Kelly McGrath - You and Me Today

Kelly McGrath - You and Me Today 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Kellymcgrathmusic 

Kelly McGrath’s first single “You and Me Today” from her forthcoming fourth studio album is a clear illustration of how this singer’s prodigious vocal and songwriting skills are in full flower. This is the first taste of a follow up years in the making to her last full length release Heartstrings. The album produced a hit single for McGrath entitled “One Foot in Front of the Other” and propelled an extensive radio station tour that saw McGrath traversing the nation in order to spread her art. The success of Heartstrings and her tireless self-promotion resulted in McGrath amassing a larger following than ever before. She reaches for her highest pinnacle yet on “You and Me Today” thanks to her courage in looking over an event that must rank as one of life’s most painful lessons yet – the death of a parent. Mortality isn’t typically good pop song fodder, but McGrath turns her trauma into the highest art with sincerity, technique, and grace.  

McGrath’s singing has invited comparisons to a variety of female icons, namely Janis Joplin, but her range is far wider and the complements fail to do her justice. McGrath’s versatility takes its more startling form not from her lung power but, instead, the combination of her phrasing and vocal strength. She knows how to utilize her dynamics to their fullest potential while still possessing enough control over her voice to modulate its effects as needed. She is likewise particularly skillful at meshing her voice with the arrangement in such a way that it becomes a duet, as it should be, between her and the accompanying musicians. Many singers, men and women alike, take over songs with their ego or craving for the spotlight and it undermines the potential in a performance. McGrath wisely avoids such pitfalls.

The lyrics are very straight-forward without ever being too obvious. There’s a good mix of the personal and general, but the real accomplishment of her writing lies in its underrated literary qualities. These manifest themselves as a talent for making the intensely personal into something resonant, universal, by incorporating the right significant details into the lyric. Her phrasing wreathes these words with an additional dramatic quality, but as before, she never has pushes too hard to achieve those effects. Her fine text for the song matches the vocal melody quite well and more than carries their weight with its unflinching depiction of grief. 

The rhythm section is quite powerful and provides “You and Me Today” with the necessary ballast, but it’s the evocative acoustic guitar work that provides the track with much of its melodic punch. This is really quite a well-rounded song with no discernible flaws. Its release is a clear sign that the long wait for Kelly McGrath’s next album has always been well worth the time and our patience will be handsomely rewarded. This is a song of rare distinction from an even rarer performer.  

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/kellymcgrathmusic/ 

William Elgin III

Jemima James - At Longview Farm

 

Jemima James - At Longview Farm 

URL: http://www.studiowner.com/essays/essay.asp?books=0&pagnum=158 

1979 certainly wasn’t the time for this album to come out. Jemima James faced the unenviable timing of debuting during a period when the value of singer/songwriters and folk-influenced performers couldn’t have been at a lower commercial ebb. Her talents, as exhibited on the ten song release At Longview Farm, are the equal of many of her much more famous peers of the era and At Longview Farm is a complete listening experience that touches on many American musical influences without ever ceding dominance to one particular style. She is surrounded by a top shelf supporting cast of musicians who know just what to add to her songs and when to temper their talents. James has a fantastic voice for the material and it’s full of nuance that helps her realize the dramatic potential of the arrangements and lyrical content alike. The album is immaculately produced – the often layered performances never sound cluttered and are juxtaposed perfectly against James’ vocal.

The song “Sensible Shoes” is an unique and understated fusion of a few musical styles. Jemima James the folk performer is visible and audible throughout, but there’s also a sharp commercial edge on this song with its chorus and other attributes that will reappear from time to time throughout the course of the album. The vocals are quite exceptional throughout and the elegant simplicity of the musical accompaniment is a perfect match for them. “Easy Come, Easy Go” continues with the commercial standard established by the opener, but it is a much more natural sounding track. It plays more like the result of a loose, good natured jam rather than a structured arrangement and it’s a testament to the skill level of the players involved that they can achieve that sort of atmosphere while keeping the performance disciplined and inspired. “Esperate” brings a slightly more exotic feel than the other songs, but it isn’t some overwrought stab into an uncomfortable style. James’ versatility is impressive and she glides vocally through the track with free-flowing, relaxed strength.  

“Book Me Back in Your Dreams” is one of the most interesting pieces of songwriting on the album and, surprisingly, one of the most traditionally minded efforts as well. The inclusion of instruments like steel guitar and harmonica isn’t unique, but they do give this song its own distinctive musical voice. “One More Rodeo” will reminds most listeners of songs like the opener and “Easy Come, Easy Go”, but it’s the best of the album’s more commercial tracks thanks to its compression and perfect unity of vocals, lyrics, and musical content. The second to last song on the album, “Billy Baloo”, features two lead vocals, but it’s by far the most rousing singing that she does on this album.  

