Woof, the latest effort by Harley Alexander, operates with a laid-back ease that ebbs, jerks and flows through itself with all the breeze and innate topicality of a summer evening. It swings from oddball psychedelia to opaque lo-fi and stirring bedroom pop, jangling with occasional bursts of vocal exuberance and electric flourish. Continue reading New Music: Harley Alexander’s ‘Woof’ is Whimsical and Delicate
All posts by Ben Dickey
New Music: Ben Caplan’s ‘Old Stock’ is an Old-World Musical Bender
Old Stock, Ben Caplan’s new album, is the equivalent of a one-man, off-Broadway musical bender; it’s equal parts political satire and reinvention of old-world musical storytelling.
Continue reading New Music: Ben Caplan’s ‘Old Stock’ is an Old-World Musical Bender
New Music: Michael Feuerstack Revels in the Beauty of the Ordinary on ‘Natural Weather’
Michael Feuerstack finds himself today in a small but moving canon of musician-lyricists that prioritize, in equal amounts, their words and their melodies. The view of song as indivisible from lyric is a venerable philosophy. It traces its routes back to the earliest days of American folk, embodied most notably by the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and, of course, Leonard Cohen. In keeping this understanding of the music of language, Feuerstack rubs shoulders with some notable contemporaries that have kept the proverbial songwriter’s torch burning. His music shares a kindred spirit with the work of fellow Canadians Steve Lambke, Bry Webb, Jennifer Castle and The Weather Station, to name a few, creating songs that speak with great intimacy and candour. Continue reading New Music: Michael Feuerstack Revels in the Beauty of the Ordinary on ‘Natural Weather’
New Music: Property// Offer Downtempo Brilliance On ‘In Contentment’
On their newest outing, Property// weave a vibrating and scintillating album of melancholic dream pop. Fusing the listless and lolling downerism of post-punk vocals with simplified beats, ambient swells, and crystalline guitar and cello, In Contentment, offers a vast pallet of sonic ideas. The sound, fluid and clear, takes inspiration from various places, making nods to classic ambient spaces, neo-folk intonations and modern synthpop energies. Continue reading New Music: Property// Offer Downtempo Brilliance On ‘In Contentment’
New Music: The Falling Leaves Release Debut Album ‘Unfurl’
Timely and on point, Unfurl by The Falling Leaves is a marriage of classic and contemporary folk. Rife with great picking and bluegrass style rolls and licks, the album moves in slow, driving cadences, at times half Modest Mouse, half Bill Monroe. The musicianship is crisp, clean and decidedly assured. Continue reading New Music: The Falling Leaves Release Debut Album ‘Unfurl’