“I’m Not Sure At All” Bringing to mind a low-fi Kate Bush mixed with Cat Power and Beth Orton, the Kent-born Marlody is a revelation. Her debut album I’m Not Sure At All is a rich and lustrous affair, filled with confident songwriting about feeling...
“Tender Years” The Brisbane-born Robert Forster is perhaps best known as a founding member of the legendary band The Go-Betweens. How legendary are they? Well, let’s just say this: There’s a bridge in Brisbane called The Go-Between Bridge. I was...
“The Last Mile” The Scottish-born Chris Connelly got his start with the electronic outfit Finitribe. Championed by John Peel, the inventive band did a long and harrowing UK in ’88 and so arduous that tour was, it led to the shedding of three...
“Direction Of The Heart” Whether you’re good at math or not, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Simple Minds have sold 60 million records. After all, the Scottish band have been around since 1977 and since then, have put out an...
“I Hate Memory” Born in Budapest, Eszter Balint relocated to the United States and as a ten year old and found herself in New York living with the avant-garde Squat Theatre troupe, which was founded by her dad. Being surrounded by artists was no new...
“Desert Flowers” The New Mexico-born Heather Trost is one half of the American Balkan Folk Band A Hawk And A Hacksaw, the other half being her husband, the accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who, by the way, also hails from New Mexico. Over the course of...
“Analog Holiday” Arielle is one of those rare talents that comes along where you look at what she’s capable of and it kind of knocks you out. A guitar virtuoso who also is blessed with a four-octave voice, Arielle has played on stage with everyone...
“Cuando” Adam Topol doesn’t sit behind a kit the size of Alex Van Halen’s or Chad Smith’s, but he’s equally as mighty. Topol is like Charlie Watts in the sense that he just kind of sits in the pocket and holds it all down. Like Watts, his style...
“Year Of The Tiger” Art Alexakis is one of the most dynamic frontmen in rock and roll. The L.A.-born musician’s songs have power and sting and he plays them with equal parts muscle and heart. To date, his band Everclear, which got started in ’91...
“Strip” The daughter of the late critically-acclaimed poet Robert Sward, Hannah Sward grew up surrounded by literature. Her unconventional childhood of the 70s found her moving around with her dad and eating tofu and brown rice and having gurus...