Category: New Music

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Blues Gospel New Music Pop soul Trip Hop
December 21, 2022

Join Me as I Ponder Some Of Us Are Brave

Back in the 1980s, there was a number of artists that fused blues and R&B, as well as gospel, soul, and smooth jazz, with rock, pop, and other genres. This was something of a golden age for the blues and R&B as traditional blues artists, such as Bonnie Raitt, broke into the mainstream. This was also the era when blues great Robert Cray emerged, flirting […]

70s 80s-music Dream Pop Indie New Music Pop retro
December 2, 2022

Weyes Blood Makes My Heart Glow

Weyes Blood (a.k.a. Natalie Mering) is hard to categorize. The closest I can come is 70s soft rock, like Bread, but without the schlock. Perhaps, she can be compared to 70s and 80s singer-songwriters. She certainly structures her songs like Aimee Man or Jenny Lewis might; Or is she more like Sandy Denny? I sit here listening to her latest album, And in The Darkness, […]

Dance Music Dream Pop garage Indie New Music Punk shoegaze Trip Hop
November 25, 2022

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Makes Some Cool Music

If you had asked me a month ago “What kind of music do the Yeah Yeah Yeahs make?” I would have answered “Garage punk or retro post-punk.” And I would have been right. One listen to their most famous song, “Maps”, and you would agree that it is typical early 2000s retro post-punk. Their sound combined minimalist synths with loud guitar solos and simple, tuneful […]

80s-music Dance Music Euro French New Music
November 17, 2022

Christine and the Queens Reaches for the Stars

The latest album from Héloïse Letissier, a.k.a Christine and the Queens just dropped. Called Redcar les adorable etoiles (prologue), which translates to Redcar, the adorable star (prolog), it is one of the best albums of the year. A mix of europop dance music, dream pop, 80s new wave, David Bowie, and even progressive rock, Christine and the Queens has created a marvelous album. What could […]

New Music
November 15, 2022

There’s a Reason for My Silence

It’s been over a month since my last blog post. There is a reason for that and it’s not personal in any way. I’d like to say that I’ve been in Hawaii for a month but, alas, that’s not the case. Most writers of the sort I am (essayists and humorists really) try and keep up a regular cadence. It’s the only way to build […]

90s Alternative Dream Pop Indie Jangle Pop New Music Shoegazer
October 10, 2022

Revved Up with Alvvays

Back in the 1980s, two musical genres emerged at about the same time called dream pop and shoegazer. Both were built on a foundation of the pop song – tuneful and with harmonies – but drenched in jangly waves of guitar noise. They were similar enough that it was easy to confuse bands from one genre as belonging to the other. The main difference between […]