Lucky Kilmartin – Out of Touch Similar artists: Big Star, Noah Kahan, Zach Bryan, Neil Young, The Lemon Twigs Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Alternative Rock During the electoral season, politicians used to go out kissing babies, helping grannies cross the street and playing basketball in the park with strangers. They couldn’t afford not to be liked. During that period, they were part of whatever religion you wanted them to be in, they loved their families, and smiled their toothy grin whenever the opportunity presented themselves.  New politicians don’t want to be liked by everyone. In fa ..read more

Niamh Regan – Music Genre: Indie Folk, Folk There’s a lot of heartbreak on your radio station nowadays. In fact, radio programmes have always liked it this way. It sells even more than songs about wealth or those about sex.  But the people who have truly had their hearts broken can’t listen to those anymore. It’s not that these tunes help memories flood back in. No, in fact, they don’t do anything for the listener. Instinctively, they know that’s not what heartbreak sounds like.  Truly terrible things that seem determined to break your heart apart don’t happen on extraordinary days ..read more

Kurran Karbal – We Won’t Be Alone Forever Genre: Indietronica, Indie Pop, Alt Pop Pop stars nowadays don’t use electric guitars too much. Not unless they have a reason to do it. Not unless they are really trying to send out a message. You see, someone playing a distorted guitar through large amplifiers sends as much a message as a whole verse of rhymes would. It says: “This is a part that’s supposed to be loud, and I want you to pay attention to it!” Now, the acoustic guitar, an instrument that’s been around far longer than its electric companion, has begun being used in much the same way. Pop ..read more

The Low Flying Moons – This Moment Similar artists: Big Thief, Lomelda, Bonnie Prince Billy Genre: Alt Country, Lo-fi Rock, Indie Rock The biggest lie that the majority of rock bands tell their audience is that the good times will last forever. The biggest rock stars are the ones that sound and look like great party hosts who will never ever let you live. They look and sound like the party hosts who tell you that there are no real consequences to your actions. And, they are of course, lying just so that they keep you on board long enough to steal your money.  That is, of course, not exact ..read more

It takes a great, special talent to keep people happy, not to mention a lot of work and a bit of bending of the truth. Pop stars of all sorts find that our sooner or later. Some never manage to come back from the shock of finding out that even the most charmed kind of life can be unjust.  Being a pop star means that being a crowd-pleaser is an obligation, not a character flaw. But what does the audience want to hear? When should they deliver what they’re most familiar with, and when should they accept the need for change? Pop stars and comedians have their work cut out for them. They must ..read more

Baroody – Doctor Similar artists: Songs: Ohia, Jason Molina, Beck Genre: Pop Rock, Lo-fi Rock, Garage Rock It’s always the ones you least suspect. Sure, we’ve all read the outrageous autobiographies written by rockstars, movie actors, and other types of perverts. And, we’ve delighted in their tales of debauchery and the inevitable, terrible consequences that followed it. We’ve dreamt of being them at their best and feared we might just end up like them.  But in the way that some pop singers are able to hide uncomfortable truths underneath the surface, some of the most respectable members ..read more

Julia Gaeta – Hangin’ On A Dream Similar artists: Depeche Mode, Chelsea Wolfe, Cocteau Twins Genre: Post-Punk, Dream Pop You’d like to think that you’d enjoy meeting your favourite pop star at a cheap restaurant and ordering a hamburger. But you’re wrong. You wouldn’t enjoy it. You’d hate that in your eyes, they’d be reduced to an easy-to-understand character that resembles all of your friends. This would strip them of their mystery.  The pop stars that matter are the ones that, at least, appear to be otherworldly. They need to be above the common the common temptations that all of the re ..read more

Robin Kenny – OLD MAN Similar artists: Broadcast, Soccer Mommy, Thom Yorke, Ethel Cain, Wednesday Genre: Indie Rock, Dream Pop, Alternative Rock Who dreams of one day having a stalker? Hopefully, not a lot of people. However, that success, especially in modern times, inevitably involves some kind of unwanted attention from strangers. This happens particularly to the people who acquire tremendous success in entertainment. But, other than their therapists or the few other folks who’ve received similar attention, there is nobody to talk to about such problems.  People who get successful nowa ..read more

sssiv – memory boy Similar artists: Yo La Tengo, Cocteau Twins, Silversun Pickups, The Breeders, Stereolab Genre: Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Alternative Rock Depending on where you live, there aren’t a lot of places for dreamers to go. And, regardless of where you reside or what you do for a living, there’s nothing a lot of time, it seems, to dream. In fact, if anyone catches you doing it, you might just be ought of a job, or your reputation could take a tumble. People around you want to see you actively fight against the vicissitudes of life.  Music of a certain kind becomes then invaluable. W ..read more

Bus People – Skaters Similar artists: Pixies, Beach House, Portishead Genre: Pop Punk I was recently stuck in a hotel room for a couple of days, and there was not much to entertain myself with other than a Netflix subscription. It was during those couple of days that I watched hundreds of movie starts and flicked through hundreds of others. The biggest surprise for novices of movie streaming sites is just how few surprises there are or how deep you have to go to find them.  The fact is that most of us can predict how most movies are going to go. It’s not just because we are smart but also ..read more