Getting Through by Kareem Ali Upon doing research for this review, I noticed that Phoenix-based producer Kareem Ali’s Instagram bio reads “I create music for everything in the universe”. Marry this ethos with Ali’s one-of-a-kind Boiler Room mix, set in the sunset-soaked desert outskirts of Phoenix, and this mission statement tells listeners everything we need…
THE CRASHING SOUND OF HOW IT GOES by Cities Aviv I was stuck in a place/I couldn’t get up/what happens next? How does one begin to grieve growth from one chapter of life to another? Loved ones lost, a regressive sociopolitical landscape, and the impending fears of aging all come crashing down on one to…
If there’s anyone who hasn’t lost complete touch over the ever-fleeting artistry of social commentary rock, it would undoubtedly have to be the Brits. Championing the genre as what might be a post-post-punk reaction to the spawn of angsty British lyricism, Courting have recently released a 4-track debut EP that delivers a wonderfully refined twist…
Athens, GA-based Humble Plum’s debut album, Seventeen Hours, out now. Humble Plum is composed of Daniel Hardin John Ilardi and Josh Johnston. Ilardi and Johnston are students in UGA’s music business program, affectionately monikered as MBUS, and Hardin graduated the program in 2020. Childhood friends Hardin and Ilardi reconnected at UGA and brought Johnston into…
Who am I, and who are you? Growth. Fear. Changes. The nostalgia of it all. Who are we if I am no longer who I used to be? We desperately cling on to our past in hopes of using it as a band-aid, a short term justification, to heal what we face now. And most…
Hey there Vinyl Mag subscribers, long time no talk. To reign in the 2021 VM revival, consider this the first half of 2021’s staff top picks. 2020 and 2021 have definitely been a whirlwind, might I call them… “unprecedented times” (okay, I’m sorry… I won’t say it again). However, that can’t stop the jams from…
Nostalgia is a powerful feeling, providing respite from the present day. Music continues to find ways to replicate former fond feelings: a day at the beach, a sunset with friends after a long hike, or a cozy evening in the mountains. If there is a specific minutiae-filled time and place that one longs for, it’s…
When formulating ideas for new music, BRONCHO bandleader Ryan Lindsey could not help but focus on the bad things. While spending a lot of time watching CNN, he says, “…man, there’s a lot of bad behavior out there. Not to mention, there’s a company making money off of people watching their depiction of it all.” Shortly…
Lillie West has described her recent past as one of “general violence.” In the midst of writing her follow-up to 2016’s delicate Sleepyhead, West’s inner circle faced home invasions, assault, and death, leaving her running inward, dreading the world outside. Through fear and personal deconstruction, West’s latest album as Lala Lala makes big realizations around…
It’s good to be home. Portland may no longer be the country’s best kept secret, but it is without doubt still in possession of the next best thing: Pickathon; a paragon of a small-scale festival accurately coined “the best American music festival period” by unofficial mascot and veteran, Ty Segall. Nestled in the scenic rural-suburban…