Pop/Review Larry Karpenko – God Help Us
It is something very touching about coming across a song that is evidently the result of an inspired moment, and Larry Karpenko has just such a song with his God Help Us. It is not just another song, but a musical composition that has the burden of human connection and...
Read MoreROCK/Review Michellar– My Alma Latina
Cultural identity in music does not only mean using traditional sounds, but it is the ability to integrate some individual history into the common phenomenon. San Francisco-based artist Michellar accomplishes just this with her debut EP My Alma Latina, a five-song adventure that pays homage to her Spanish and Filipino...
Read MorePop/Review Exzenya – Regulator or My Dopamine
It is so gratifying to find an artist who will not be afraid to merge neuroscience and raw emotion and Exzenya is such an artist. Her most recent single, Regulator of My Dopamine, is a lesson in how to transform scientific ideas into emotional human ones and that smart pop...
Read MorePop/Review Exzenya– Intermittent Love
There is this weird thing about music that makes us face the truths that we would prefer not to see, and in this case Exzenya in her song called Intermittent Love does precisely that with a style of precision that is as striking as it is correct. It is not...
Read MorePop/Review Baicikeul Benoit – A VELO
It is somehow very French to make environmental activism a party, and that is precisely what Baicikeul Benoit does in his song ” A VELO”. This inventor of Velectro music has created something that is politically aware and yet irresistibly fun-a rare quality which shows his maturity as an artist...
Read MorePop/Review MaKeyla – Woman
It is a very gratifying experience when you get to hear an artist who has really discovered her voice and MaKeyla is just that kind of an artist with her song “Woman”. Born in Stockholm but raised in the hip-hop clubs of Los Angeles, this powerhouse has taken an impressive...
Read MorePop/Review The New Citizen Kane – Ratbag Joy
Ratbag Joy is a tempest of contradiction, the best kind of contradiction, bright, bouncy and irresistibly danceable on the surface but with an undercurrent of emotion just under the glitter. The New Citizen Kane (Kane Luke) provides something that is euphoric yet bruising, that particular emotion of celebrating pain, of...
Read MorePop/Review Ava Valianti – Buttercups
The Buttercups by Ava Valianti is an artistically effective work on the disquieting reality of young love, rich in details of a tidal wave which engulfs the listener into its maw. The song reflects the emotional experiences which are very intense and produce a sensation of exaltation and helplessness. Valianti...
Read MorePop/Review Noah Zayden – Ya no me doy
Then there are songs that talk to you, and then there are songs that talk through you-that express the truths you have been carrying but could not quite put into words. Noah Zayden with his Ya no me doy falls into that more unusual genre, a confession and an independence...
Read MorePop/Review Sundrift Sky – Home in my heart
It is so wonderfully human to seek comfort and comfort in the presence of another person, and Sundrift Sky does so with such beautiful sensitivity on the track, Home in My Heart. It is not just another electronic pop ballad, but rather a sonic hug that envelopes you in the...
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