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Artists Worth Checking Out Monday Mashup Women in Entertainment

Monday mashup 2019: vol. 1

Welcome to our first Monday Mashup of the new year.  We thank you so much for your response to our year-end articles last week, including the announcement of the LA Music Critic Award winners for the second half of 2018.  Your responses pushed us over the 95,000 view mark, and set a new single-day record of 1,972 views on Friday.  We love sharing these amazing indie artists with you.

LA MUSIC CRITIC AWARD WINNERS SHOWCASE

Our third annual LA Music Critic Award Winners showcase is set for Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at The Mint in Los Angeles, and it’s shaping up to be another great one.  The showcase helps raise awareness and funds for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, and this year will feature our first international winner!  More details to come soon, but Save the Date!

ALICE WALLACE SET TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM

Four-time LA Music Critic Award winner Alice Wallace will release her new album on January 18, her first on Rebelle Road Records.  We will be featuring her in our Get it or Forget it reviews on that date.  In addition, we are bringing back our Women in Entertainment series, and she will be the next artist to be featured.  Don’t miss this one.

NEW SINGLES

Our first single this year comes from LA Music Critic Award winner for best EDM/Dance Artist/Band TNEO.  It is the third single from their album, Robotish, and the best one so far (IOHO).  Check out “Cold Grey Day.”  We guarantee this one will have you dancing into the new week.

Next is the latest from mother-daughter duo Cliffs and Caves.  They have a sweet indie folk/country sound with a full orchestra sound.  We really love the sound of “Goodbye for Good” and think you will too.

Our third single is a rock instrumental track from the forthcoming album by the Hedvig Mollestad Trio.  This one has everything lovers of rock and metal desire, and will also appeal to acid jazz lovers as well.  Check out “Bewitched, Drawfed and Defeathered.”

Our fourth single goes to the opposite end of the spectrum, with the haunting voice and lyrics of Rié Fu on her song “Mirror.”  She grew up in Tokyo, signed with a major label, but decided to forego that path, relocated to the UK and decided to go indie.  We think she made the right choice.

https://soundcloud.com/rie-music/06-mirror

Our final single this week is the latest from Teachers with Guns, who we introduced you to back in November.  This one is called “E.T.H.” and we like it a lot.  It has an amazing instrumental track to kick it off, followed by reflective lyrics sung by a voice that means business.  Check it out.

NEW MUSIC VIDEOS

Our first music video this year is from LA Music Critic Award nominees The Daybreaks.  It was recorded live at Pentavarit, and gives us another reason to love this Nashville-based band.  Check out “Flesh it Out.”

It’s been a while since we featured anything from the amazing young artist Olivia Millerschin.  Here is her cover video of Taylor Swift’s song “New Year’s Day,” which was recorded live in studio.  We think we’ll be hearing lots more great music from  her soon.

Although it technically came out on Christmas day, we love the latest from LA Music Critic Award winning rock band The Guess Who.  Here is their latest, “In America.”  We love that they are still rocking after 40 years!

Our fourth single is an amazing cover of the 1926 blues classic “John the Revelator” from LA Music Critic Award nominee Jason Robert, from his forthcoming album Death of Stone Stanley.  This one will appeal to lovers of classic blues rock.

We close out this edition of Monday Mashup with the brand new video from up and coming country star Kamber Cain.  We love her song “Love Story That I’ve Already Read.”  We think this one is going to be a hit!

 

Categories
Artists Worth Checking Out Get it or Forget it Reviews Women in Entertainment

Get it or forget it – The Dream Eaters, Hymn for Her, Frankie Crea, Rebel Rampage, Teachers with Guns

Hope you all survived Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.  We were swamped at work, doing almost double the sales from the previous year.  Time to put that behind us and check out five more recent releases.

Artist Name:   The Dream Eaters

Album Name:   Pagan Love

Label:   Song Dynasty

Genre:   Dream Pop/Shoegaze

Track Listing:   1.  Crucifix; 2.  Mockingbird; 3.  Pagan Love; 4.  Bats in the Belfry; 5.  One of the Gods; 6.  Tequila River; 7.  Caligula; 8.  Moonlight on Gowanus; 9.  Sun Clouds

Publicist:   Self-promoted

Review:   We reviewed their first album We are a Curse back in April 2017, and their new one is definitely worth the wait.  They hit the ground running on “Crucifix,” and never let up, delivering the perfect soundtrack for fans of gothic-themed music.  Although the lyrical content is dark, the music is delivered in an upbeat style and feel that is still enjoyable.  This music would be perfect for placement in the myriad of supernatural-based television shows currently on the schedule, as well as future horror films.  The harmonies are incredible, and we love every song on this album.  We are proud to highly recommend this band for all true music lovers.

