Alternative Indie New Music
May 22, 2023

Velveteen PONY Not Rabbit

PONY is one of those bands that seem unappreciated. They are not the indie darlings that Japanese Breakfast or Phoebe Bridgers are. PONY doesn’t often show up in Indie Essentials type playlists on Spotify. I suspect that is because they are just so damn easy to listen to. It’s hard for indie hipsters to get into a band that isn’t obtuse, angsty, exclusive, or “deep” […]

Dance Music Euro French New Music
May 15, 2023

Christine and the Queens Makes Me Cry Happy Tears

I just started listening to three of the latest Christine and the Queens songs that are arranged as a mini Ep on Spotify. I’m hoping this is the harbinger of a new album emerging soon (or at least soon-ish). This collections of songs proves that an artist can be creative, incorporate a diversity of styles, and not have it become a hot mess. Too many […]

Dream Pop Mazzy Star
May 3, 2023

Beach House Becomes

Let me get right to it: I love Beach House. That’s a bias that I openly and freely admit. Outside of the Cocteau Twins, they are my favorite dream pop band and a balm for a stressful day. All that means is that it’s hard for me not to like what they do even if they are not stretching their creativity too much. That said, […]

Dream Pop Prog rock
April 21, 2023

Praying at the Exotico Temple

Temples is one of those bands that can be hard to peg. Part neo-prog, psychedelia, and stoner band, Temples makes music that calls back to weed-fueled styles and yet is as fresh as new bud. The latest album, Exotico, is prime Temples. It’s a blend of Yes and Genesis type prog rock, and Pink Floyd and Beatlesesque psychedelia. To this potent mix, Temples adds 80s […]

Alternative Lana Del Rey New Music
April 11, 2023

Lana Del Rey Disappoints Again

After 2019’s Norman Fucking Rockwell, Lana Del Rey’s music (and career) have been like a car coming down the last big hill on a roller coaster; downhill, fast, and with a sudden stop at the very bottom. Her two 2021 albums, Blue Bannister and Chemtrails over the Country Club, abandoned her signature trip hop beats for gimmicks, pretense, and tedium. I desperately hoped that her […]

Alt folk Indie
April 7, 2023

New Zealands Latest Gift, The Beths

I was watching the NPR All Music Considered channel on YouTube the other day, NPR Music. If you’ve never watched the channel, the bulk of it is what are known as Tiny Desk Concerts (TDC). Bands play a short set in front of literally a small desk while NPR staffers watch from a few feet away. As you can imagine, it forces bands to perform […]

updates
April 7, 2023

Ch-ch-changes

Over time, my cadence of writing articles has, shall we say, diminished. There are three reasons for this. First, I feel like I’m in a music lull. There’s not enough good tunes that make me want to spend two hours putting together an article. That might be me or might be a trend. Either way, I’ve slowed my pace. The second reason for my slowdown […]

Dream Pop Euro Shoegazer
February 16, 2023

Picturesque by MOLLY is a Dream

Since the 1980s, when both Dream Pop and Shoegaze appeared, the two genres have often been confused with each other. More accurately, it’s not always clear why one band or other was called shoegaze and another dream pop. To me, the defining element of shoegaze is the wall of distortion created over pop vocals. That distortion is intentionally abrasive, with a sound like a buzz […]

Alternative Jangle Pop Modern Rock New Music Roots
January 30, 2023

An Odd Little EP from Johnossi

While looking through some new music suggestions on Spotify, up popped the Swedish band Johnossi. Their music has a kind of late 80s/90s retro sound with elements of 80s roots and 90s alternative and a splash of indie rock. I was immediately reminded of some 90s Toronto bands like Lowest of the Low, Blue Rodeo (though less twangy), and Barenaked Ladies. But also, 80s jangle […]

70s Classic Rock Pop Reggae soul
January 11, 2023

Remembering 1973… Sort of.

We are in one of those yearly interregnum periods with music. Starting in about October, there are fewer and fewer new releases. Unless you were Ryan Adams that is. He pushed out six albums in 2022, roughly 10 years output for most artists, with several coming at the end of the year. The upshot is that there have been too few new albums to choose […]