Upon listening to Stevie, you will be teleported to a moody ethereal sort of place. The album starts off with you feeling like you are onlooking Stevie Cornell perform in your head in a neighborhood bar and nodding along to his sultry voice and the smooth slow drum sounds. The track I Couldn’t Reach You stands out on the album with the lyrics “the clock was ticking and the telephone was sitting there so silently, I couldn’t reach you”. Its musical arrangement is mixed with strumming of the guitar but also the full sounds that are reminiscent of Americana and old school Country music. As the album progresses it still carries the listener through stories and a journey. Another track titled Hope Came By Today merges the past and present in one with lyrics like “she chased my blues away, she sure shows know how to brighten up this dreary town”. The musical arrangement of the song is slow but steady with the acoustic guitar creating a folk and soulful atmosphere. Overall the album feels like a heartfelt long visit with an old friend and you are there just for the ride to re-experience it all.
Living In Limbo expresses the twists and turns of love and every emotion that accompanies that in this reflective album. Listeners should not lump this music alongside your typical heartache anthems. Chasolen’s music is not only raw, but it dives deep on your beneath the surface emotions that aren’t even linked directly to an emotion like happiness, sadness, or anger. With piano ballads that are as mighty as a guitar riff, the album does not fall short instrumentally either. Standout tracks include Limbo and Bluebird on the 12 track list. Lyrics from both of these songs differ greatly and capture two different emotions of love. Limbo describes that feeling where you are on the fence with someone and your heart does not know what to do. Bluebird is unlike any song I’ve ever heard before, painting the bird as one that will get through anything and using the superhero power of strength to overcome obstacles and a reclaiming of their silver sky again. Elaborating a little bit further on the instrumentals on this album include acoustic guitar sections and ever constant piano ballads that are almost symphony like, but pair up nicely with the meaningful lyrics and mood that this set of songs brings the listener.
Sam Levin just released his newest album called Frame of Mind and it epitomizes a mixture of pop, soul, and indie rock. With lyrics intertwining between the themes of the seen and unseen, and nature undertones, Levin’s smooth vocals keep audiences entertained and wanting more. From a musical auditory observation, the mixing of variety of light synthy sounds and xylophone taps, his music does not fit within one’s typical idea of indie pop. Sounding completely evolved and already carving a specific niche in the musical world, Levin surprises audiences with his mature sound for his age of 15. For 2017, listeners should take note of his over ambitious evolution as an artist and keep track as its just the beginning.
Modern-day music seems to have an obsession with big beats and EDM-style euphoric rises and drops. Now this isn’t another of those typical reviews slamming EDM for its major successes over the past few years, but it is an review aiming to highlight the beauty and stripped back simplicity of a musician and an instrument.
Italian Luca Bash is one of said musicians, with his new EP, “The Single Drops”, summing up what the medium of acoustic music is, thought-provoking, emotive music that can connect people with its raw power. This EP is a compilation of the ‘best bits’ of the 2014 releases, “Cyan”, “Magenta”, “Yellow” and “Key Black”, plus an original new tune. It’s a novel approach, which shows sheer confidence from Bash in his own output
Bash and his long-time collaborator Giova Pes have combined to create a soulful experience that reaches out and connects with the listener, bridging the gap from record to artist. Kicking off with the new track, “Your Tomorrow”, from the moment Bash’s gravelly tones kick in, over the heavenly acoustic melody, you can close your eyes, lie back and relax. Again, the sound is exceptional here, with the production values high and the crisp instrumentation really matches Bash’s raspy vocals perfectly. It could be said it doesn’t really evolve as a song, but then when a song is the equivalent of a river trickling, does it need to go anywhere providing it is intensely relaxing to listen to.
