Something really likeable about the Radar by KDAS Fool is that it gets in your head at the first beat. The song provides this powerful, nodding groove that has a strong and steady rhythm that simply drags you in and like an adhesive does not releases you. It is the type of hip-hop that makes you strain forward and listen […]
Hip-Hop/Review Malak Shalom aka Shavirus – Belly Jelly
This is the kind of infectious and swaggering nature of belly Jelly by Malak Shalom, which makes you hooked by the first bar. The song wins you immediately with this head-nodding groove that is completely killer- the one that makes you go back to the replay button before it is played. The vocal performance is confident and southern-infused, and it […]
Hip-Hop/Review CBF Hollywood – Money 2 Get
The unrefined adrenaline of CBF Hollywood in Money 2 Get just catches hold of you. The Tarpon Springs native provides a hustlers anthem with that kind of believability that only comes with actually being one- twenty years of grinding in the studio, stacking tracks, loss and frustration all given to this catchy trap banger that just refuses to give up. […]
Pop/Review The Quiet North – Southbound
It has this beautiful cosiness in it that Southbound by The Quiet North has that makes one feel like they are getting away into the sunshine after months of greyness. It is a truly cinematic work by Fredrik Kristiansen a piece of indie pop that conveys that particular sense of escaping the cold winter in the Nordic countries and running […]
ROCK/Review The Shrubs – Fall Behind
I must say that Fall behind came as a great surprise to me. The Shrubs of Houston have made it feel like you have found a rare jewel in a dusty record store–you know it at once but you are very much surprised. It is something extraordinary that Miguel, Josh, and Sophie have done. Decades old, this song is older […]
Dream Pop/Review Ophelia Moon – Avatar: Encryption Code
The brilliantly unsettling nature of Ophelia Moon in Avatar: Encryption Code is what perfectly captures our present day. This smooth, filmic song seems a caution in a beautiful package, a kind of cautionary story concerning artificial intelligence that is conveyed with the help of ethereal vocals that radiate above shimmering arpeggios and this tight cyberpunk beat. It is that type […]
EDM/Review Eylsia Nicolas – Glitter and Glam
Something about Eylsia Nicolas and her song “Glitter and Glam” is a glittering merriment that is almost pure celebration, but the fact that she has surmounted so much to create it makes it all the more luminous. The song is literally glowing with smooth EDM-pop, throbbing bass, and shinning synths that form this beautiful soundscape. It is the scream of […]
R&B/Review Eylsia Nicolas – Wake Up In The Morning
Something about Eylsia Nicolas and her song Wake Up In The Morning is incredibly touching that is more than just soulful R&B vitality. The awareness of the path to it, the wounds, the severe illness, the voice loss that came almost to stop her permanently, imposes this unbelievable burden on every word she utters. This is not just a song […]
Pop/Review Tracygirl – LA State of Mind
The LA State of Mind by Tracygirl has this beautiful aura that oozes out of the speakers. These glittering synths strike you at first, alongside this moving beat that gives you a push in actual motion. The very first bars make it clear that you are presented with something special- it has the hookiness of an instant hit- one that […]
Hip-Hop/Review Noah Zayden – No Sale La Luna
Something eerie about Noah Zayden and his track No Sale La Luna is something that lingers with you even after the song ends. It strikes with this air of intimacy and vastness simultaneously, and it draws you in this moody nocturnal world with the very first note. The production is spacious in the most desirable fashion so that each element […]
EDM/Review IurisEkero – Come To Me , I’m A Man
This is the undeniable vitality of IurisEkero of “Come To Me, I’m A Man” that just reaches into your guts the first time you hear the beat. It is a smooth high-energy dance slice that definitely knows what it is–the type of song that makes you want to dance, and you even don’t have to be conscious of the reason […]
Pop/Review Eylsia Nicolas – You’re My. Baby 2
It has that beautiful retro feel that is exuded by the Eylsia Nicolas in her song, Youre My Baby 2 that leaves you smiling immediately. It combines this clean groove with enthusiastic and emotional vocals that are nostalgic and entirely new at the same time. The fact that Eylsia has been through the international tennis court to finding her voice […]
R&B/Review Rodney Banks – Love you for a lifetime
The feel of the song by Rodney Banks, Love You for a Lifetime, is smooth and heartfelt and you cannot help but get sucked into the song at the very first note. It is crystal-clear and at the same time, it is not over-polished, which is the exact right balance, making all the sounds professional yet still possessing that beautiful […]
EDM/Review Adai Song – River Run
It is something really exciting about the song of Adai Song, River Run, that hits you the moment you hear it. It is overflowing with this fullness of energy–shiny synths over a sounding percussion–that is both fresh and simultaneously eternal. It is one of the songs in “The Bloom Project” album, which has also been nominated for the Grammy Award […]
Pop/Review David Raine – Pollack Splash
There is a pleasantness of David Raine in his Pollack Splash that simply envelops you at first. It has this indie heart beating in its heart, but a brightness is overlaid on it making everything somehow light, and making it feel very introspective and tenderly optimistic at the same time. It is, according to Raine himself, not to face the […]
ROCK/Review Purbeck Temple – Emptiness In Paradise
Something crude and so painfully stimulating about the “Emptiness In Paradise” by Purbeck Temple that catches your ear already with the first note. This is the weight in the voice of Paul Gill; it is gravelly and soaring, pained but persistent, which makes one believe every single word the man is singing. It is not smooth studio production, it is […]
Hip-Hop/Review R.T. & The Styles – Mr. Trump
Mr. Trump that strikes you in the face. It is a hip-hop song full of confidence and energy, and it is supported by clear production that is smooth and does not lose its momentum. The very first bars make you realise that this is intended to catch your eye and keep it- and it does. The vocals are also clear […]
R&B/Review BFLICKK – Oh, That’s My Baby, My Girl
There has to be something so lovely in BFLICKK’s ” Oh, That’s My Baby, My Girl” that you feel like hugging it like an old jumper. It is pure neo-soul comfort–in the personal, honest, nonchalantly easy, everything-is-all-right ways. Right at the beginning, you are immediately drawn in to these small, colourful vignettes that are truly personal and sincere, the kind […]
Rock/Review The Bar Pilots – Box of Bows
The Bar Pilots have something brilliantly nostalgic about their Box of Bows that instantly transports you to the hazy days of the 90s with the alternative rock, but with a sharper and more modern touch. The instrumentals are moody, immediate, which is power pop with actual muscle in it, reminding you of bands like Matchbox 20 or Sponge, but dusted […]
Pop-Rock/Review David DeSantis – The Light You Know
This is the contagiousness of the energy of David DeSantis in the opening of his song The Light You Know that grabs your attention at the very beginning. You can feel that guitar riff right at the beginning–catchy and self-assured–it echoes the vocals in the verse in this witty yet natural manner, which is both intentional and natural at the […]
Folk/Review Laurenicole – Here With You
The Here With You by LaureNicole has a small serenity that is like walking to your front door after a tiresome long day. Those gentle acoustic guitars and the coy piano do not play, they embrace and envelop you, like a blanket still in the dry clean shop. And finally Lauren starts singing. It is so intimate and sincere, as […]