First of all, this group/collection of two or more musicians does not apologize for being pop. OK, that’s a good start. If you’re gonna be pop, do it! Berkeley Heights is, for the most part, brothers Chris and Cody Groom, who “nod to the past” and “look towards the future.” Here’s a short list of things [...]

This is jazz, and it’s soul, cleanly produced and smoothly sung. Rivers offers an interesting mix of rhythms in “Fairy Tales” from the Play Things EP (2008). According to her own marketing information, on the Stephanie Rivers Web site, she hails from Tulsa Oklahoma. Apparently she was a child entertainer, singing in and around Tulsa, in [...]

This indie/pop band is certainly pop, but it sounds like fun music. Here’s their MySpace info, in short form: Based in Linköping, Sweden. In 2008, their first full-length album Spark Large was recorded and highlights the bands one-of-a-kind indie pop sound. While the group does use the mainstay rock sounds of guitars, drums and bass [...]

While some may believe that, once upon a time, it was easier to break into the rock-and-roll world, the reality is it’s always been tough and will continue to remain difficult. But contests such as “Road to Rock Fame” can be a tremendous first step for those unsigned bands whose members want to make it in [...]

Is there really that much anger out there, among the young? Really? Or is this frustration and disappointment? Perhaps a bit of both. I mean, when your first sample is “Hanging the Executioner” (TBR Wrong Island Records) the listener quickly gets the idea that revenge might be the order of the day. “Borscht” is very raw and very, [...]

First of all, this is acoustic music. It’s also pop. Some will question whether the style can truly be called alternative, especially when listening to “Survive” (Origins Unknown 2008) for the first time. But the CD production is really quite good. Eric Hogg has a youthful voice and with that, a youthful presentation. He is [...]

With a beautiful and poetic name such as Dada Veda and the genuine appearance of a man who has found something very special, listeners might expect a type of music that is for a select audience. But Dada Veda, now living and working in Albania, is a folk artist and a singer, along with being an [...]

This “independent artist” markets himself as a singer of the “melodramatic popular song” as well as billing himself as a player/singer of Americana and folk music. After listening to a couple of tunes, I would buy that definition. I might even buy the Ten Year Sleep CD from 2007, which Gore put on his own [...]

Sure, she’s a good singer. This lady bills herself as folk/rock and from the little I’ve heard so far she fits the mixed genre rather well. “Down To Me” from How Much Noise (2008) reminds me of some of the singers from the 1960s rock ballad heydays. But it’s hard to remember just who they [...]

City music, this is. Two cities, to be exact. Bischeop Csynnikal is from Chicago. It’s his hometown. But, as the Web site states, he hails from the “City of Wind” but is stuck in the “City of Sin.” Csynnikal’s collection of songs is called 1st of A New Breed. What breed this is meant to be, I’m [...]