And now we venture out to the farthest reaches of Rocktober with the straight-up heavy metal of Sumerlands. None of thrash metal’s punk instincts or black metal’s cultivated misanthropy here for the fence-sitters to fall back on — just the purest, Ozzy Ozzbourne Bark At The Moon-inspired anthems courtesy of a Philadelphia-based group who, by […]
Another Rocktober scene: Two men approach the stage in a tawdry nightclub called Bandcamp, their grizzled, unpreened appearance a cloak of invisibility to the trendy patrons. Only as the PA goes silent does the crowd notice one of the duo opening a guitar case with a Deep Purple sticker. “No classic rock!!” the cry goes […]
Axis: Sova arrives on the scene to settle a score only late 70s/early 80s rockers thought unsettled. Namely, is there only one way to rock — as Sammy Hagar famously declared, to “crank up the drums, crank out the bass/Crank up my Les Paul in your face”? Rising to the Van Halen usurper’s challenge, the […]
Some of the imagery conjured by Loch Lomond: a lone figure in the distance, dwarfed by a soaring mountain horizon. The knowing wink of a cabaret singer performing in a dingy canteen. The international esprit de corps of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who fought the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. A weathered photo of […]
Full disclosure: I think many music festivals could be improved by a generous helping of extreme heavy metal. But here’s why that change made this year’s Basilica Soundscape, always a unique and engaging event, one of the best in its five-year run. At first, you might not notice the shift in this year’s line-up, which […]
Behind the forceful pulses of Psychic Twin’s electro-pop, a clue to frontwoman Erin Fein’s own psyche appears in the way she keeps repeating certain phrases: “No, I can’t stop in time,” “I won’t take part of you,” “When I go farther, I lose myself,” “We can work it out, baby.” This Brooklyn duo has the […]
Are we okay with evaluating music for its effectiveness in the gym? Because I’m thinking Black Coffee has a contender for best work-out album of 2016 with his latest album, Pieces of Me. Nathi Maphumulo, the man from Durban, South Africa behind the Black Coffee alias, puts a fresh, jazzy spin on vocal house music. […]
The leaves haven’t even started turning colors in New York’s Hudson Valley, but already the locals are anticipating autumn’s sublime landscapes and peak cultural offerings. Speaking of which: two weeks until Basilica Soundscape! This Sound It Out correspondent has attended the celebrated “anti-festival” of independent music, spoken word, and art in Hudson, NY for all […]
Half a world away from pop music’s centers, bands in Australia and New Zealand have often had to wait for or approximate second-hand the latest sounds drifting over from the UK and US. In this context, the English-speaking antipodes have shown a certain genius for reinventing and reigniting Anglo-American idioms in unexpected ways, as two […]
On “Ten Miles High,” Roísín Murphy orchestrates electronica rhythms, suspenseful dynamics, and her distinct velvet-throated croon to soundtrack the heist movie that’s showing in her head. The look of Murphy’s imaginary film is irresistible, its hi-res sheen highlighting the song’s seductive pull and delicately masking the fact that the narrator is perhaps a teensy bit […]