Jemima James’ album At Longview Farm has found an ideal time and avenue for its emergence. Team Love Records has demonstrated a commitment to promoting and releasing some of the most interesting music coming out today and shining a light on some forgotten corners and performers of our time. This ten song collection stands proudly among the label’s other releases and will likely stand the test of time. 

9 out of 10 stars. 

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/at-longview-farm/id1164767061 

Michael Saulman

Leo Harmonay - The Blink of an Eye

 

Leo Harmonay - The Blink of an Eye

URL: http://www.lharmonic.com/ 

Leo Harmonay’s first album, Somewhere Over the Hudson, served notice that a talented new singer/songwriter in the folk tradition had emerged with a wide command of the genre and different ideas about how to manifest its traditions in engaging, modern ways. He isn’t a strict purist and both the drumming and guitar work on the album reflects his willingness to think outside the norm and bring new textures into the music. His second album The Blink of an Eye features eleven tracks that reaffirm the virtues of the genre while still reflecting Harmonay’s personal ambitions and musical excellence. He has the unique ability, certainly not shared by every performer in the field, for bringing these retro sounds into a modern context and making it work without much apparent effort.

The songs on this new album are either folk or blues in approach with stylistic deviations that set them apart from run of the mill efforts in this genre. Songs like “Up to You” and “Gone Are the Days” are the album’s clearest excursions into the blues genre and they work exceptionally well. The reason for their success, however, isn’t because Harmonay hits all of the expected blues notes. Instead, it’s because he takes the form and, instead of cutting a tribute with his songwriting credit attached, he tries to use it as a genuine vehicle for self-expression while never strictly serving up what the listener expects. A small handful of songs are cut from a purist folk cloth. The earliest of these, “River Dancer”, doesn’t flow as freely as some of the later attempts, but it’s probably the strongest lyrically. “Wounds of Love” and “Dirty River Town” have familiar elements, both musically and lyrically, but the mechanics of each performance are so vividly rendered that it redeems any flaw. Harmonay’s vocal tops off both of these aforementioned songs with its unsparing musicality, lively phrasing, and gusto.  

The remainder of the songs features varying blends of Harmonay’s styles and show across the board creativity that manifests itself in different ways each time. “In the Morning Light” is one of the album’s most striking moments thanks to the use of electric guitar. Rather than attacking the song conventionally, Harmonay uses the instrument for atmosphere and it gives considerable teeth to one of the album’s more brooding moments.  One of the album’s last songs, “Bridges”, is the most startling example of his skill for re-inventing traditional forms. There’s a surprising amount of dissonance powering certain passages and the raw, aggressive sound of the recording is unusual for offerings from this genre. The eleven tracks on The Blink of an Eye will please purist and iconoclastic tastes alike. Such all-around talents are rare. Leo Harmonay’s vocal style will even win you over after, perhaps, some initial hesitation. He has immense likability, intelligence, and a fantastic command of every musical style he touches upon. The Blink of an Eye will make any fan of his first album quite happy and, undoubtedly, win Leo Harmonay many more fans.  

9 out of 10 stars. 

AMAZON:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_seeall_1?rh=k%3A%22Leo+Harmonay%22%2Ci%3Adigital-music&keywords=%22Leo+Harmonay%22&ie=UTF8&qid=1426435390 

Scott Wigley

Jamie Kent - All American Mutt

Jamie Kent - All American Mutt 

URL: http://jamiekent.com/home 

The third album from Jamie Kent, All American Mutt, signals a new peak in Kent’s short career thus far. He has hacked out quite a trail for himself since his 2009 debut with the release Neoteny and the latest studio platter amply illustrates his development as a performer and songwriter. Kent has distilled his passions and aims down to their purest essence and possesses an unique style that spans virtually the entirety of American music instead of confining himself to some narrow artistic corner of the genre. Rock, country, funk, blues, and folk exist side by side here in often various permutations. David Brainard, a respected Grammy nominated producer, mans the boards for Kent and helps stage these songs in the best possible sonic light. Only one song out of the ten is not written by Kent alone. 

Such all encompassing efforts make for singular releases. “All American Mutt” is a bit of a cataloging song, but it chooses a varied target and basically turns this track in a sweeping melodic assessment of his own place in American life. Kent’s singing has a relaxed confidence you can discern from the first line and sometimes it seems like someone grinning from ear to ear, reveling a little in his own facility with the language and music. “Look Up” is the exact opposite as a composition. The opener never sounds cluttered, but this first ballad never risks cluttering for a single second of its duration. The song is able to breathe free and easy and it gives room for Kent’s voice to move around. His emotive skills are outstanding but never overdramatize the lyrical situation. He paints things with a broader brush on the unabashedly commercial “Last Call”, but it never gets painfully obvious. Following it with “Home Again” is a surprising move. The arrangement is pure yearning honkytonk that never lays possible affectations on too thick and emphasizes its melody.  

