Berated

Melyssa takes a look at a handful of unexposed folk artists, with their new releases serving as very suitable autumn listening. A one-man project produces engaging lush folk with electronic infusions, a duo combines ethereal harmonies with a love for Solomon Burke, and another one-man effort sounds like a cross between Elliott Smith and Remy Zero.

Sweden’s electronic-pop scene is renowned not only for its number of impressive musicians per capita, but its listeners’ embracing of various temperaments within the style. Many bond over big-time hooks and smooth-as-butter production, with artistic delivery often serving as the divide. Familiarity with even more reputable acts like The Tough Alliance, Robyn, and Lykke Li [...]

What makes a piece of art good? What makes a piece of art useful? I would maintain that the major component is in the art’s making some tendency of the imagination tangible, to give it heft and definition. Marshall McLuhan, making this same point in essence, but with more of an alarmist slant, said in [...]

California Condors are a blast of west coast flavor.  The four-piece tout infectious melodies and memorable lyrical quips containing a bevy of nostalgia, making it hard to stop listening after one song. Their album Calm Carnivore hovers between contemporary indie rock and classic rock influences. The soaring, reverb-filled guitar solos often conjure the feeling of [...]

Nostalgia, always a component in hip hop’s later fare, has taken a new flavor of late. Nostalgia in ‘90s hip hop was largely reactionary, a response to the breakout popularity of the gangsta rap genre. Their nostalgia for groups like The Juice Crew and earlier hip-hop came off like sour grapes. More recently, the flavor [...]

David Fendick and Jonny Hooker are two multi-instrumentalists from Leeds, UK. Together they are Fossil Collective, an alternative-folk band influenced by artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, and Fleetwood Mac. It’s easy to dismiss the band’s sound as standard indie-folk with your parents’ favorite groups as their influences. However, on closer inspection, you can [...]

Quichenight I, the first album by Boston native Brett Rosenberg's band Quichenight, is an enjoyable mix of laid-back acoustic guitar strumming, keyboard harmonies, and quirky yet unpretentious lyrics in the vein of Scott McCaughey. Though the album was recorded "in a Nashville Tennessee basement", there is little of the traditional [...]

I’m considering a move to Sweden. It’s not because I’ve decided to start an ABBA tribute band, or since my obsession with sturdy wooden furniture has become unfathomable. It’s because there seems to be a tidy assortment of artists emerging from there that are incomparable to most pop scenes. Glittering electronic pop, with glimpses into [...]

Pop music, never known for its subtlety and largely celebrated for its lack thereof, is a particularly fertile rose bed of wrong. This compilation takes a look at some of the most memorable (and unheard) examples, with inventive songs about peeking through windows, tending to her garden, and good old-fashioned assault.

When an artist embarks on a solo project at a young age, the pursuit is commendable. Such ambition is shown on the full-length album by Leaves of Green, Imago. The album was created by one James Madole, a 20-year-old student at New York University. On his debut, Madole uses an infusion of vocals, guitar, ukulele, [...]