Eclectic Vibes
by Andrew Frey
Beefus - Busted Teeth Fandango
BeefusBusted Teeth Fandango
Label: Wavelength Productions
Beefus is a musical collective from Madison, known for their quirks, strangeness and unique perspective. This time around there is more steel, grass and twang (and perhaps inbreeding?) than before, but the lyrical content is still twisted, kitschy and head scratching enough to make even Captain Beefheart proud. Remember, the moon always shines when it’s moonshine!
• Beefus Website • Beefus FacebookTwenty One Pilots - Trench
Twenty One PilotsTrench
Label: Fueled By Ramen
Bands with 2 billion+ hit videos are hard to ignore. That being said, this groups bizarre yet amazingly attractive conflagration of alt rock, hip hop, metal, and singer songwriter swings are often as confounding as they are comforting. But it works! Trench definitely captures their signature sound and approach, but simply isn’t quite as high strung as prior releases. It is still lyrically provoking though and offers a bunch of great songs and potential mega hits.
• Twenty One Pilots Website • Twenty One Pilots Facebook • Twenty One Pilots WikiTurkuaz - Life In The City
TurkuazLife In The City
Label: Electric Habitat Music
Expressive and fun, this nonet from Brooklyn will blow your socks off with their energy poppin’ horns, strong jams and catchy rhythms. Dripping with splashes of funk, rock, alternative and R&B this group brings momentous energy and presence to Life In The City as well as their live shows wherever they may be found. Find em nearby on 11/15 at High Noon Saloon in Madison, WI
• Turkuaz Website • Turkuaz FacebookGreatest Showman: Reimagined - Various Artists
Greatest Showman: ReimaginedVarious Artists
Label: Atlantic Records
The Greatest Showman was a landmark musical film and the songs it contains are iconic. Ripples of it’s popularity have been shaking the musical universe since it was released. Now you have the chance to hear 13 tracks reimagined by some of today’s top pop artists including Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Panic! at the Disco, Pentatonix, P!nk, and Willow Sage Hart (P!nk’s daughter). Sure it is a commercial Christmas pinata, but the original songs are strong enough to offer a fair amount of candy and glee in this new light. (8) press.atlanticrecords.com/the-greatest-showman/
Imagine Dragons - Origins
Imagine DragonsOrigins
Label: Interscope
What an album! These double platinum producing, Grammy winning pop icons deliver another masterpiece with several smash hits as well as several other songs (rounding out this 12 track release) that show off the evolution of their artistic diversity and depth, but not in the same predictable ways as their past releases. If you haven’t heard Natural, Bad Liar or Zero off this album, you will soon, as they are all destined to be classics!
• Imagine Dragons Website • Imagine Dragons FacebookDirtwire - Road Goes All Night
DirtwireRoad Goes All Night
Label: Beats Antique Records
Sometimes instruments plays a big roll in what a recording sounds like and there are few releases that have more a unique sound than this. I saw them last fall at Shangri La Festival and they were quite enthralling thanks in part to Mark Reveley’s Whamola bass and Greek tanbur as well as Even Fraser’s Kamole ngoli and bass ngoli plus David Satori’s bowed banjo and guitarjo. Throw in a harmonica, and smear on some southwestern grit and the folktronica that this trio of talented multi-instrumentalists produce will excite and captivate!
• Dirtwire Website • Dirtwire FacebookNinjula - Bass ‘n Honey
NinjulaBass ‘n Honey
Label: Ragtime Records
Electro swing just keeps getting more exciting! From start to finish, these 6 explosive and super punchy tracks blast out zany breakbeats and wild groovey rhythms flavored full of vintage and big band era compensations with barely a moment to catch your breath. Get wound up in the hyper bass and glitch-hop your nights away to these edgy high octane tunes!
• Ninjula Website • Ninjula FacebookYaima - Antidote
YaimaAntidote
Label: Yaima
Blooming with a connection to nature and sparked by the fire of internal growth and transformation, this third release by Seattle based duo Masaru Higasa (Guitar, flutes, handpan) and Pepper Proud (guitar & vocals) constructs gentle soundscapes filled with stories about the Lightness of Being. An introspective journey filled with atmosphere and many perspectives of the grand whole will please and pacify your inner soul itch.
• Yaima WebsiteMichal Menert & the Pretty Fantastics - From The Sea
Michal Menert & the Pretty FantasticsFrom The Sea
Label: Super Best Records
Featuring a DJ, an MC, and a violinist in addition to Menert’s wide ranging electronic musical influences, this 7 piece band flavors their compositions with tasty measures of jazz, jam, R&B and hip hop. Additionally, Menert for the first time shares lead vocal duties with Jules Thoma to create a warm and dreamy element to this release. Surprisingly seductive and soulful selections overall.
• Michal Menert & the Pretty Fantastics Website • Michal Menert & the Pretty Fantastics Facebook • Michal Menert & the Pretty Fantastics WikiSoleance - Tribute To Galt MacDermot
SoleanceTribute To Galt MacDermot
Label: First Word Records
Grammy Award Winner Galt MacDermot died on Dec 17, 2018, but his music will live forever! Best known for his work on the musical Hair, he produced several #1 hits in the late 60s and has been sampled by numerous groups and producers over the years.. This tribute by the French group Soleance samples choice snippets and turns them into quite on point, catchy, funky, jazzy electronic infused compositions.
• Soleance Website • Soleance FacebookSoDown - Jet Black
SoDownJet Black
Label: GetDown Records
This EP is smokin hot! Establishing a menacing synth ambiance before introducing slick slices of glitch amid strong casts of electro bass and funky beat breakdowns makes for an entrancing listening experience. Chest pumping, hip hopping electronica doesn’t get much better than this.
• SoDown Website • SoDown FacebookKojo - Guide My Soul
KojoGuide My Soul
Label: Random Records
Guide My Soul is the first full length psybass release from KOJO (aka Alexander Green). It is filled with a multitude of quirky samples, fat, plucky bass lines and upbeat rhythms. Time spent experimenting with styles and techniques over the past years pay off throughout the 14 tracks offered here by making this a grand adventure through many sonic landscapes distant dimensions.
• Kojo Website • Kojo FacebookView More
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