‘Ripples’ is certainly one of the best ‘regular songs’ The Grateful Dead’ came up with, and at the same time one, of the call around classics.
With it, Garcia, Weir, and the rest of the band came up with a ripple that actually kept on making both ripples and waves in modern music.
So, the point here might be that sometimes you can cause a wave to make a greater effect, with something that is supposed to be a quiet ripple rather than a (musical) tsunami wave.
Of course, you can go the other way too, and have a similar effect, the point being that the only thing that matters is whether it is good or not.
When Rivers Meet - Perfect Stranger
The duo When Rivers Meet is qualified as a blues rock thing, here accentuating that (loud) rock part a bit more, and still making a good kind of a wave.
Onipa & David Walters - No Commando
Afro-beat seems to be gaining ground as a specific genre separate from what is dubbed as World music, with that (tight) beat part being so high and prominent here. Dancing or just tapping your feet will do with this one.
The 3 Clubmen - Aviatrix
XTC’s Andy Partridge was away from music for a while now and it is so good to have him back in any (good) form, and here joined by Jen Olive and Stu Rowe, the trio shows that they haven’t lost their touch for either a good melody or rhythm, for that matter.
DAMOYEE - don’t know
DAMOYEE shows here that being inventive within the R&B genre is something that comes easy when you got both the talent and capabilities to do it, possibly contrary to the title of the song itself.
The Room - Crying Face
You just can’t get that spirit of The Beatles out of Liverpool, and there’s no need or point doing it, as these guys from the city of the same name keep that spirit living on with this one.
The Autumn Killers - Pinka Is My Name
While this trio comes forward with a somewhat forceful name, their sound is more of an updated version of the British eighties guitar bands like Echo & The Bunnymen, a good thing in itself, and they wear it well, actually.
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - That’s On You, That’s On Me
When the roots/Americana sound is done so well, as here, there’s something so cozy and reassuring in it, and Drew Holcomb and his crew truly show how it should be done.
quickly, quickly - Falling Apart Without You
A one-man strong force from Portland, Oregon shows what being inventive on today’s music scene means, and doing it more with ripples rather than waves, at the same time.
Ahmed Ben Ali - Aziz w Ada
Arabic reggae anyone? And you should definitely try this one from Ahmed Ben Ali, another great find from the good people at Habibi Funk. Great summer stuff.
Robert Jon & The Wreck - Bringing Me Back Home Again
Yes, Jon and his crew definitely hark back to the glory days of The Allman Brothers Band and Derek & The Dominoes, but they do it with such style, wearing their influences with such ease.
The South Austin Moonlighters - Box of Memories
Southern rock power pop? Maybe these guys don’t sound like Big Star all the time, but here they come with a great combination of power pop and Americana and do it so well.
Alice Auer - I Feel Sad
A quiet ballad, as you might expect from the title, but Auer, skips all the melodramatic parts and comes up with a fragile thing at no point breaks down.
Jack River - Honey
Australian Holly Rankin, aka Jack River, dresses her ballad in more richly arranged garments, but at no point overdoing it, something only a good talent can do, and she obviously has an abundance of it.
Nat Myers - Pray For Rain
Myers comes with quite a hopeful, ‘ripply’ piece of roots music that could have been recorded yesterday, tomorrow, or decades ago. Here, there and everywhere, as certain Mr. McCartney would say.
Dominique Fils-Aimé - My Mind At Ease
To do a song so steeped in tricky vocals, you really have to have a great voice and the ability to turn it into something so listenable, and this Canadian R&B singer has all the capabilities to do it.
Divide and Dissolve - Indignation
What starts out as a modern classical composition suddenly turns into a dissonant, heavy thing that can truly portray real, well, indignation. Heavy post-rock at its best.
David James Allen - Honey
Allen is one of those singer-songwriters that have quietly been making a name for themselves for all the right reasons, and Allen shows here why the voice and an acoustic guitar (with light other touches) are the way to go.
Penguin Cafe - Galahad
Penguin Cafe might have dropped that Orchestra part of their name, but what they didn’t drop is their ability to come up with some greatly composed, arranged, and played instrumental string music, even decades after they started out.
The Budos Band -Frontier’s Edge
The Budos Band haven’t been around for a while but they haven’t lost a bit of their genre-hopping musical sense, here going the imaginary soundtrack way, around which a good action movie of any kind could be built.
Stephen Steinbrink - Opalescent Ribbon
Not sure what colors this Steinbrink’s ribbon can come up with, but it does come up with some intriguing, sparse vocal harmonies and sparse backing that creat some great spacey music.