The Looking Glass: Trust’s "Joyland"

The recent release of Joyland marks a certain revival of Robert Alfons‰’s creative project Trust; in Joyland we are thrust into a movement forward, an unfolding from an establishing parameter ‰ÛÒ one sketched out in his first album TRST ‰ÛÒ to a joyful and...

Cake: Tracy Chapman

March 30 2014 was all American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman‰’s 50th birthday. Tracy Chapman‰’s bold voice is known to be one of the most gender-ambiguously beautiful voices the industry has ever encountered. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, she...

The Tough Crowd: Girl Power

This weekly column of mine hasn‰’t been very tough. I promise to increase my coverage of heavy music for the next few weeks starting now. I love anything angry and loud and borderline scary, especially if you can describe it as tough, hence the name. Growing up...

Rainy Day Music #7: High Violet

Last week, I featured an album (Is This It by the Strokes) that was a great antidote for rain, a listen so enjoyable that it could banish the blues from any gray day. This week‰’s pick is the opposite, an album for wallowing in those puddles. Thanks to Music...

Shaken Not Stirred: Three Songs to Know by Sam Smith

As the popularity of British soul continues to rise the music charts, as seen by the success of artists like Adele, Amy Winehouse, and electro-soul singer James Blake, a new wave of artists with the same classic, yet individually unique style seems to be taking over...