Category Archives: Misc Reviews

Misc Reviews

Caesar Osiris – Más Allá

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Más Allá is a new single from Los Angeles based artist, Caesar Osiris. It was created with the intention of inspiring environmental awareness. The song’s aquatic ambiance and sea breeze aesthetic illustriously showcase the beauty of the oceans Osiris seeks to preserve. Musically the track could pass as a fairly decent pop single, bio-fueled by Caesar’s more than capable singing abilities and some energizing tropical synths. The production value is very good, on par with a professional label release. The video also features some choreographed dancing as well as some creative costume choices. This is a solid effort by a determined artist, and it’s for a great cause. We all need to do a better job of taking care of our oceans. Not only is water necessary for our lives, the sea creatures do not have anywhere else to go if we ruin their home.

For more info:

https://www.caesarosiris.com/
http://www.facebook.com/caesarosiris

Misc Reviews

Cody Daniel – Breaking Away

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Breaking Away is a pretty smooth and straightforward pop song from up and coming vocalist, Cody Daniel. It comes from his EP, The Calm. Cody has a few releases under his belt already in which he has already established some talent. Breaking Away hits all the marks in terms of what makes a contemporary pop song a hit. It’s catchy, competently produced and performed by an artist that fits the mold of a pop star while retaining some stylistic originality. Cody Daniel’s energetic yet laid back persona gives his music both a relaxed and upbeat feel. The quick witted lyrics flow nicely,the whole song just has a nice ring to it. The only missing ingredient here is a label to back this project with some heavy marketing (and money.)

For more info:
http://www.cody-daniel.com

Misc Reviews

Richard Wadsworth – Eternity

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Singer/songwriter Richard Wadsworth gives new meaning to the term “prolific.” Claiming to have created over 1,300 songs since the age of 19, his latest album, Eternity is stocked with a whopping 77 tracks. You might think that with an album which contains so many songs, the tracks themselves would be very short to compensate. That’s not the case though. The opening track, Heavenly Starway, clocks in at just over 77 minutes. The remaining 76 songs average between 3 and 5 minutes each.

Wadsworth describes his music as “Christian-themed rock and roll featuring angelic vocals and gentle electric guitar strums.” Religious themes aside, musically his songs remind me a lot of obscure 90s indie folk and avant garde LoFi artists. The sound is very raw, almost like a live recording. There is very little editing. The songs consist of some rather creative strumming of out of tune guitars, with accompanying vocals in various forms and tones. The lyrics can be difficult to make out at times, but I don’t think it really matters. This is an experimental recording, so pretty much anything goes.

I could find almost no info on this artist other than what is listed in the press release except that he may be from Philadelphia. There’s no website or social media presence to speak of. Eternity is one of the most bizarre recordings I’ve ever listened to, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether it was all an elaborate troll. Icy Love is probably my favorite track, though admittedly I did not listen to all 77 of them. The “album cover” is just a 19th century painting by William Rimmer titled Evening (The Fall of Day.) The same painting was also the basis for Led Zeppelin’s label, Swan Song. If you’ve got some time to kill, give Eternity a listen.

Available on Spotify

Misc Reviews

J. Sariah – The Journey

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Singer/songwriter J. Sariah’s eleven song release The Journey
Musically it reminds me a lot of old school TLC, but with a lot less negativity and hostile attitude. While relatable songs like Friendzone give voice to the familiar feelings of heartache, The Journey’s tone is more inspirational than confrontational. Even tracks like Revenge reveal more of a genuinely afflicted sorrow of a woman yearning for someone who understands her pain than a vengeful soul that truly wants revenge. The “revenge” is just the desperate means to extract empathy from the one she cares for.

In fact, The Journey takes the listener through a wide range of emotions, featuring everything from recklessness to sorrow. In addition to demonstrating some dynamic vocal ability (she is quite a good singer) J. Sariah also manages to convincingly convey an array of emotions through her tone and diction, even when one doesn’t take into account the actual lyrical content. The instrumental backing displays a similar versatility as each song is musically distinct from the rest in a substantial way. This isn’t just someone singing to several variations of the same generic beat.

J. Sariah has a lot to be proud of with this release, which in every sense qualifies as a “full album.”

For more info:
https://www.jsariah.com
https://soundcloud.com/j-sariah

Misc Reviews

Audiovascula – Buss Di BassLine

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Musical artist Audiovascula hails from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and his latest track, Buss Di BassLine showcases an intensity that we don’t often get a glimpse of within reggae inspired genres. Audiovascula’s style can be described as combining the ferocity of hip hop with a tonal backdrop of EDM and the rhythm of reggae. His vocals have an assertive presence and bring the song to attention. This a dude that means business, and I must say the production quality is quite good compared to the average indie hip hop track. It’s fitting that the artist has “vascula” in his name, which is related to “vascular” as in “cardiovascular system.” This music has the passion and energy that will definitely get the blood flowing through the listeners veins.

