Angie and the Deserters - Blood Like Wine

Primary URL: https://www.angieandthedeserters.com/ 

Born in upstate New York and raised in Southern California, Angie Bruyere embodies the old cliché about marching to the beat of your own drummer. After deciding to forego a potentially lucrative modeling career, Angie turned her attentions back to a long deferred first love – music. Her love for bands like The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Fleetwood Mac reached a new level with her introduction to artists like Gram Parsons and it had long since inspired her to start playing guitar and writing songs of her own in that tradition. While her vocal talents are considered, her lyrical talents are just as real, if not as obvious. Bruyere is surrounded by a bevy of top notch players on Blood Like Wine and it’s difficult to not be distracted by the pyrotechnics they conjure. The songs, as a whole, are given the best possible presentation by the production and come leaping out of the speakers with a clear ear for balance and definition.  

Clay Melton Band - EP: Self-titled “Clay Melton Band”

URL: https://claymeltonband.com/

Clicking the play button, as I was still half asleep after a long night of post production and without a drop of coffee in my system yet, I receive a high octane blast of high octane killer rock out mixed with blues and heavy overtures amalgamated all at the right places that instantaneously swing me back into the reminiscent days of Stevie Ray Vaughn. The opening track to Clay Melton’s EP, the number called, “Tonight,” knocked me on my back side and pop my eyes to wide awake! This is heart pumping raw, Texas killer blues/rock that brings the levels of heavy on the guitar riffs shining as only a Texan rock n roll night could. Clay Melton’s new EP is the caffeinated album needed to wake up a sleepless rock n roll girl.

Paul Kloschinsky - Nobody Knows

URL: https://www.kloschinsky.com/

Award winning Canadian songwriter Paul Kloschinsky has established a much deserved reputation as a formidable talent, but his latest full length release Nobody Knows likely pushes him onto a much brighter stage than before. Rarely are albums so unified and, yet, so difficult to pin down stylistically. Kloschinsky maintains a strong uniformity of mood and atmosphere while displaying all the characteristics of a musical chameleon, seamlessly alternating between various strains of genre without the seams ever showing. This fleet-footed facility places his work in a rare class. Kloschinsky’s recording has a distinctly low-fi ambiance, but it enhances the intimacy of the release. The ten song collection sounds like songs written in the wee hours when bleariness skews our perceptions in attention-catching, imaginative ways.

Spark and Whisper – Monument

URL: https://www.sparkandwhisper.com/ 

Monument, the third album from the Northern California based folk duo Spark and Whisper, consisting of Anita Sandwina & Velvy Appleton, solidifies their status among the best songwriting and performing partnerships working today. It represents a further flowering of a creative spirit that first emerged. The eleven song collection has a rare depth of quality extending far beyond rote acoustic singer/songwriter fare. Monument has outstanding clarity highlighting the duo’s multi-instrumental talents while also presenting the tracks with startling clarity. This is an all-around excellent package aiming to entertain and illuminate alike. This isn’t strictly a folk outing though, despite whatever classification you might find it lumped under. It is certainly informed by traditional music, but there’s a rock and roll spirit burning just beneath the surface of some songs. 

The spiders – Election Day Reviews

URL: https://www.thespidersband.com/

Right now what our country needs is something to unite us and bring us together. The 2016 Elections is a big source of disagreement and controversy. I truly believe that music has always and will always be something to unite us. I was nervous when I first saw the title “Election Day,” as The Spiders’ new single because you never quite know what to expect when politicians and government are brought up, especially in music. I was pleasantly surprised.

“Overload” by Chris Luciani

Sir Ivan - Imagine: The Remixes

URL: https://sirivan.com/

Ivan Wilzig is a rare breed of cat. It isn’t often anyone hears about a man walking away from a multi-million dollar career to pursue his dreams of making it in the music industry. Perhaps some might say he has luxuries not available to Joe Average, but that’s neither here nor there. The central fact is this: Ivan Wilzig, aka Sir Ivan, could have contented himself with working for his family’s banking concerns until the grave called for him. However, he chose another road. The bravery of embarking into a great unknown like the music industry, self financed or not, cannot be denied. Sir Ivan’s first commercial success came with his 2001 debut cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. The release came just one week before the World Trade Center towers fell as a result of the 9/11 attacks and the timing couldn’t have been better. Recent well publicized terrorist attacks and the 35th anniversary of Lennon’s death have spurred Ivan to look back on the legendary Beatles’ ideals and famous song in a series of remixes from the world’s foremost EDM producers and DJs.

Callie Hopper - Out of the Shadows

URL: https://www.calliehopper.com/

Solo artist is almost always a misnomer as a label. Popular music is, by its very nature, a collaborative art. Few performers are responsible for songwriting, playing the songs, using every instrument, producing the album, and handling the final mix. The concept of a solo performer is valid in certain respects – ultimately, the performer must stand in front of a hopefully paying audience and deliver these songs to them fundamentally unsure whether they will be greeted with cheers or catcalls. Solo artists have to take the collaborative work they do behind the scenes and absolutely own it, bringing it off like no other hand stirred the pot, and captivate listeners on the own merits alone. By this measurement, Callie Hopper is both a rousing success as a collaborator and performer. Her second album Out of the Shadows is a thirteen song collection attesting to her well rounded skills.