Fiddle, banjo, and mandolin form an unlikely instrumental trio to get “Be Your Man” over with the listeners thanks to its colorful and quirky sonic charm. Listeners will be able to hear the genuine relish that Kent takes in singing this song. The folk-influenced singer/songwriter balladry of “Safe” can scarcely be better conceived. The precise and often quite lyrical acoustic guitar matches itself up nicely against Kent’s voice and the spaciousness of the musical arrangement gives it a nicely dramatic quality. “Red Rover”, however, is the album’s best ballad. It proceeds slowly and with great patient while vocalists Kent and Michaela Anne focus on their phrasing with such success that their aesthetic beauty of their voices is easily a secondary concern. There’s a last jolt for listeners buried deep in the track list with “Sheila”. Huey Lewis and his horn section from backing band The News team up with Kent to unleash their gleeful ode to a bad news heartbreaker. It isn’t anything older music fans haven’t heard before, but Kent and his partners on the song pull it off with great panache. There’s something for any listener on All American Mutt. 

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFsTZPzDrSZPXssFysbxdnQ

Scott Wigley

Alessandro Coli - I Betcha'

Alessandro Coli - I Betcha' 

URL: http://www.alessandrocoliofficial.com/

Alessandro Coli’s career path was forged early on and he is pursuing his dream with a singleness of purpose and the talent to back it up. The Italian born nineteen year old began his mainstream career with an appearance on the national Italian television show Io Canto and garnered a ton of attention from that appearance. He soon signed to Sony Music and released highly successful recordings in Italian and only made his American language debut with the early 2016 release of “Flames”. The first entry into English music proved to be quite successful and earned him a spot on the Billboard charts as well thanks to the efforts of collaborator and multi-platinum producer Chris “C-Rod” Rodriguez. His second single “I Betcha” builds on the success of that song and shows a demonstrable step forward in its clear sincerity and strong songwriting.

Bringing an entire genre’s game a full step up might seem like a fool’s errand. If so, thankfully no one told Alessandro Coli. This performer served notice that he intends to make it on a global scale and proved with the release of “Flames” that he will give the best possible effort to realize that dream. He succeeds spectacularly well here thanks to the strong confluence of every essential element – the electronic musical arrangement and his vocals share equal footing in the mix and renowned producer Chris Rodriguez is, undoubtedly, once again a major force in shaping the work like he was on Coli’s English language debut. It’s memorable to hear how the intensity of the music takes on a slow rise and Coli’s vocals joins in the ascension but uses great judgment in perfectly modulating his voice against the electronic instruments.

The synthesizers, bass pulse, and drums pop with immediacy and will undoubtedly sound massive piped through some massive speakers. Another of the song’s finest qualities is the slightly gritty edge in the mix, the spike in its punch, that strengthens the effect of the lyrics. Coli has a total vocal command and gives the song a hard nudge at key points that are particularly effective. The lyrics are surprisingly artful for the genre as well. There aren’t any unnecessary poetic flourishes, naturally, but Coli communicates his tale of woe with understated elegance that nevertheless retains a conversational tone.  

Alessandro Coli’s second effort into the American market sets him up as one of the major talents going forward in the dance music scene and his rise will only continue. “I Betcha” has some real sophistication in both the music and the lyrics and Coli gives it the final touch with a supreme vocal turn. It never tries to take over the performance and shows the instincts of a musician far older than his nineteen years. It’s rather thrilling to imagine where Coli can take this from here, but there’s no question he has yet to fully realize his considerable talents.   

SPOTIFY: https://play.spotify.com/album/1JwYPVh1YCMBpk6bIXUszi?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open 

William Elgin III

Phantom Phunk - Arboles Ossific

Phantom Phunk - Arboles Ossific 

URL: http://www.phantomphunk.com 

Phantom Phunk have landed on the national music scene with Arboles Ossific, a highly individual and willfully independent musical effort that challenges listener’s expectations while never failing to entertain those willing to stick with its numerous twists and turns. The band has only been together since 2014 when songwriters and longtime friends Sasha Cheine and Hector Alexander convened to flesh out songwriting ideas and decided to begin working on this project in earnest. They soon realized that their collaboration was blossoming to a point where recruiting sympathetic collaborators became a must and, after a brief search, rounded out the lineup with drummer Nick Emiliozzi and guitarist Juan Gonzalez. Their work writing and assembling this release has produced a wildly eclectic outing that takes on too much for its own good but, shockingly, never makes a single misstep.  

