Laurel Canyon Radio presents another edition of Sound Cloud Sunday where we feature the best unsigned, should-be signed and indie artists from around the globe. If this week’s crop of new songs tells you anything, we are going to have a busy spring catching up on all the new music previewed here today. Click below to hear the whole show!
Alice Peacock – Love Goes With You
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Album: From the album “Minnesota” released on Peacock Recordings last September.
Review Snippet: The opening track on Alice Peacock’s Minnesota, “Love Goes with You,” is a harbinger of the subtle and simple beauty of the entire album. The song opens with Peacock’s and Derri Daugherty’s crystalline a cappella plea — “What does it mean when you say goodbye?” — before a snare shot opens into a shuffling, pop-inflected ballad laid down by shimmering vocals that create a cascading wall of sound. The song explores loving, leaving, and the fleeting nature of time and relationships.
Album: Their second album “From Liberty Street” will be released March 20 on Yep Roc Records.
Review Snippet: Mapache consists of Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci. Born and raised in Glendale, California, the duo’s breathtaking harmonies and heartfelt sound verges on cosmic West Coast Pop Americana. Just months after releasing their critically acclaimed self-titled debut, the duo is back touring with a beguiling new EP titled ‘Lonesome LA Cowboy.’
Album: Title track released on Oh Boy Records on January 31.
Review Snippet: “Caught It from the Rye is a bustling album. Throughout, Burt picks and strums his guitar, the instrumental anchor of the record, in steady time with his ceaseless inquisitiveness. His reedy voice is also always moving, as if playing tag with his guitar melodies. In all, it feels like we’re tailing the Sacramento-based singer-songwriter as he wanders, offering his thoughts on whatever passes by.” – NPR
Next Time In LA: Hotel Café March 26 and the Constellation Room in Santa Ana March 27
I See Hawks in LA and Good Intentions – Steel Rails
Hometown: Los Angeles/Liverpool
Album: From the album Hawks with Good Intentions on Western Seeds Records.
Review Snippet: Finely laid back as various guitars strum and harmonies float reminding one of the “wooden music” side of CSN&Y or the more blissed out moments of the good ole’ Grateful Dead along with a sprinkling of acts such as The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Loggins & Messina.
The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow – Pass The Peace/Don’t Cross The Road
Hometown: Massachusettes
Album: Self-released album “Band Together” was released on January 7.
Review Snippet:
The best in Americana music carries a quality that is hard to define but distinctly familiar. The latest album by the western Massachusetts band, Whiskey Treaty Roadshow, Band Together, carries a melting pot of country, rhythm & blues, soul, folk, rock and gospel as it successfully hits the pulse of what makes American roots music universally appealing. It is a musical celebration that encourages a sense of celebration and renewal amidst the common struggles of life.
Produced by Johnny Irion- a singer-songwriter and grandnephew of the great American writer John Steinbeck & son-in-law of folk icon Arlo Guthrie, this ten-song collection rings with a fresh Phil Spector-driven Wall-of-Sound production. Irion also plays piano and guitar on the sessions. There is additional support from Pat Sansone of Wilco and Steve Gorman of The Black Crowes.
Album: From the EP “Easy Times” released January 10.
Review Snippet: Incredible multi-part vocal harmony reminiscent of CSN is punctuated by a simple guitar and piano arrangement that emphasizes the fabulous musicianship of this group.” – Parade
“The Dales are definitely a group to watch for. Their back-to-basics, beautiful Americana/Roots approach to musical storytelling and sincere songwriting is refreshing, delicate, and wonderfully supported by those to die for vocal harmonies. Which all just means that those who love a good, sincere song are going to love The Dales! – Cryptic Rock
Next Time In LA: King Gillette Ranch in Calabassas on May 10.
Album: Title track from the Anti/Epitaph album released January 20.
Review Snippet:
The Canadian singer-songwriter uses the concept album to recreate the quietly stirring scenes of a dead romance. The Neon Skyline unfolds into a wistful, funny, and heartbreaking world of its own.
Andy Shauf writes songs full of drinking and dancing, deep conversation and inside jokes, close friends and old flames—and he’s having a miserable time. Since his 2009 debut, the soft-spoken singer-songwriter has grown increasingly adept at telling stories from the vantage of the next morning’s hangover: plagued by regret, lingering on moments of unease stitched through an otherwise pleasant evening. Like Phoebe Bridgers, he incorporates bits of dialogue into his lyrics that illustrate not just how his characters speak but also how they really feel about each other. Like Jens Lekman, he accompanies himself with hushed, breezy soft-rock that can betray the intensity of his thoughts. Some of his best choruses are wordless refrains, the sound of singing along without knowing what to say.
Possessed By Paul James – I’m So Good At Absolutely Nothing
Hometown: Austin, TX
Album: From the album “As We Go Wandering” released independently on January 31.
