Straight forward pop music can either be incredibly good, incredibly bad, or somewhere in the middle. It all depends on how formulaic the tune is and how good the lyric is. There are no problems on any level for Caitlin Rose and Only A Clown from her March 2013 long-player, The Stand In. Caitlin combines a country-esque sensibility to her tunes, with a touche of jazz lounge singer and a whole lot of pop chops. If you haven’t heard of Caitlin Rose,…
Read MoreI’ve been waiting for an actual video to be release for Heart Heart Head from the stunning Meg Myers since I heard the track for the first time a couple of months ago. The video was released on April 30, but due to forward posting, the entire month of May was already spoken for on this blog. If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen Meg here before. Monster appeared last year and was also one of the top 40 tracks on Vodka…
Read MoreDown Like Hip Hop is rock-solid pop from Fiction 20 Down’s (2013) long-player Where’s The Levity?. Yes, there is hip-hop here, there’s also a very deep understanding for melody and music. Hip Hop is flavor, it’s rhythm, and it can be flipping awesome, which is exactly what Fiction 20 Down proves. Along with the pop sensibility and hip hop flavor, there’s just a touch of reggae and a bit of rock for good measure. This is…
Read MoreJust the right touches of swing and rhythm and blues makes Kassy Key and The Rain Dogs a compelling listening experience. Kassy Key has a great vocal for this style-a sassy, full on alto, dripping with bluesy greatness. The Raindogs provide excellent backup horns, bass and rhythms, sometimes popping up front for the limelight-and not in a bad way. Here on Sleight Of Hand, from the band’s latest EP (available via i-Tunes) you can hear all of those…
Read MoreSteve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy of The Church, step out occasionally to record music as a duo. They sound eerily familiar here on I Wouldn’t Know, the first track on the May 2013 long-player, You Are Everything. It’s not as if they’ve co-opted a style other than their own, but you get just a hint of the quieter moments from Pink Floyd or David Gilmour. Perhaps it’s the focus on minor keys, or the haunting, nearly spoken-word, delivery. Whatever the…
Read More