Pie>A Love Like Pi>cake A Love Like Pi’s album Atlas and the Oyster is a buzzing, beautiful electronic/punk/rock jumble of joy. Danceable, rhythmic, and interspersed with surprises, the album coasts along in all its synthesized glory. One song flows seamlessly into the next. Pair that with the fact that there is a cohesive...
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Intricate instrumentals compliment Tiffany Christopher’s smooth vocals. This Arkansas native roams around these here Midwest parts laying down her sweet voice and jamming on the guitar. Complex finger picking in the style of Ani Difranco and Bela Fleck swings in and out of her strong, smooth vocalizations. In places you can hear an early-Regina...
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Heavy distortion paired with lazy vocals suggest a Death Cab for Cutie influence on Lakeherst’s debut album Euan Aura. The overall sound is interesting, although perhaps familiar. “Summer Fires” is a standout with an added female vocalist. The beginning of “Fall Back to Me” opens with solid drum set-up and a driving electric guitar,...
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Brett Harris’ second EP Side Two was released in October as a follow-up to Yesterday’s News. The five-track EP showcases a singer/songwriter with a pop sensibility coming into his own. “Not Coming Back” is a catchy pop tune with Harris’ voice wavering over upbeat guitar licks. Pop turns rock on the next track: “Haughty...
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Some music transports in the way it takes you away from whatever computer or headphones you happen to be listening from and drops you in another place. Jonathan Vassar’s seven track LP The Hours and the Days does this, from the computer screen to the saloon. With lines like “I was born to get...
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On a bitter, cold night in January, Fundamental Elements rolled into Springfield and warmed things up. Big Momma’s Coffee Shop played host to lead vocalist/trumpeter Russ Mohr, drummer Luke DeJaynes, bassist Mark Dejaynes, guitarist/vocalist Joe McGill , and keyboardist/vocalist Dustin Burggraaf. With a solid set of songs from their new album The Cycle We’re...
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I’m not saying it’s ever easy to tie a musician to a genre, but Griffin House exemplifies this challenge. Perhaps some of this challenge comes from the album’s journey. The music and themes change throughout Flying Upside Down, and where it ends is not where it began. Griffin House begins Flying Upside Down with...
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Keith Goodwin Tim Arnold Dan Schwartz Good Old War is another band created in the black void of a group on hiatus, and to our gain. The band begins Only Way to Be Alone with the sound of a tambourine clattering (or is it glass shattering?). Rolling guitar licks enter, which cue the sincere...
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That was my sister’s first reaction to “Darken Me” from Electric Owls’ EP Magic Show. Whether she meant music well-suited to a funeral or to the a.m., I believe she was right. Light beats are juxtaposed with dark lyrics in songs like “Cannibal Superstar.” “Magic Show” suggests bagpipes hovering behind tinkling melodies and “Darken...
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