Review Snippet: Whatever winding road it took to get here, As We Go Wandering finds Possessed by Paul James reprising his role as one of the most unique and inspiring performers out there in music today. Certainly roots-based in style by leaning on his adept skills as a fiddle, viola, banjo, and guitar player, he doesn’t fit anywhere in the music landscape snugly, but finds appeal to all those with hearts open to music that is written well, and delivered with a passion incomparable. Possessed by Paul James is less a performer, and more a medium for the spirits of loved ones and ancestors ever-present around us, but always just out of reach.
Website: https://www.ppjrecords.com
Jordan McKampa – Magic
Hometown: London
Album: From the debut album “Foreigner” out March 13. First single!
Next Time in LA: Constellation Room in Santa Ana March 24 and the Moroccan Lounge on March 27.
Review Snippet: Mackampa continues his embrace of musical styles beyond his former singer-songwriter repertoire on “Magic.” The energetic melody is well-sung with solid rhythms. The Congolese-British artist’s excellent soul vocals sing the lyrics in celebration of love. The vocal harmonies and counterpoints are superb. Mackampa says, “This is a bossa nova/samba/ infused feel-good kinda track about when you can’t get someone off your mind. You’ve had one taste, and you want more!” The song form evolves over time and has varying degrees of intensity and vocal and instrumental colors. With a catchy melody and infectious rhythms, “Magic” is a solid single and foreshadows the excellent music to come on Foreigner in March. That’s the short of it!
Album: From the album “Walking Proof” out March 27 on New West Records..
Review Snippet:
This apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree: like her dad John, Lilly Hiatt has a gift for unpicking knotty lyrical themes in a personalised blend of countrified rock music.
Album: From the album “Moonshine Blue” released November 15 on Crows Feet Records..
Review Snippet: Born in rural Lincolnshire, Jack grew up listening to a diverse range of artists that included Radiohead, Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell and Davey Graham. These acts influenced Jack’s distinctive songwriting singing, production and performance style, giving his music a depth and heart that defies strict genre. His live shows exude warmth, humour and an energy that has electrified audiences worldwide.
Album: Linda Ronstadt cover is a new single releasing on Valentines Day on Need To Know Music
Review Snippet: The California-country singer-songwriter conjures the atmospheric sound of the Golden State’s canyons and deserts, mountains and crashing waves, its crowning beauty and its tragic losses. At the same time, the supple-voiced Wallace tells her own and others’ stories, weaving tales that resonate as we grapple with so many disturbing national issues.
Album: From the album “Californium” released last July.
Review Snippet: From a tradition of music rooted in heritage and home, honesty and hurt, sorrow and sunsets, emerge Lost Immigrants. They are country music. They are rock. They are pop. They are blues. They are saints. They are sinners. They are idiots, and they are fools. They are Texas music. Lost Immigrants formed in fall 2004, when longtime friends Craig Hinkle and James Dunning agreed to work on small collection of songs and an American music project. That collaboration led to weekly rehearsals, monthly gigs and frequent trips down Texas highways. Hinkle and Dunning met in college, played in a band that went on to evolve and emerge as a noted performance and songwriting powerhouse of the late 1990s and early ’00s. A move to Nashville, Tenn., secured a record deal, but also lead to several original members parting ways to pursue new interests. After several years and even more miles, two of these original members have been reunited. And the musical powerhouse is once again lighting the collective souls of everyone who listens. “The Immigrants joined together on a journey,” writes Craig Hinkle, “a journey that, without knowing, would take them through nearly every stage of life and places in between. And somewhere along they way, they lost themselves.” The journey would also lead to new recruits and soon-to-be dear friends. Sean Isbell (lead guitar) joined the band to help round out the sound, bringing a unique musical ear and phrasing to the group’s instrumentation. Many others would come and go as the band sought a foothold in the Texas country music circuit. Pulling a little from a variety of genres, the music of Lost Immigrants spans the entire Americana spectrum. So much so, the band seeks only to be known as a “American music”: the very best of country, Southern rock, blues and pop melodies. Their influences are as wide-reaching as their aspirations — Tom Petty, Skynyrd, Charlie Robison, George Jones, Counting Crows and U2, to name a few. But instead of emulating these famous acts, the members of Lost Immigrants seek to join their ranks and create their own unique sound for the world to enjoy. So take a moment to introduce yourself to Lost Immigrants. The music is memorable; the songwriting, sublime. Chances are, you won’t be disappointed
Album: From her forthcoming album “ Bravado” out February 21 on Outside Music
Review Snippet: Rose Cousins’ newest offering, Bravado, is the sound of a heart trying to open. It explores the complication of emotion, its irrational tendencies and its wisdom. It invites us to feel the courage it takes to be vulnerable.
