'Armed with a master's degree in jazz from the California Institute of the Arts and global touring experience, Alex seeks continual growth as a musician and as a human.' The exuberant swank and sway of "Persistent Sprinkles" by bassist Alex Hamberger, and a bevy of truly amazing musician collaborators, feels like shape shifting bits of jazz tropicalia. There are easy shades on display and intricate puzzles but no matter the level of discourse the conversation is always totally engaging. I am, by not means, a true jazz aficionado and in my mind, I probably listen to jazz as a glor ..read more

  "are you ready for the steer / have you made up your mind / when fools can disappear / somehow I'm alright..." The parallax view of the dreamy mixed melancholia of "Social Light" by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Kramies feels incredibly airy, floating with a reticent hope. It might feel light years from some of the more darker imagery I saw / felt when I reviewed his emotionally imploding track "Hotel In L.A." back in June of 2022 from his stunning eponymous album. I described the song having an "opaque bleakness" within it's trippy nature, it's beauty and it's stark c ..read more

  "One look at me / And I knew you wouldn't stay / But you know I tried to / Be beside you..." The stridently cool bass throttle, the caustic synth arpeggio'd propulsions of "Giallo" by South Florida nuwave outfit L.L.G could be classified as tech punk or dark tech wave if I had my druthers. AND even though I don't know what druthers are, the dark spiral of "Giallo" saturated in this tense stew of repeated synths, a comely bass line (that anchors the track), trippy lead guitar screams and artful vocals with a decidedly Goth-esque drawl makes for a mayhemic experience. A furious storm to ..read more

  photo by Arnaud Ele The rustic, pervasively starry eyed emotional wanderlust of "The Party And The Mess" by Soft Loft, the project name of Swiss singer-songwriter Jorina Stamm with her band, feels tattered like an old Polaroid full of scratches, pain, and hope. I love the spiral and sonic ascensions of hope too that start simply with Stamm's vulnerable vocal countenance and acoustic guitar propulsions eventually exploding with big sounds in the way a dream might wash out in light and blind you in the end. The champagne and the dress The party and the mess I’ll let you go to some ..read more

  "going broke but we feel much more / alive..." The blistering 2000 piece puzzle rock crunch of "Burning Down My Job" by Pottstown, Pennsylvania based Mulberry Hill feels as delirious as it does complexly jammy. Utterly explosive, hyper and super charged, the style here also feels incredibly wonky and makes an old dog like me think of the late 70's power pop / art pop eccentricities of artists like Alex Chilton, The Exploding Hearts, The Rezillos, Sparks, Bates Motel that easily translated to proto punk movements going on at the same time. 80's new wave artists, 20/20, XTC, Dramar ..read more

 /  "sticky notes / by the basement stairs /tell him not to go down there / cause if he falls / one more time / he could vanish / she drives them down / in drywall with / a slender old dark nail / doubtless picked up / some years back / a steal at a yard sale..." The tear soaked sadness and true love of "To Keep Him Here" by Columbus, Ohio based ornamental Americana band Hello Emerson, will undoubtedly hit you hard if you have a ears and a heart and will undoubtedly hit you even harder, just like a sucker punch you in the gut, if you live long enough to have tragedy befall a loved ..read more

  "attracted / distracted / you go with the flow / but it's never gonna happen..." The rapid fire Swedish punk pummel of "Not Enough" by three piece stoner-rock / alt rock Repeat, namely Stolkholm's guitarist / vocalist Torbjörn Hallberg, drummer Johan Holmberg (formerly from Liberator) and bassist Mattias Belin, makes for a massive hyper attacking sound. As opposed to screamo, the vox are chrystalline clear for punk but not any less raucous and the song feels subversively at the edges of skater punk, good ole' QOTSA alt rock, and blended punk iterations you would have heard at Vans War ..read more

  "I still seduce your thoughts along the way / Ahead you crawl, I suck, the game is late / Caught by surprise when smoke cracked of your head / I keep my laughter for another day..." The cool mysteries and plush indie rock dreaminess of "Lose the Score" by Athens, Greece indie pop-rock band Pink Vanity, started by brothers Konstantinos and Alexandros Krommydas in 2020, is a foray into blended rock sounds and vibes. While it may start as a mellow psychedelic pop rock bit of storytelling, it pretty quickly amps up the punch stirring in alt rock heaviness and artful 90's post rockisms sti ..read more

  "a pile of pillows / blankets and sheets / teepee of covers / castle of dreams / ocean of colors / turbulent, deep / where you discover your  / wide as the sea..." The Americana folk indie rock tropicalia of "World in Me" by Atlanta, Georgia's JR Wicker is an artful cup runneth over. Bathed in country jangle popisms and a urgent busker punk energy, Wicker throttles every word, many clever, some curious and surreal and all existential in an inspired, wide eyed wonder. I love his vocal aesthetic. He has a troubadour quality, he casts his varied vocal drawl assuredly without trepid ..read more

  "if I find another / secret to hide / if I find another / secret to hide / you'll never know..." The deceptively drawn drama of "The Worst Is Yet To Come" by Helsinki, Finland's alt rock / art pop outfit UTU and the first single of their upcoming album "Love Collection: By the Ashes That Used to Be the Everlasting Fire", sneaks up on you from a sparse organic beginning erupting into massive grand atmospheres. Opening with what sounds like a vintage pump Melodeon piano and Petra Poutanen's beautifully distinct vocal countenance, the song has baroque angles with gothic folk underpi ..read more