single, Cities, from his sophomore long-player, What Never Was Will Always Be (March 2018) belies the stark message of a world in a new ice age lonely and devoid of most of the people. It’s a message worth heeding. Kristoffer’s music is a strange blend of power pop, anthemic crescendos, and clear lyrics, delivered in an earnest, honest and accessible way. Vodka missed out on Kristoffer’s freshman debut, I Forgive Nothing (Jan 2017) when it came out, but we intend to rectify that. This…
Read MoreAmy Jay’s beautiful voice insinuates itself so well into the melody of this song, that this lyric video-in place of an actual video-is actually pretty welcome. It’s not like you can’t hear her words, on the contrary, she is very clear, but that you are lulled into the hypnotic beauty of the melody and vocal to the point of needing to re-listen multiple times to ‘get’ the lyric. Quite new to the music scene, Amy Jay has a way with melody and songwriting that will keep you mesmerized. Only One (seen/heard…
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