Tag: feature

  • It’s possible that more than half the people who’ll read this review have never even heard of Butch Walker. But he’s been one of my favorite artists for as far back as I can remember. When I was just a teenager he was the lead guitarist in a hair band I was really into called…

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  • Much has already been said about Björk’s new album, Vulnicura. For example, the first half of the title seems to be from the Latin word “vulnific,” meaning to cause injury. The second half seems to be from the Middle English word “cura,” meaning to care or cure. And, no, I’m not extremely smart like that.…

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  • interview  by Michael McCarthy It was only around twenty seconds into Night Demon’s debut full-length, Curse of the Damned, when I fell in love with it and knew it was going to be one of the very best metal albums I’d heard in a long time.  The guitars were in the vein of Metallica’s “Whiplash”…

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  • review and interview by Michael McCarthy previously published on OtakuDX Before we get to our interview with J-Pop’s future stars 4TE, I wanted to present a review of their wonderful double A-side MORE / 一歩ずつ… 4TE — pronounced Forte/for-tay — is a red hot new Japanese pop group based out of the U.S. and if…

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  • 45. UNWOMAN: CIRCLING I’ve heard Unwoman’s Circling categorized as steampunk music. I’m not sure I understand what that means, but I certainly know that the way she – her real name being Erica Mulkey – married her cello with vivid electronic soundscapes was as enchanting as anything this year. Add to that her spell-binding voice…

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  • Button:Pusher is the new double album project by Kiran Shahani of Bitter:Sweet and The Supreme Beings of Leisure fame. (The two albums are called Never Look Back and Cross My Heart.) If you’re not familiar with either of those groups, chances are you’ve still heard some of Kiran’s work. For one thing, he’s done the…

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  • interview by Michael McCarthy Back in July of 2013, I gave a very positive review to the debut album by Starkill, Fires of Life, which was a perfect blend of the death and symphonic metal subgenres. Nightwish as performed by Dimmu Borgir, if you will. Well, those artists continue to be among the band’s influences…

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  • I was recently introduced to the music of Veiga Sanchez, who goes by the name Salt Ashes, and after listening to just a couple of her songs I already fell head over heels in love with her sound.  Like any artist, she has influences and those influences can be heard in her music.  But, here’s the thing…

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  • interview by Michael McCarthy I won’t brag about the volume of music we receive on a daily basis now, but I will say that it’s often overwhelming.  And it takes a lot to please me these days.  Being good or even great doesn’t necessarily cut it.  I have to fall totally in love with an…

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  • When we last interviewed the UK’s critically acclaimed Bat and Ball they were promoting their glorious second single, “Stops My Mouth,” which blended an easy breezy pop melody with poignant lyrics and haunting vocals courtesy of Abi Sinclair, one of the band’s two lead singers.  (The other vocalist is her brother Chris.)  The same description could…

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  • interview by Michael McCarthy You know how they say there’s a first time for everything? Well, here’s a first for Love is Pop – an interview with a black metal band. Wiki’s definition of black metal: “Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted…

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  • I recently had the opportunity to hear Brother, the stunning debut EP of newcomers Mighty Oaks, who stand out from the ever-growing folk crowd by writing wonderful songs with big, catchy choruses, the sort that just sweep you away in their emotion and infectiousness.  Although, to be fair, it might not be entirely accurate to…

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  • As you probably know, I recently reviewed Youngblood Hawke’s August 6th, 2014 show at Brighton Music Hall in Boston.  My review was wholly positive and I feel the same way about their debut album, Wake Up, which is, in fact, crammed with plenty of gorgeous anthems to rouse you.  Each of its songs are stimulating…

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  • I’d like to say that I discovered Caught A Ghost through my own music hunting efforts, that there’s some cool backstory about how I came to be aware of their existence. But the truth is simple and probably not very interesting: their publicist contacted me, asked me to review their upcoming show opening for Youngblood…

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  • At approximately 9 P.M. on August 6th, 2014 Youngblood Hawke took to the stage at Brighton Music Hall in Allston, Massachusetts — just outside of Boston — and made musical history. OK, so maybe they didn’t make musical history, but there is a whole lot of musical history wrapped up in the band’s bright and…

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