Sweet, yet serious; sassy, but sincere. These are just two of the contrasts one can use to describe Valley Hush’s exceptional new EP Don’t Wait. The second record from producer Alex Kaye and vocalist Lianna Vanicelli — following last September’s To Feel Small — is a multidimensional offering that demonstrates the wide range of…
Jamaican Queens introduced us to their turbulent pop two years ago with the release of Wormfood. After garnering acclaim and winning over new fans on national and European tours, the band started working on a follow-up. The resulting album, Downers, is a drug cocktail equal parts elation and depression with heaving, fuzzy synth lines…
Late in January, Ypsilanti-based songwriter Fred Thomas – best known as the leader of the lo-fi indie pop group Saturday Looks Good to Me – released “Bad Blood.” Dirty laundry, the airing of grievances, a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves – in Fred Thomas’ hands these grand statements of self-reproach and repentance…
It has only been eight months since producer Alex Kaye and vocalist Lianna Vanicelli, operating as electro-pop duo Valley Hush, released their promising EP To Feel Small. Their most recent single, “Children,” off their upcoming EP Don’t Wait, shows the group have been busy since and indicates their excellence continues to grow. Vanicelli’s…
For his latest project, Detroit’s Illa J has been collaborating with Vancouver-based production duo Potatohead People on a self-titled album. Due out later this summer, he’s shared the first single from the LP, “Strippers.” From his work in the hip-hop groups Slum Village and Yancey Boys, it’s widely known that Illa J can…
Hometown hero Eminem has contributed a banging verse to Shady Records member Yelawolf’s new track “Best Friend.” The younger rapper opts for mellow crooning over an easygoing beat with a rootsy vibe that emphasizes his Southern origins. His heartfelt reflections gain some much needed edge when Marshall Mathers comes in with an unexpected…
Last year’s Under Color of Official Right introduced Protomartyr’s brand of searing, world-weary post-punk to a larger audience and earned the Detroit band a great deal of acclaim in the process. The group are now working with a new deal, one Kelley Deal of The Breeders, on a new track from a split-single titled…
Powerhouse experimental pop trio Jamaican Queens are back in Detroit after a stint on the road. Their tour hasn’t slowed them down a bit, as they have just shared the third advance track from their upcoming sophomore album Downers. “Love Is Impossible” starts relatively subdued, featuring a minimalist beat and the quaint strum…
He traces her shadow with his shoe… the swim instructor can’t quite pronounce his name so instead calls him “Subaru”… when he was three or four she left them behind at a video store: There is no lack of faithfully recalled memories on Sufjan Stevens’ seventh full-length Carrie & Lowell, but they can’t bring…
Madonna, over nearly three decades of Re-Invention, Blond Ambition, and Causing a Commotion, had proved untouchable when it came to pushing buttons – whether she targeted society, sexuality, or spirituality. Yet the past ten years saw her lose touch, in spite of her bids for relevance. It’s not completely her fault; after all,…