REVIEW: DESSA – A BADLY BROKEN CODE (2010)
My first exposure to Dessa just so happened to be on one of the False Hopes that the Minneapolis collective, Doomtree, has been churning out over the 2000s. She’s the countering anchor to heavy hitters, Sims, Mike Mictlan and P.O.S.. With A Badly Broken Code
REVIEW: YOU, YOU’RE AWESOME – YOU’RE GETTING OLD (2010)
The daring darling at The Hot Half Life recently made a monumental shift to Cincinnati from Chicago, leaving our fair city resembling more like a lawless, crime-infested Gotham City than…I exaggerate…but she did telegraph back dispatches in the Cincy scene! One such cherished discovery
REVIEW: MUMFORD & SONS – SIGH NO MORE (2010)
The 2008 British folk movement brought the two leading luminaries into the Bottom Lounge in Chicago for a half-filled show. Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling had been stirring hearts and minds, expanding into the festival circuit. Woe be thee who missed the opening act, because Marcus Mumford and compa
REVIEW: DASHA – DAMNED IF WE DO (2009)
Rochester isn’t very known nationally as a music hotbed despite its advantageous location between Toronto and New York City. Hence it’s little surprising that Dasha dipped below many people’s radars last fall with Damned If We Do. The album, released via the tiny label Whaleplane, ta
Review: Koala Fires – The Beeping In Our Hearts (2010)
As the year-end lists begin to dwindle, fresh snow continues to fall on rooftops, and those Christmas trees lie bare in your apartment silently coming to the realization their days are truly numbered as their gift boxed companions now are dispersed among family and friends, what do we have to look f
REVIEW: DOOMTREE – FALSE HOPES 15 (2009)
5 emcees.4 producers.1 house. (give or take)15 false hopes. It’s got the makings of a reality television show. And that’s what’s behind the Doomtree collective out of the Twin Cities. While the one house may be a stretch, False Hopes 15 definitively debuted with Blowou
REVIEW: FELT – FELT 3: A TRIBUTE TO ROSIE PEREZ (2009)
Confession. I hate hip-hop. The beats are repetitive, unimaginative to the point it may as well be techno. Lyrically, it only (mis)treats drugs, abuse, and violence. There no true musicianship behind rap, nothing that makes me want to learn an instrument or be a better artist. Welcome to early 2003,
REVIEW: SOPHIE HUNGER – MONDAY’S GHOST (2009)
I love debating the viability of international artists in the world marketplace, particularly in America. While some argue that the industry prevents international artists from our radio and markets, others see the internet started to erode that influence, allowing deserving musicians to crest those
REVIEW: CHARLIE – CHARLIE (2009)
It’s approaching a year since her self-titled album was released on the independent rock label at(h)ome in Paris as well as her biggest-to-date concert at Place de la République’s Café de la Danse. Since then she’s carried away the Prix des Écritures de la Chanson 2009 f