Happy Tuesday. As we close out the month of January, we still have some great new albums to share with you. Here are five of them for your consideration.
Artist Name: David Vassalotti
Album Name: Guitar Dream
Label: Wharf Cat Records
Genre: Indie Pop/Rock/Instrumental
Track Listing: 1. This Extravagant Lie; 2. The Other Light; 3. The Light; 4. In the Garden; 5. Devenir immortal . . .; 6. The Lines Between Us; 7. Let it Burn; 8. Manifest Destiny; 9. Outlines; 10. What Shall you say Tonight?
Publicist: Promo Jukebox
Review: David Vassalotti makes great guitar music come alive with his dreamy sounding vocals over a perfectly composed musical soundtrack. The songs have deep meaning contained in their lyrics, and Vassalotti has the perfect voice to convey all the emotions contained in those lyrics. Hidden within these tracks is the incredible instrumental song, “The Other Light.” Our only complaint is that there seem to be problems with the mixing, as the vocals seem to “float” on top of the music, as if they were added after all the instrumental tracks were laid down and not mixed together. Other than that, we love it from start to finish, especially “In the Garden.”
Recommendation: Definitely worth checking out.
Artist Name: Cold Weather Company
Album Name: Find Light
Label: Self-released
Genre: Alt Folk
Track Listing: 1. Hazel; 2. Clover; 3. Brothers; 4. Birds on a String; 5. Circles; 6. Do no Harm; 7. Dawn; 8. Pocket; 9. The Things you Saw; 10. Reclamation; 11. Mount Desert Island; 12. Old but True; 13. Dusk; 14. Slate House; 15. Atlas; 16. Do no Harm (reprise)
Publicist: The Syndicate
Review: We introduced you to this band when we featured their single “Brothers” in our Ten Great Singles of October. Two years in the making, this album is a superb example of indie excellence from amazing songwriters Brian Curry, Jeff Petescia, and Steve Shimchick. They are true peers of bands like Mumford & Sons, Coldplay and The Decemberists, and deserve the same industry attention. These songs are radio friendly and would be perfect for placement opportunities in film and television. The vocals are soaring over a majestic and sweeping musical background that keeps the listener invested, especially “Do no Harm.” These songs need to be enjoyed over and over again.
Recommendation: This one is a no-brainer. Definitely go Get it.
Artist Name: Dollshot
Album Name: Lalande
Label: Self-released
Genre: Indie Pop/Rock
Track Listing: 1. Paradise Flat; 2. Gimbal; 3. Circulate Stop; 4. Lalande; 5. Swan Gone; 6. Ichor; 7. Cynthera; 8. Birds of the West; 9. She; 10. Nacht and Träume
Publicist: The Syndicate
Review: We introduced you to this band last year when we featured their single “Paradise Flat” in our Monday Mashup. They have a distinctive sound with clear eerie vocals on top of a harder musical tone underneath. Their music really transcends genre boundaries as it has pop vocals on top of a harder rock feel that is at times discordant but effective. You can still feel their classical training at the core of their music as they bend the sounds to create their own unique mix. The resulting sound is truly memorable and hard to forget.
Recommendation: Definitely worth checking out.
Artist Name: Royal Canoe
Album Name: Waver
Label: Paper Bag Records
Genre: Indie Pop/Rock
Track Listing: 1. What’s Left in the River; 2. Black Sea; 3. intro; 4. RAYZ; 5. May 17; 6. Ashes Ashes (ft Nnamdi Ogbonnaya); 7. Girl of my Dreams; 8. Peep This; 9. Spin Cycle; 10. 77-76; 11. Don’t
Publicist: The Syndicate
Review: We first introduced you to Royal Canoe back in September when we featured the music video for their first single, “RAYZ,” and came back with another feature on their second single, “Peep This” in December. They mix elements of pop, rock, R&B and hip-hop, with glorious synth walls, obtuse guitar solos and beautiful organ lines, all tied together with a deep rhythmic interplay between the bass, drums and electronics. The result is a sound that is truly multi-dimensional with easy cross-over appeal to a multitude of radio formats. The focus is on the lyrics and the vocals, which have incredible harmonies that perfect capture the mood and meaning of these songs, especially on songs like “RAYZ,” “Peep This,” “77-76” and “Don’t.”
Recommendation: Go Get this one!
Artist Name: The Earthly Frames
Album Name: Light Reading
Label: Self-release
Genre: Experimental Rock
Track Listing: 1. A Doorbell for Finite Beings; 2. Underrepresented Harmonics; 3. She Waits for Yesterday; 4. The Imagined Lives of Shirley Kudirka; 5. Dismantling Ubiquitous Monitoring Systems; 6. The Architectural Mnemonics of M. Nodisks; 7. End Timed Family; 8. A Teleological Wind; 9. Dark Years History; 10. Getting Started in Tempography; 11. Eye on Ghost Singers; 12. Time Moving in Light
Publicist: Noisy Ghost PR
Review: We can guarantee you have never heard anything like the sophomore album from Gabriel Walsh aka The Earthly Frames. It is as different of a project from the mainstream record as performance art is from theater. Under the guise of a reading list, the song titles tell you nothing about the sweet sounds you are about to experience. He incorporates country, folk and pop into this experimental and eclectic mix of sounds and words, creating something that stands out from the myriad of indie artists. His 25 years of experimenting with music have definitely paid off with this hidden gem at the end of the rainbow. This one is worth checking out just for the variety of styles and mixes that are instantly memorable.
Recommendation: We recommend you go Get this one. We don’t think you have anything like it in your current music collection.