“Snowy in Florida” touches on the recent mass shooting in the Orlando area but never in a heavy-handed way. This is much more of an emotional reaction to the world we unfortunately inhabit today given shape in song and the highly musical cacophony of changes packed into a relatively small space never overwhelms the listener. They know how to alternate moods on this album and the second song “Sip of Wine” is proof. This is a dream-like and exquisitely woven piece relying much more on subtlety that instrumental prowess to deliver its romantic sentiments. The album’s first single, “The Unheard Spirit Symphony”, would have made an excellent album title and the track clearly is geared towards airplay without ever sounding overly calculated or dishonest. The uptempo rush of its charging rhythm section and guitar work perfectly matches Sasha Cheine’s vocals.

“Looping” has a slightly disjointed feel at first, but the song quickly makes its musical intentions clear and excels further on the back of another quality Cheine vocal. They once again show their skill at manipulating the audience’s attention with its follow up, “Brother’s Keeper”, which recalls the earlier track “Sip of Wine” with its invoking of a delicate mood, even if the mood here is considerably bleaker than before. They take another slightly surprising turn with the instrumental “Distant Kaleidoscopes” and it gives listeners an opportunity to hear their melodic talents in full view without the added distraction of vocals and lyrics. The second to last song on the album, and for all intents and purposes its climax, “Tommy’s Cosmic Avocado” is a long musical piece that moves through a variety of atmospheres and moods that never lose their coherence despite the long duration.  

Phantom Phunk seem to be bursting with ideas and energy and undoubtedly this supplies their debut with many of its surprises. This is relentlessly optimistic music in some ways. Phantom Phunk are clearly a collective of musicians who believe nothing is beyond their grasp and, even if some songs deal with heavier subject matter, they clearly position their songwriting as a strike back against settling for second best. This is a band that’s aiming for the highest peaks they can find. 

9 out of 10 stars. 

AMAZON:  https://www.amazon.com/Arboles-Ossific-Phantom-Phunk/dp/B01M4Q2TE0 

Dale Butcher

Project-TO - The White Side, The Black Side

Project-TO - The White Side, The Black Side
 

DISCOGS: https://www.discogs.com/Project-To-The-White-Side-The-Black-Side/master/1061342

The Italian based collective Project-TO, a trio whose membership includes producer Riccardo Mazza, keyboardist Carlo Bagini, and filmmaker Laura Pol, have released a debut album that will surely rank among the widest reaching expressions of techno music’s artistic potential we have yet heard. The White Side, The Black Side is a study in contrast, but it’s much more. It is almost a painterly exercise with sound as the trio recorded a dozen songs consciously divided into two groups of six – the white side and the black side. The white side features an inspired, yet arch-traditionalist approach to techno – the big beats, bright keyboard and synth textures, and incessant rhythms that never relent from first note to last. The black side, naturally, features these same elements only stripped down to their essentials and given a decidedly darker shade than heard on the white side. The experiment comes off flawlessly and results in one of the most substantial recording achievements of 2016.
 

The opener “I Hope” takes its title from a Hilary Clinton quote that finds its way into the mix as a spoken word sample. The use of such techniques gives the track a slight avant garde edge, but pretentiousness never weighs down any of the album’s twelve cuts. The fat beats, unlike the typical dry sound you customarily hear with this style of music, resound with warmth and presence while still pushing the song hard towards its inevitable conclusion. The black version of the track features a similar tempo, but the spoken word samples are much fewer and, when they arise, heavily distorted. The density of the white version gives way to a thicker, but much more spartan sound, reliant on fewer separate keyboard and synth lines. “Look Further” has a strong vocal presence, but it is heavily treated with electronics and fully integrated into the mix. The percussion presence in the song is as strong as ever, but keyboardist Carlo Bagini explores a much wider dynamic range here than heard on the earlier songs. The black version drops the vocal presence entirely and, instead, pursues a much more bare bones approach intent on creating atmosphere. It succeeds wildly.
 

The vocals return on the white side’s “Rebirth” and segue into some quasi-rock posturing interlaced, naturally, with the busy percussion, but the truly powerful element driving the track is Mazza’s and Bagini’s wise and knowing manipulation of dynamics. “Rebirth” snakes its way through a variety of astutely placed dramatic shifts. “Black Rebirth”, in contrast, maintains a much straighter line of attack – the manipulations heard on the white side are much fewer and, when they do happen, much more subtle. One doesn’t often attach the adjective “subtle” to a description of techno music, but Project-TO is not your typical practitioners of the style. The multimedia nature of this release and the obviously uncluttered creative vision of the songwriting and performances alike show the trio to be proudly standing on the cutting edge of the form. The White Side, The Black Side deserves your attention. 
 

9 out of 10 stars
 

MUSICALNEWS: http://www.musicalnews.com/articolo.php?codice=34268&sz=4

Scott Wigley