For more info:
https://soundcloud.com/audiovascula

Misc Reviews

The Pagliaci featuring Alaska MC – Beats, Breaks & Bass

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The Pagliaci, an Italian DJ known for his interest in break beat music, has a new track out featuring Alaska MC. It’s titled Beats, Breaks & Bass. What’s notable about Pagliaci’s style is that he combines dance music and break beat with hip hop. The sound is often reminiscent of the best of 90s music, and I have to admit it awakened a bit of nostalgia for me for a simpler, much more carefree era of music. The professionalism in the production is quite evident to even a casual listener, as The Pagliaci demonstrates the skills of a longtime veteran of the DJ scene who cut his chops on turntables back in the day and kept up with technology over the years. Beats, Breaks & Bass is a party jam, filled with energy and with a chorus that’s surprisingly melodic. I would recommend this jam to the kind of person that just loves to go out on the town, have a good time and avoid drama.

For more info:
https://www.beatport.com/artist/the-pagliaci/297173
https://soundcloud.com/thepagliaci

Misc Reviews

Diveyede – Pale Moonlight

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Alternative hip hop artist Diveyede’s latest single, Pale Moonlight, is taken from his upcoming EP There is no cure//They will be the death of me. The production is pretty solid, but not so great that it takes away from the raw, organic feel of the recording. If production is too good, sometimes it can commercializes out the avant-garde authenticity. Diveyede’s style is somewhat unorthodox in that it blends spoken word slam poetry with conventional hip hop musicality. There are even some emo elements here. Pale Moonlight is filled with angst and displays a willingness on the part of the artist to confront his own sanity and vulnerability. There is a kind of madness to it all (“This is my Van Gogh!” he shouts despairingly.) More importantly, Diveyede displays a self awareness that is uncommon in these genres. The end result is that Pale Moonlight avoids the trappings of superficial posturing and hip hop cliches, managing to be something genuinely experimental.

For more info:
https://soundcloud.com/diveyede
https://www.facebook.com/diveyede

Misc Reviews

Conscious – Ups & Downs of Love

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Released on Valentine’s Day, Ups & Downs of Love is a new mixtape from a Buffalo, NY based hip hop artist going by the name Conscious. As the title suggests, the songs thematically alternate between the high, euphoric aspects of love and the downtrodden episodes of heartbreak and depression. The production quality here is pretty good, though I prefer the vocal effects on some tracks more than others. Let Me In particularly stands out as one of the best tracks on here, with the vocals coming through smoothly and crisply and not tinkered with very much. That’s the point in listening to this where I felt like, “Wow, this guy really has something here.”

As far as the instrumental backing, the final track You & Me is my favorite. It features a bouncy, dreamlike synth beat, reminiscent of video game music. This mixtape fuses elements of hip hop, R&B and pop. Conscious seems like he’s on the right track with this mixtape. Artistically, creating a themed album in which the songs act as components within an overall structure which itself is part of the art, is a good move. It adds a dimension of vision and thoughtfulness that you don’t often see in any plain old mixtape.

For more info:
http://hyperurl.co/uv640k

Misc Reviews

Matt Westin – Our Redneck of the Woods

Matt-Westin

Originally from Pittsburgh, and having walked away from a career in engineering, Matt Westin would have seemed to be an rather unlikely prospect for country music artist. Yet here he is. Admittedly I was expecting something rather cliche when I came upon his new single Our Redneck of the Woods, (from his debut album, Legacy) but while it does contain some familiar country music tropes about what rednecks like, the song and lyrics are much more detailed and actually pretty epic. With choice lines like “If a politician came out here right now, we might hook his ass up to a plow,” this track has potential to be a hit. It is just one of those songs where you listen and could imagine it being played everywhere, due to the catchy zingers. Musically speaking, the guitar work here is very good, as it is on most country albums, with lots of delightful twang and note bending. Westin is a capable singer, his relatively deep and authoritative voice matching the confident tone of the song. This is a worthwhile country song with highly entertaining lyrics.

For more info:


http://www.mattwestin.com
https://www.facebook.com/MattWestinMusic/

Misc Reviews

Dan Kenneth – From the Heart

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Wilmington, Delaware based gospel and R&B singer Dan Kenneth’s latest song, From the Heart is aptly titled work of passion. Kenneth really does sing as if he means it, and you can feel the emotion in every note. With the vocals out front up against a minimalistic piano backing, he doesn’t hide anything in this mix. He lays it all out there for you. Like most gospel singers, this guy has a great voice and uses it to its maximum potential. What’s really refreshing about this release though is that there are no gimmicks, no fake attitude and no posturing. From the Heart has a genuine quality about it that’s missing in so much of today’s music.