Definitions of synergy often say that it is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.
With the the Brisbane Australia band The Go-Betweens the parts, or the magic of Robert Forster and the late Grant McLennan were already more than great (as their solo output between the two incarnations of the band amply proves), their partnership within the band gave the true meaning to synergy.
It was a kind of partnership that can actually be compared to the Lennon/McCarney one, where each artist was driving the other to create their best.
Such quality is often really hard to achieve, and while The Beatles achieved the status they deserved, The Go-Betweens, brilliance of musical/lyrical creation, the staunchness of critical praise, and cult following and lasting impact were never matched with anything resembling something that could be called wider success.
While McLennan’s premature departure stopped the second incarnation of The Go-Betweens in its tracks, Forster is still out there, creating some truly sublime music.
Judd Greenstein - Still Point
It might be a bit strange to call a 12-minute avant-garde composition a single, but these days such excursions serve more as a show and tell (or play) for an upcoming project, as is the case with Judd Greenstein and his collaborators here, and the listeners tuned to modern classical music will surely go for it.
Equipment Pointed Ankh - Trucks to Gettysburg
Some krautrock-oriented stuff from this Louisville, Kentucky six-person collective, and with its high quality it could have actually come from anywhere where krautrock/prog rock is appreciated.
Green-House - A Host for All Kinds of Love
Another spaced-out excursion, this time from the duo of Olive Ardizoni and Michael Flanagan, with a big nod to spiritual jazz greats like Lonnie Liston Smith and some excellent results.
Drop Nineteens - Scapa Flow
Thirty years ago Drop Nineteens were pioneers of shoegaze in America, and now they are back with a new single and an album, and they seem not to have lost any of that quality touch they had three decades ago.
The Seshen - Hold Me
A six-person collective from The Bay Area, The Seshen like their pop with quite a bit of soul and R&B touches, the modern kind that is, and they seem to know exactly what they are doing here.
Keyon Harrold - Don’t Lie
Composer/trumpeter Keyon Harrold shows here that smooth jazz in no way has to sound like musical wallpaper, deserving both the smooth and jazz tags for some great songwriting and performance.
Riley Max - Blue
Riley Max is dubbed as a teen prodigy, and she just might be the latter, as she dares quote the title of a great Joni Mitchell song/album but going into another (jazzy) direction with excellent results.
Twisted Rose - Greed4Speed
The band name and song title just might be a giveaway to listeners who like their rock hard, (and a bit) on the heavy side. You have to be really good at it to make a good song and this quartet is.
dada Joazinho - Pai e Mae
MPB or Brazilian popular music these days combines the well-known Bazilian samba and bossa nova sounds with everything from reggae and dub to electro-pop and Joazinho uses all (or most) of those here to great effect.
CR and the Nones - The Ghosts Are Coming Home
Is there something that can be called Garden State guitar rock sound? Well, it seems there is, and CR and his Nones show how that sound should sound when it is done well.
PAWS - One Nation Under DOG
It is quite a courageous thing from this duo to quote one of George Clinton and his Funkadic’s greatest albums/songs and then go into a completely new direction - the one of The Chills and prime Flying Nun sound.
Fievel Is Glaque - I’m Scanning Things I Can’t See
Whatever the band name means doesn’t matter, but keyboardist Zach Phillips (US), singer Ma Clément (France via Belgium), and a revolving cast of others sure know their cool Steely Dan-related stuff and how to make it truly their own.
Black Market Karma w. Sonic Boom - The Sour Truth
Both Black Market Karma and Sonic Boom are excellent exponents of modern psych music and the combination of the two here brings on some (expected) great results.
Trevor Hall - don’t wanna be machine
Hall has already a solid name behind him, all due to his more than solid songwriting and some excellent singing. This one can only enhance his reputation as what a modern singer-songwriter should sound like.
Jenn Champion - Famous
Champion started out as a founding member of indie favorites Carissa’s Wierd and now shows that she can do more than well on her own with some sublime songwriting and arranging.
Melissa Ferrick - Black Dress
Ferrick likes her singer-songwriter stuff in a more rocking manner, quite a good reason to find her on Kill Rock Stars, one of the currently more adventurous indie labels.
Onipa - Fine Tho
Taken from Onipa’s latest album, the duo (Tom Excell, Kweku Sackey) easily show why afrobeat is currently considered as one of the hottest (listening and dancing) sounds around.
Erja Lyytinen - Crosstown Traffic (live)
Tackling on a Jimi Hendrix classic and live at that is a big task for even the most accomplished guitarists, but this Finnish guitar wizard makes it sound so easy.
Berkley - Your Place
This Portland guy makes songwriting sound so easy with some breezy and at the same time intricate songs like this one from his excellent ‘Pueblo’ album.
Sarah Mary Chadwick - Drinkin’ on a Tuesday
Another great signing for Kill Rock Stars is this New Zealand via Australia singer-songwriter who makes more complicated songwriting structures sound so easy.