Second song “Forever Like Asleep”, manages to sound like something heard on a mellower moment of “The Walking Dead”, a show famed for its country influences. The guitar melodies here are captivating and demand attention from the word go. The vocals here are more pronounced and noticeable too, with the musical breakdowns both intriguing and musically diverse too, it’s Bash and Pes showing us, the listener, that they have more to their musical repertoire. At times the vocalisations are slightly strained, but I really think it adds to the level of emotion in the music.
Next up is, “Dear John”, and is where things start to get slightly repetitive. I do enjoy the instrumentation here, as we break into more rhythmic melodies that resonated with me, but I feel this is a song that would excel live, while on record it’s kind of left behind a bit, as it sounds eerily similar to opener, “Your Tomorrow”. It does grow on me as we develop, but I feel that there’s not a lot more to be said about this track. It has more of a sleepy quality than a relaxing one.
The beginning of “Little Tale” sound like a mystical fairytale of sorts, with its mysterious acoustic background, while Bash’s vocals tend to differentiate from what has gone before which is a relief after the slightly derivative nature of “Dear John”. No here, we do gradually build to some form of climax, which allows Bash’s vocals to be a lot more interesting and diverse in their range. The breakdown halfway through serves as something of a harvester for the emotion that is to come in the latter half, we slow down before eeking out another powerful vocal and acoustic combination towards the end of the song, as the acoustics really take centre stage.
This sweet, but short, EP comes to a close with “Black Swans Walls”, which has more than a couple of American reference points, Dave Matthews-esque guitars swelling in the background and providing a suitable backdrop to a hurried Bash on vocals. It all sounds a lot more positive and upbeat, so rather than relax, it gets you a bit more pumped and bouncy! A great way to end such a short little collection of songs, and a nice emotion to leave with the audience, for sure.
Connections have also been important to Luca Bash. He often speaks of the moment where the adulation of a female fan sent shivers down his spine: “Before the final part of ‘Dear John,’ I make a pause after a B7, followed by a G.
When I reached that point of the song, the crowd was quiet and the silence was incredible. But a young female voice screamed aloud ‘Bravo!’ and, despite the fact that I was playing, I heard her. I still remember the shivers. I was unknown, playing a song unknown as well, but able to give emotions. This is the reason why I still compose.”
That much is clear within Bash’s work, you can tell he aims to connect and give people pleasure in his musical truths and personality. With “Single Drops”, he’s only going to connect to more and more people around the world.
Willie Ames has toured all 50 United States, distributed 35,000 CDs to the public, and won several solo artist awards including the Solo Artist of the Year in the 20th Annual Los Angeles Music Awards and National Solo Artist of the Year and performer in the Phoenix Music Awards 2011.
So, yeah, more people should know about this folk guitarist/banjoist/singer/songwriter. Ames has been playing guitar since he was five years old, and, at 18 decided to pursue music professionally. He added a banjo to his repertoire at 23.
Ames plays a distinctive style of classic folk music that focuses on heavier percussion, reverberated noise, and a guitar/banjo style that combines the flavor of early Dylan and Dave Van Ronk with heavier folk artists like Amos Lee. Ames then adds a banjo to the mix, and, instead of falling into the bluegrass banjo trap, the music has an edge that sets him apart from other folk musicians. Listening to Ames’ music is fit with unconscious toe-tapping and head-nodding. The beats are almost funky. The sound is multifaceted like a bean dip (light guacamole on top and heavy beans on the bottom). Gosh, I just compared music to a bean dip. If that’s not a sign to introduce a song, I don’t know what is.
“Night Owl,” the title track on the album, perfectly represents what I mentioned above. The beat is authentic. The echoed sounds are reminiscent of a dark night in a deep forest. Ames’ voice reminds me of the Holy Modal Rounders (only slightly), a folk duo from the Lower East Side in the 60s who released an excellent version of “Hesitation Blues.” I hate to be so simplistic, but the song is just cool. I like listening to it.
“Stumbling Home” is certainly lighter. The banjo rhythm is catchy and constant. It’s a great song to listen to if you want to unwind. It relaxed me.
The Music Court 