Craig Urquhart: Within Memory

I’ll admit it: I’m a bit of a sucker for good piano music. And Craig Urquhart’s album Within Memory definitely hits the spot as far as piano music goes.

 

First off, Within Memory is an album of completely pure piano. There’s no distraction from the presence of other instruments accompanying Urquhart, which allows his piano playing to really shine.

 

The songs are mellow and easy to listen to across the board, but Urquhart manages to play with styles within each track. Heavy chords are meshed with delicate high notes to create a musical contrast that’s almost haunting in how beautiful it is.

 

Not all of the songs have the heavy undertones to them, though. Several of the tracks have a very light feel and elegance to them...MORE

Gabriel the Marine: Your Friends and Loved Ones

It’s been a few months since I’ve fallen in love with an album as much as Your Friends and Loved Ones, by Long Island’s Gabriel the Marine.

 

It may be due to the fact that there are only five songs on the album, but there are zero misses on Your Friends and Loved Ones—all five tracks are absolutely excellent.

 

The vibe of Gabriel the Marine’s musical style is something along the lines of indie rock with hints of Brit-pop and jazz thrown into the mix as well. The result is an album that feels very fresh and distinct from much of what’s on the market right now.

 

Out of the five tracks, it’s split about half and half on catchy, upbeat songs, and mellow, soulful ballads, and both styles are performed brilliantly. The more upbeat songs have a very fun, youthful feel to them, while the slower songs have a definite maturity to them.

 

“The Ocean,” featuring Bob Dylan, takes on a different quality than on the rest of the album, and the passion and emotion in Dylan's voice is extremely evident...MORE

Billy Lavender: Memphis Livin

Billy Lavender’s album Memphis Livin is blues at its finest. It’s gritty and jazzy, with an equal balance of funk and fun.

On Memphis Livin, Lavender, who was born and raised in Memphis, clearly demonstrates the influence growing up in the heart of the blues scene had on his musical style.

There’s a classic quality to Memphis Livin, as well as a freshness that makes it easy to imagine swaying to the music at an outdoor venue.

A particular highlight of the album is the fact that it balances out slow songs with upbeat ones, and Lavender sounds in his element in both styles. He easily transitions from heavier, wailing guitar riffs to light melodies, depending on the type of song...MORE

Bud Summers: Eons

It’s a pretty obvious statement to say that people have a variety of tastes when it comes to music. What sounds positively heavenly to one listener may have the same effect as nails on a chalkboard to another listener. Every once in a while, though, an artist comes along who can easily appeal to listeners with all sorts of different tastes.


Bud Summers is one such artist.

The first thing one notices while listening to Eons, the sophomore effort from Summers, is the simplicity of the music. Each track is rooted in acoustic guitar, with only minimal percussion and just a touch of bass. The songs have a lightness to them, and Summers’s gentle voice fits in perfectly, creating tracks that are really just easy and enjoyable to listen to...MORE

The Britton Brothers Band: Uncertain Living

Listening to Uncertain Living, the debut album from The Britton Brothers Band, the first thought that came to mind was, “Wow. This music is classy.” It’s the type of jazz one would expect to be playing at a fancy restaurant, or an elegant event of some sort.

 

What the Britton Brothers Band presents isn’t bluesy jazz, smooth jazz, and definitely not “elevator music” jazz. Rather than having the gritty or heavier sound that those subgenres of jazz tend to have, the music on Uncertain Living has a completely pure tone, and the musicians play clearly, crisply, and tightly complementing each other.

 

While the songs do have the presence of the improvisational feel that is commonly associated with jazz the tracks on Uncertain Living also seem to be fairly structured, which only adds to the aesthetic appeal of the music. A sour note is never hit, and each instrument plays off the others flawlessly...MORE

Jean-Paul & Things to Hear: Zonk

When you go to a band’s website and right off the bat it says “A weird band,” it raises questions as to what that band’s music is really going to be like.

This is the case with Jean-Paul & Things to Hear. On their website, they call themselves “A weird band not stuck in any one genre.” Well, listening to their most recent album, Zonk, I’d say that description is false on both accounts.

The first (and title) track, “Zonk,” is a little odd, since it consists mostly of just saying “Zonk” a lot, backed with some accordion. That is, literally, the only thing about Jean-Paul & Things to Hear’s that can even remotely be considered weird. Even that, though, is an entertaining track, so weird is good. 

“Not stuck in any one genre” isn’t exactly an accurate description either. With the exception of “Zonk,” Zonk has a consistently bluesy sound to it. At times it may extend into the umbrella-term genre of “alternative,” but even then there is still a definite blues tinge to the music...MORE

Copernicus: Nothing Exists

Nothing Exists, the new (yet old) LP from Copernicus is easily one of the coolest albums I have ever heard.

 

Originally released in 1985, Nothing Exists was Copernicus’s first album, paving the way for the eleven albums that would follow. After releasing a new album in 2009, Copernicus went back to the beginning, digitally re-mastering and re-releasing Nothing Exists.

 

The album is an extremely interesting fusion of spoken word (Copernicus the vocalist started out as a spoken word artist) and progressive rock, which is simultaneously very chill and incredibly intense...MORE