Sound Cloud Sunday September 6, 2020
Sound Cloud Sunday – September 6, 2020
Happy Labor Day from everyone at Laurel Canyon Radio! Hope you enjoy a brand-spankin new batch of music from indie artists around the globe. Mangia!
The Two Tracks – Beautiful/Red Yellow Orange
Hometown: Sheridan, WY
Album: From the album “Cheers To Solitude”, self-released.
Review Snippet: “The Two Tracks avoid many of the cliches and gimmicks that have grown common in the Americana world while still championing a natural, Earth-grown sound. In this regard, The Two Tracks are almost like an embodiment of what acoustic music is all about. To hear an acoustic quartet reach a level of dynamic and thematic intensity like The Two Tracks do is an immeasurably rewarding experience. It’s pure musicianship, it’s pure excellence, it’s pure Americana.”
Website: https://www.thetwotracks.com/
Dan Croll – Stay In LA
Hometown: Newcastle under Lyme, UK
Album: From the EP “Yesterday/Stay In LA” released August 21 on Caroline Records.
Review Snippet: Three years since returning with Emerging Adulthood, Dan Croll jettisons the minimalist, electro-brushed alt-pop playbook in lieu of a dusky acoustic road-trip to pastures new; liberally embracing tropes from the late-60s Laurel Canyon scene interlaced with the kind of idyllic power pop that dominated airwaves in the early to mid-70s. Croll’s relocation to Los Angeles figures as the thematic centrepiece of Grand Plan, a change of scenery imbuing the album’s contemplative lyrics and sultry West Coast textures, wholeheartedly tapping a bucolic branch of soft rock that proved the staple of bands such as Bread, Dr. Hook and America amidst a slew of others.
Website: https://www.dancroll.com/
The Citradells – Main View
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
Album: From the album “Tracs” released June 4 on You Are The Record Company Records.
Review Snippet: Tracs is the 10th album the band has produced in 7 years. Recorded over the space of a year in their home studio in rural Victoria, this album we have stripped back a lot of the instrumentation of our previous releases, taking songwriting and arrangement inspiration from the likes of Neil Young, The Band, The Byrds, Big Star and Cut Worms. We hope you find enjoyment listening to it.
Website: https://thecitradels.bandcamp.com/
Faith Jones – For What It’s Worth
Hometown: Durham, NC
Album: From the compilation album “NC Artists Go Under Cover”
Review Snippet:
Aside from her family, Jones cited Queen and Michael Jackson as influential players in her love of music. Popular and musical theater artists Maggie Rogers, Lady Gaga and Stephen Sondheim are some of Jones’ favorites.
These influences play into Jones’ sound, which she describes as a mix of rock, jazz, musical theater and singer-songwriter drama. As a songwriter, Jones said she strives to be honest and transparent with her challenges and with the notion that struggle should be acknowledged rather than shunned.
Website: https://www.faithrjones.com/
Fantastic Negrito – Chocolate Samurai
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Album: From the album “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet” on Cooking Vinyl Records.
Review Snippet: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? opens with the fully new-school shuffle “Chocolate Samurai.” The track is a mind-blowing mix of modern production, roots music skills, and an as-of-yet-unheard artistry that’s ready to conquer the world. It’s instantly apparent that Negrito is so much more than merely another blues act. He’s a forward-thinker who is true to his life experience and sounds like no one you’ve ever come across.
Website: https://fantasticnegrito.com/
Magnolia Blvd. – Smooth Sailin’
Hometown: Lexington, KY
Album: From the EP “New Illusion” self-released on August 7.
Review Snippet: Central to the Magnolia Boulevard experience is a sound that flows easily and seamlessly from a multitude of stylistic tributaries. There’s plenty of blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll in the mix, but also elements of funk, jam band, folk, country, bluegrass and psychedelia. It’s all fueled by the rhythm section’s elastic grooves, shot through with Erwin’s expressive and incisive slide guitar licks, and topped by Noelle’s soul-stirring, powerhouse vocals.
Magnolia Boulevard’s debut EP, which releases independently on August 7th, 2020, is a four-track offering titled New Illusion. Produced by famed guitar maker and owner of PRS Guitars, Paul Reed Smith, who Erwin describes as the band’s “champion,” New Illusion is a pure indicator of the Magnolia Boulevard sound; stunningly fluid and versatile, yet never forced or unfamiliar.
Website: https://www.magnoliaboulevardband.com/
Jubel – Dancing In The Moonlight
Hometown: Sweden
Album: UK single release on Good Soldier.
Review Snippet:
Website:https://www.facebook.com/jubeloffical/
Ricky Reed – Better (featuring Leon Bridges & Kiana Lede)
Hometown: Berkeley, CA
Album: From the album “Real Magic” on Nice Life Recordings released August 28
Review Snippet: His debut album features an array of rising artists like duendita and Lido Pimienta, as well as pop-soul acts like Leon Bridges and A-list indie bands like Dirty Projectors. It sets an entirely different pace and tone from his earlier work, one that is much more exploratory and subdued. These are songs for soundtracking solitary, balmy night drives, not for kitchen dance parties with your friends.
