@@@ GA-20: Crackdown (Karma/Colemine, 2020) I peeped this yesterday after getting a music publicist email and it’s a hard punky, bluesy, rockin’ typa thing and I don’t usually go for that formula these days but I like this. It’s got a sinewy guitar line that drives it and keeps it fresh. It opens with a slack-y, roomy drump beat, then the guitar, then the rhythm guitar comes in, and then the rhythm becomes the lead, and then the singer comes in at around, ah no I got confused and this is a slowly building blues jam I don’t find annoying. I like the guitar players and the arrangement, it’s cool. There are other songs that have a singer and he’s very good as well. I haven’t heard a really good blues for a long time and I really like this record. Great guitar playing, lots of really nice melodies, a good singer, a great drummer and a straightforward production that flatters the tracks.
@@@ Boots and Mr. Motherfuckin’: Space InvaderZ (In Souls Music, 2022) Some retro NYC sounding hip hop with tight beats and tight rhymes right out of the gate. I got to this via a music publicist email. It’s a tinkly percussive arrangement with plenty of shooshing and whooshing that contrasts well with the smooth singing in the chorus. The highlight here for me is the rhythmic lock of the MCs with the beat and how that breaks when the sung chorus happens. It’s a really good indie hip hop track.
Deep In the Music 