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If you have ever been through New Haven, Connecticut on the highway where 95 turns to 91, you have likely been by and seen Sports Haven, which had been active with this giant mural from 1995 to just last November. Now, as the business is gone, the city has decided that very soon the process of demolishing Sports Haven is set to begin. For all of the times that I've not only driven by Sports Haven…
When this song first begins, it has a wonderful ukulele sound to it which is hard to ignore. This comes into a full blown island sound that I really enjoy, which makes it feel like we're on some tropical vacation. At the same time that I feel like there is some Elvis in here, I also hear artists such as Raffi, which speaks a lot to how this is the type of sound that everyone should enjoy, whatever…
When this song first starts I am reminded artists who are on the radio in the rock genre but have this way of weaving in a pop sound as well. Bands like Cage the Elephant and The Strokes come to mind as this first hits, but as the song goes on it becomes more difficut to compare this with another artist because the chorus can feel like it is getting into this genre of pop punk even. "Gold" is…
"Honey Let's Go" begins with the sounds of banjos which makes me feel like we're somewhere between folk and Americana. The sound can come out like Neil Young, but as both Georgia Scarlett and Joel Spence take turns singing during the verses and chorus, I feel like this might also be better compared to something currently on the radio such as Of Monsters and Men. The way that the harmonies come out…
Music is a form of language in itself. As Lexi Valentine sings the lyrics to "Niña Feliz" in Spanish, the idea and emotion felt within the song can be expressed through the music itself. Though, to be completely fair I do recognize that the word "Niña" means "Girl" and "Feliz" means "Happy", mostly because of being able to recognize "Happy Holidays" in Spanish. So being able to piece together that…
As soon as "Too Hot to Behave" begins you hear this bass line and I immediately imagine that big, upright jazz bass that one would play for this exact type of song. Somewhere in a smoke-filled bar where the majority of the people were about to skip out on their tab comes Jade Monet singing on the stage in a way that might remind you of a real life Jessica Rabbit. The vocals are the focus of the…
If you're going to call your song "Poor Black Woman Blues" you better have a sound which is a good representation of the blues and Oh Pray Tell does just that. To me, other than the feelings of it, the blues is about something that can be universally felt so it should be universally experienced. In that sense, the way this song comes out is with some lighter strings, which sound like a ukulele or…
On the song "I Chose To Go", Nevaeh Dyson combines the sounds of country with pop to bring out what sounds like certain songs by Sabrina Carpenter. Paula Cole also comes to mind, as this just sounds lovely and has a way where it feels like a powerful ballad at the same time. This truly embarks upon the type of sound which you don't hear often enough, so there might not be a lot of influences to…
While "Gotta Go" begins with these great guitar sounds, the music takes diverse twists and turns throughout the song which reminds me of a very specific time in music. Back when The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish were bringing ska to the mainstream, bands like Rancid had songs influenced by the ska. This also lead to a lot of lesser known bands coming out with a ska-punk sound, such as…
When "Green and Blue" begins, you can hear these beautiful strings come in. A little bit country, a little bit like Fleetwood Mac, Blank Instrument brings on a sound which just feels pure and as the song goes on you can find the focus for this to also be full of pianos. This is one of those sounds that we might have heard in the 1990's, something along those lines of 10,000 Maniacs as an example,…
