How strange can a music career be? Or, if you take a look at the incredible story of the late great Alex Chilton you can formulate this question as follows - how do you go from a #1 hit and being one of the most successful so-called blue-eyed soul artists and considered the progenitor of power pop by ecstatic critics, to never really making a success story out of it, to a patchy solo career and odd-jobs, then back to being a producer and musical encyclopedia of rock and roll, to almost fully rehabilitating your career by the end?
Easy, and in a flash it seems, or hard ’n’ heavy if you look at the other side of the coin. Chilton started out as a lead singer with The Box Tops with ‘The Letter” an immediate and one of the biggest hits around, went on to be a true (if not the first) pioneer of power pop, with the first two Big Star albums, recording one of the saddest rock albums ever with Big Star’s third, and then disappearing, coming back, dishwashing, plying again, being rescued by helicopter during Katrina and then sadly passing in 2010. Still, his complete musical legacy and strange career story live on, as they should.
The Woggles - Mr. Last Chance
The Woggles made a name for themselves as head-on garage rockers, and now they have decided to beef up their sound with a dual guitar attack, without going too loud or overboard, and here it works.
Wolf Castle - I Won’t Stop
Funky, mellow rap seems to work quite well for this producer and host of CBC’s Reclaimed, as he doesn’t overproduce and combines rapping with singing.
Ethan & May Hawke - We Don’t Run - We Don’t Run
Bigs (and not so big ) names celebrate critically acclaimed label Light In The Attic with a forthcoming compilation, and Hawke’s here cover Willi Nelson for the occasion, actually, quite admirably.
Bitw - Pretender
Bitw is Welshman Gruff ab Arwel, another artist who likes light, airy modern psychedelia and does quite well with it. His forthcoming album should be a joy.
Karmelien - Digital Imogen
This duo tackles society's worrying obsession with filtering our own photos on social media here while keeping their tongues firmly behind their cheeks.
Chad VanGaalen - Earth People
From VanGaalen’s dual artist EP with Astral Swans, as he continues his left-field psych folk explorations without missing a beat so far.
Lily & Madleine - Nite Swim
This Indianapolis-based folk-pop duo Lily & Madeleine seem to have that artistic synergy that works so well when it is there, and this song just shows how good their album of the same name is.
King Dream - The Wild Card
By the sounds of this song and gentle vocals, you might not guess the deep social undercurrent lyrics Jeremy Lyon, aka King Dream, presents here. They suit each other so well.
Tex Crick - Silly Little Things
Crick is an Australian living in Tokyo, who seems to frequent those cool late-night Tokyo jazz clubs that have rubbed on his music here. Those Michael Franks albums might have done that too.
Mingjia - Saint
Mingjia is a vocalist, composer, and songwriter, and here she combines all of her skills into an elongated folk/modern classical combination that actually works as a single.
Marc Valentine - Jinx of Finchley Road
Exemplifying Brit-pop in its best light is not easy, but Valentine does an excellent job of it. No wonder he caught the attention of Little Steven who releases Valentine’s music.
Venera, HEALTH - Ochre
This duo (James Shaeffer & Chris Hunt) seem to like to create deep dark atmospheres with their music and are actually doing quite a good job here.
ON - Gator
This Toronto-NYC trio tries to cover quite a wide range of rock noises on their album. Here they seem to be in a bit of a lighter mood with flashes of power notwithstanding.
John Buffalo - Accidents
Buffalo was actually born Dufilho, and he likes his light electronics and drum machines but actually uses them without abusing them.
Divining Rod - Another Endless Night
Such a nice way to introduce your new EP if you are a fan of country rock/Americana, and these New Yorkers seem to wear those country shoes with ease.
Keyon Harrold - Find Your Peace
Harrold shows here that Smooth Jazz has no problem reaching the audiences when it combines genres, as he throws in some jazz, soul, and hip hop, all smooth as silk.
Mereki - End Of The World
You might not expect such sweet vocals behind such a dark, gloomy title, but this Australian/English artist’s voice and those strings behind just do it.
Charlie Burg - Before We Step Inside
Some excellent soul-tinged stuff from Burg, showing his Detroit background and love of Elvis Costello, a combination that can do wonders quite often.
Kitty Coen - everything’s a mess
Coen might live and work in Nashville, but she seems to prefer gentle, soft alt-pop to your standard country stuff, and it works quite well for her and the listeners too.
PAWS - Uncertain
It is left-field pop with an excellent melody, some subtle electronics, and a lot of guitars and vocal harmonies. What more can you ask from this duo whose forthcoming album promises to be a blast?