Ricky Reed went from fronting a band satirizing mainstream pop culture to creating pop hits himself as a hugely successful songwriter and producer for acts including Jason Derulo, Pitbull, Fifth Harmony and Meghan Trainor.
Website:
Gangstagrass – Go You One Hundred (feat. Demeanor)
Hometown: Brooklyn
Album: From the album “No Time For Enemies” released on Anti-Fragile on August 14.
Review Snippet: A warm cushion of melody and rhythm brings the focus to the interwoven politically and socially charged storylines, while shattering the parameters of musical and cultural stereotypes, leaving the audience with a strong overall message of unity and hope. With a powerful combination of musically and lyrically genuine musicians, Gangstagrass creates a fabulous, memorable experience of unity and tolerance.
Website: https://gangstagrass.com/
A Boy And His Kite – Time
Hometown: Colorado
Album: From the album “The Path Became A Ghost” on Silver Side Productions released July 31.
Review Snippet: The songwriting is concise and imaginative. Vulnerable and confident. Mature and free in theme and structure. Moments on the record call into mind the rock of Sunny Day Real Estate and the experimentalism of Ester Drang. It is clearly, though, a record in which Wilton is true to himself: creative rock that’s rooted in influence, ethereal and smart, taking unexpected turns that make you smile.
Website: https://aboyandhiskite.com/
Daniel Rodriguez – Brother John
Hometown: Colorado
Album: From the album “Sojourn of A Burning Sun” released August 28 on BMG.
Review Snippet: Colorado singer-songwriter, Daniel Rodriguez, turns to his acoustic guitar for memorable, melodic hooks to accompany his poetic and contemplative folk songs. Boulder Weekly refers to Rodriguez’s voice as “a timeless voice, deep and hearty, weathered but comforting.”
Sojourn of a Burning Sun is an incredibly subtle album. Subdued and meandering, production-wise the instrumentation is a warm blanket for Rodriguez’s sultry vocals and inspired song writing. Skillfully crafted at Grace Design studios in Lyons, Colorado, the music lends itself to the simplicity of Rodriguez’s delivery and brings something new to the table for longtime Elephant Revival fans.
Website: https://www.drodriguezmusic.com/
Sugarcane Jane – Good Book Stories
Hometown: Birmingham, AL
Album: From the album “Ruffled Feathers: Songs In The Key Of Me” out August 21 on Admiral Bean Records.
Review Snippet:
Sugarcane Cane call their music “organic,” and the word certainly fits. In their harmonies, you can hear the depth of their connection to one another. They make simple, direct folk music, with earnest messages. The depth of emotion and the conviction that they use to deliver sincere messages, like in “The Original Peace and Love,” is what makes this album special. Fellow Man gives the listener a window into the hearts and the southern Alabama home of two passionate, talented artists.
On the folkier side of Americana, Fellow Man goes in a musical direction that fits the songs: simple, elegant, and spare. The production doesn’t try to pull any tricks or make the sound more than its to be: guitar, fiddle, pedal steel.
Website: https://www.sugarcanejane.com/
The Band Of Heathens – Call Me Gilded
Hometown: Austin, TX
Album: From the album “Stranger” on BOH Records out September 25, 2020
Review Snippet:
Website: https://bandofheathens.com/
Two Bird Stone – Hands And Knees
Hometown: Nashville
Album: From the album “Hands and Knees” out August 21 on Wondermore Records.
Review Snippet:
Website: https://liamthomasbailey.com/twobirdstone
Darlingside – Ocean Bed
Hometown: Boston, MA
Album: From the album “Fish Pond Fish” out October 9 on Thirty Tigers.
Review Snippet: a sumptuous set of harmony-heavy songs that, like an impressionist painting, conjures the feeling and texture of end times while leaving plenty of space for the listener to decide just what such an event would actually look like. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2016 album, Whippoorwill, finds Darlingside eschewing the Americana-leaning folk-rock of their earlier work to explore experimental, complex chamber pop, all while spinning sparkling yarns of underground bunkers and nuclear fallout.
Website: http://www.darlingside.com/
Dusty Wright – Rain, Rain
Hometown: Akron, OH
Album: From the album “Can Anyone Hear Me?” self-release coming soon.
Review Snippet: The new Dusty Wright record blends elements of folk, country, and alt-rock fairly successfully. Can Anyone Hear Me?, out now, is a progression of the singer’s earlier material, and a sharpening of focus. With elements here that seem well-suited to our current horrible reality, it’s also a sharply-observed album.
Website: https://dustywright.com/
