Journey Room is the debut album from “Pixelfox,” an artist based in Los Angeles whose real name is Eddie Ozarie. He describes it is being “inspired by daily experiences, travels, new places, new experiences” and that it contains “uplifting themes.” The word “uplifting” is actually a great way to describe Journey Room. The track “Life,” for example is energetic and brims with a cheerful and bright ambiance. The song starts out light and bouncy and then builds into a more epic and emotive chorus.

A similar pattern emerges with other tracks like “Maybe the Next Time,” which utilizes empty, almost spoken word styled verses to set up lush and vibrant choruses. After listening to a couple of these songs you start to anticipate these full and colorful choruses like a dopamine rush.

Journey Room has a peppy kind of early 90’s pop feel to it. The recording quality is great. I wouldn’t have guessed that it was “fully produced and recorded in his Los Angeles apartment,” though I realize home recording has come a long way in the last 10 years. This is an excellent release, and hopefully this artist will continue to put out more great stuff.

For more info:
http://www.pixelfoxmusic.com/

Makoto Holmberg’s appropriately titled EP, “Slow Night,” is exactly the kind of thing I like to get the chance to review here, since its synthwavy nature puts it under the umbrella of genres I actually enjoy. You get the idea right away with “Crouched Clouds,” the opening number. It’s very chill and almost hypnotic. The songs evoke the ambiance of a dark rainy night in a futuristic city. The pacing of the songs is mellow and methodical, with the exception of the “Riccardo Noè 4th Dimension Remix” version of “Dust and Mirrors,” which has a slightly more upbeat and peppy tempo. That’s probably my favorite track on this EP, and I found myself listening to it multiple times. I’d recommend this EP to anyone going for a drive in the middle of the night.

An accomplished musician and producer, Jason Achilles Mezilis has just put out a video for his song, “Panhandle,”  which is one of the standout tracks on his recently recorded vinyl record, “Comedown.” The video production quality for “Panhandle” is extremely professional and well put together, indicating that Jason has made the most of his time and connections in Los Angeles. It’s directed by David Urbanic and features actor Micah Fizgerald waking up in a rather desolate desert and wandering around. The black and white is a nice touch, and the whole thing sort of has a Chris Isaak / David Lynch kind of vibe. The song is entirely instrumental, a sort of brooding and contemplative rock. It seems very much open to interpretation by design, and all in all this is just a very well done and polished release. Clearly a lot of thought and effort went into this project, and it paid off.

For more info:
http://www.jamezilis.com/