A girl’s voice carefully seeps through the phone-speakers, leaving its last message for a love that is not lost, but must leave. A love that lived in the illuminated streets of Las Vegas, where the …
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A COLLUR-ful Piece
An Empty Canvas In 2023, COLLUR’s journey as an artist resembled that of an explorer venturing into uncharted palettes of styles and melodies. His words began painting a canvas that deepened in shades and hues …
Continue readingAlbum Review: Ian Mahan – Rockford
Ian Mahan, based out of Denver, says he blends together pop, blues, folk, “and old-time entertainment,” and his latest album, Rockford, particularly leans toward an acoustic indie/pop blend with gentle, relaxing lyrics. The album could be called sweet, or in less generous terms, sappy. But for an independent singer-songwriter, Rockford is a good step forward.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Bryce Merritt: Chroma II
Last November, we spoke to Oklahoma native Bryce Merritt, a singer-songwriter and YouTuber, who had released his first album CHROMA I at the time. Growing up, Merritt had thought only country music existed since that’s all his parents listened to in the car, and began to write country songs. Upon getting his own car and picking his own stations, he discovered Motown and other genres which pushed his songwriting into a Pop direction. Merritt’s follow-up, CHROMA II, is a continuation into pop music, but it’s still a really good album.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Montoneros – Good Bones
Good Bones is the latest release from Denver-based, math rock band Montoneros. The self-proclaimed ”Mile High Twinklers” effortlessly combine intricate guitar riffs with catchy pop melodies that makes for an accessible sound that musicians and casual listeners can both enjoy.
Continue readingDanielle Ate The Sandwich– The Terrible Dinner Guest
Folk singer/songwriter Danielle Anderson has been playing as Danielle Ate The Sandwich since she initially started putting out YouTube videos of her work. Since 2009, she’s held successful Kickstarter campaigns for her albums and tours and has even had her work featured on the soundtrack to the HBO Documentary Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Wilkinson.
Continue readingBryce Merritt: Connecting Through Chroma
Bryce Merritt’s latest release, Chroma: I, effortlessly blends pop with elements of funk and R&B. He pulls his influences from artists ranging from Stevie Wonder to John Mayer, but it was actually country music that first got him into writing songs. “I grew up in Oklahoma and just based on what my parents listened to, growing up, the only thing that I knew existed, musically, was country music. They controlled the [radio] dial in the car,” recalls Merritt. He knew he always wanted to sing, so naturally he got his start writing country songs. “But then I got my car whenever I started driving in high school and I had control over the radio and I started discovering so much more music. The first thing I really got into was Motown,” he says, realizing that was the music that he wanted to make.
Continue readingTop Tunes Thursday: Coldplay — Adventure Of A Lifetime
The track is joyful in a resurgent kind of way. Driving leads and a surprisingly groovy rhythm for a pop band (let alone a pop band of such drear and atmosphere) cloud your mind like the smoke from a caterpillar’s hookah. It’s relentless and irresistibly toe tapping. Jam packed into their wooing, if not predictable, brand of pop are notes of Earth Wind & Fire, Phoenix, and fretwork from U2’s The Edge as well as modern pop titans, like Pharell, Justin Timberlake, and Daft Punk, especially the latter, considering their recent poppy-funky love affair. I feel the song chip away at winter’s frost, and as frontman Chris Martin heralds chorus after chorus of “I feel alive again!” I can’t help but agree.
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