indie
Indie music features a sampling of maverick musicians that favor the DIY approach to music making.
The Free States and the Joy of Not Quite Knowing
There is something liberating about not knowing exactly what you are doing. I know that sounds like a terrible thing to say about an album, particularly when the modern music industry seems to demand that everyone has a five-year plan, a recognisable brand and a perfectly rehearsed explanation for why every creative decision was made.
By Whitney Miller3 days ago in Beat
Mark T. Speakman Asks Us to Look Beyond the Surface on “Universe Dreams”
There is something quite wonderful about musicians who arrive at songwriting from an unexpected direction. We tend to imagine the classic route into music involves a battered guitar, a bedroom full of half-finished songs and perhaps a few years spent playing increasingly dubious venues before anyone takes notice.
By Whitney Miller3 days ago in Beat
14 Songs I Found on a Burned CD from 2007
Before streaming took over, you had a few options for listening to your favorite songs: waiting for the song to play on the radio, trying to catch the music video on TV or paying $15 for a CD that might have only one good track. As a child, I fantasized about owning a CD that magically played all my favorite songs. Unfortunately, this seemed like a fairy tale until Napster and Limewire disrupted the music industry, allowing users to download virtually any song for free--albeit illegally.
By Kaitlin Shanks5 days ago in Beat
My Exclusive Interview With Killy Myne
With over 3,000 Spotify streams on "Burn in Hell" alone, Killy Myne is a rising star in the dream pop genre. Her current discography is small, but she's already crafted a dark image and a haunting sound that mark her as an artist to watch. I reached out to her for an email interview, and if you're a fan of modern slowcore and dreamy bedroom pop, her responses provide an intriguing look at the process behind these soon-to-be-viral singles.
By Kaitlin Shanks6 days ago in Beat
Brooks John Martin’s ‘Do’ is Happiness at the Edge of Reason
I love the fact that Brooks John Martin has taken a subject that could so easily have resulted in a very serious song and decided, quite rightly, that perhaps what it really needed was a bit of fun. There is plenty of weight behind ‘Do’ , the first single from his forthcoming album War All The Time , but Martin seems determined not to let that weight pin the song to the floor. Instead, it bounces, twists, accelerates and occasionally appears to wander off in search of something shiny. And that, I suspect, is rather the point.
By Whitney Miller6 days ago in Beat
Hide and Shine Release Their Third Album "9 Seconds Before Revolution"
I love a band that makes you wonder whether someone has accidentally left the doors open between several completely different musical universes. Hide and Shine are one such band, and 9 Seconds Before Revolution , their third album, is what happens when post-punk, grunge, classic rock, metal, country and psychedelic darkness all wander into the same room and decide that rather than fighting it out, they might as well form a band.
By Whitney Miller6 days ago in Beat
"Blind Boone The Musical" - Bringing a Forgotten Musical Pioneer Back Into the Light
There are some stories that seem almost too extraordinary to have been forgotten. The life of John William “Blind” Boone is one of them. A child born in a Union Army camp in Missouri in 1864, the son of an escaped enslaved woman and a Union Army bugler, who lost his sight as an infant and nevertheless went on to become a celebrated concert pianist and composer. His career stretched from 1880 to 1927, taking him onto concert stages during a period when African American musicians faced enormous barriers simply because of the colour of their skin. It is the kind of life that seems destined for a musical.
By Whitney Miller9 days ago in Beat
Ariana Fig Steps Into a New Chapter With Debut Album So Long, Sinnerstate!
Ariana Fig steps into a new chapter with So Long, Sinnerstate! , her debut full-length album and most expansive release. The Hamilton, Ontario singer-songwriter uses the record to examine identity, ambition, memory, and the uncertain distance between the person someone has been and the person they are becoming.
By Rachel Martino10 days ago in Beat
Sébastien De Francesco Finds What Remains When Everything Else Falls Away
Québec singer-songwriter Sébastien De Francesco turns toward one of life’s most difficult subjects on “Love on the Way Down,” a thoughtful folk-rock single inspired by witnessing someone approach the end of life with unusual calm and grace. Rather than treating mortality solely as an experience of sadness, De Francesco considers what can become clearer when the distractions of everyday life begin to disappear.
By Rachel Martino10 days ago in Beat
Eric Reinhart Looks Back With Gratitude on New Single “Over and Over”
Eric Reinhart’s latest single, “Over and Over,” looks backward without getting stuck in the past. Following his debut release “Chances” and the confident “Keep It Simple,” the new song turns memories into a celebration of the people, places, and experiences that have helped shape Reinhart’s life.
By Rachel Martino10 days ago in Beat
Kate Schutt Draws on an Arctic Survival Story for “Drumfire of the Hurricane”
Kate Schutt brings an extraordinary chapter of Arctic history into focus with “Drumfire of the Hurricane,” a new single inspired by Austrian painter and writer Christiane Ritter’s 1934 memoir A Woman in the Polar Night . Combining intimate songwriting with a broad, atmospheric arrangement, Schutt recreates the tension of a woman confronting a brutal winter storm far from safety.
By Rachel Martino10 days ago in Beat