Recommendation:   You simply must Get this one!

Artist Name:   Hymn for Her

Album Name Pop-n-Downers

Label:   Rhythm Bomb Records

Genre:   Roots/Folk

Track Listing:   1.  Blue Balloons; 2.  Human Condition; 3.  November; 4.  Scoop; 5.  Roses; 6.  Fireflies; 7.  Shallow Graves; 8.  Yard Sale; 9.  Dingle Town; 10.  First Clown on the Moon; 11.  Auf Wiedersehen

Publicist:   Rockstar Records

Review:   Modern day hippies Lucy Tight and Wayne Waxing live in their 1961 Airstream trailer and travel all around the US and Europe, creating incredible folk songs with a roots vibe.  Their instrumentation, while simple, is perfect for their music, allowing Tight’s amazing vocals to rise above it all.  She is by far one of the best pure vocalists we have reviewed this year, and Waxing provides the perfect harmonies.  There isn’t a weak track on the album, so put it on repeat and enjoy it over and over again.

Recommendation:   Run out and Get this one.

Artist Name:   Frankie Crea

Album Name:   Countless Days

Label:   A&R Records

Genre:   Indie Rock

Track Listing:   1.  Countless Days; 2.  Dream; 3.  Little Miss Fear; 4.  So Long . . .; 5.  Mary; 6.  Until we Meet Again

Publicist:   The A&R Department

Review:  We featured his first single “Dream” in our Monday Mashup column last month, and think that the rest of the EP is just as outstanding, especially the title track.  Frankie Crea is from Western Australia, and we think he would do well on American radio.  His music is better than most of our Top 40 artists, and we love his retro classic rock sound, part Blue Oyster Cult, part Red Hot Chili Peppers.  This one is a definite keeper.  We only wish there were more than six tracks!

Recommendation:  Go Get it now!

Artist NameRebel Rampage

Album Name Divided we Fall

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Metal

Track Listing:  1.  Hymn to Freedom; 2.  Resistance March; 3.  Not the Enemy; 4.  Red Star (ft Angelo Moore); 5.  Immigration Man; 6.  Women in White; 7.  I am the Power (ft Emily Armstrong); 8.  Sick of Dying; 9.  To be Free; 10.  Scorched Earth; 11.  Divided we Fall

Publicist:  Effective Immediately PR

Review:  Rebel Rampage takes metal to an entirely new level in political activism.  Their songs are strong statements about our current landscape, especially their anti-Trump anthem, “Not the Enemy.”  They also feature Angelo Moore (Fishbone) on “Red Star” and Emily Armstrong (Dead Sara) on “I am the Power.”  This one has everything you expect from a power rock trio – hard driving drums and bass, screaming electric guitar and powerful lyrics that leave no doubt which side of the political spectrum this band stands.  While there are few radio stations that would take a chance on their songs, there are plenty of intelligent music supervisors that would quickly put these powerful tracks into television and film placements, especially “I am the Power.”  Follow their example.

Recommendation:  If you like powerful music with an equally strong message, then this is the band for you.

Artist NameTeachers with Guns

Album NameRed October

Label:  Blue Honey Records

Genre:  Indie/Experimental Rock

Track Listing:  1.  Bad Art; 2.  Thru the Deep Blue; 3.  Mission Beach; 4.  Trap Pt II; 5.  All I Know; 6.  Faded Shit . . .; 7.  California Dream; 8.  Medusa

Publicist:  Self-promoted

Review:  Despite their name, this band is not composed of teachers.  They are an independent band from Los Angeles who have written an album based on the ideals of the October Revolution of 1917, in protest of future climate catastrophe and economic breakdown.  Their sound is lo-fi and experimental, with intriguing instrumentation and thought-provoking lyrics.  While you probably won’t hear them on the radio, you can hear them at various venues around the greater LA area.

Recommendation:  Worth checking out.