Writing about music in lieu of human interaction
Photo by me On Saturday, January 28th, southern gothic act Bonnie and the Mere Mortals set up shop at Club Cafe on the South Side to record a stripped-down live album. At the start of the night, a doodle of a little guy in a cowboy hat greeted me--"Hey feller"--from its perch upon the urinal … Continue reading Bonnie and the Mere Mortals Live and Unplugged Album Recording Show
In advance of their upcoming album, Ride the Dark Trail, The Mixus Brothers recently released a sepia-toned single called "The Girl From Topeka." The track contains The Mixus Brothers' signature elements--rollicking strums, ramshackle vocal harmonies, toe-tapping percussion--but fleshes them out with strands of electric guitar (courtesy of one "EZ Mixus") that wink and glitter like … Continue reading Daily Yinz – The Mixus Brothers – The Girl From Topeka
As the culmination of a multi-year string of excellent singles, Lindsay Dragan released The Forests, The Mountains, The Desert At Night earlier this month. The album contains familiar tunes like "The Radiant Light," "Desert Palm," and "Everywhere," and complements them with several new ones. "Skin Deep," one of the previously unheard cuts, accomplishes a tricky … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Lindsay Dragan – Skin Deep
Ol Whitetail creates rickety folk tunes that bring to mind the untamed sweep of the Appalachian mountains. Ol Whitetail's self-titled album, released in February, sounds like the Kossoy Sisters by way of Emmylou Harris, fusing the former's spare strumming with the latter's powerfully twanging vocal delivery. "Little Creek," a mid-album standout, tumbles along atop fingerpicked … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Ol Whitetail – Little Creek
String Machine returns with Hallelujah Hell Yeah (Know Hope Records), a buoyant reimagining of the septet's rustic maximalism. Where String Machine's previous album, 2019's excellent Death of the Neon, ambled its way through chilly, late-autumn atmospheres, seeking a warm burrow in which to nestle, Hallelujah shakes itself awake after a winter of hibernation. Everything feels … Continue reading Daily Yinz – String Machine – Churn It Anew
Buffalo Rose's upcoming project, Rabbit, features contributions from legendary folk singer Tom Paxton. Rabbit's lead single, "Runaway," builds and releases tension through the use of simmering, palm-muted chords that explode into bursts of slide guitar and mandolin. The song is rhythmic, even without percussion, and the murmurs of assent that follow some particularly satisfying licks … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Buffalo Rose – Runaway
Kinetic are an ensemble, led by pianist Joe Sheehan, whose pieces weave together traditional Ghanaian folk songs and original chamber music. For Kinetic's most recent release, Dances of Lake Volta, Sheehan reworked a number of pieces from the group's 2018 album, Songs of Lake Volta, and then added several new ones for good measure. One … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Kinetic – Another Day
Bedroom pop oddball Sheridan Woika releases "Beehive (Strength)," his first track since last year's rabbits, in advance of his upcoming album, ARCANA CONTINUA. The single is a power ballad done Woika style; sure, it's got cascading piano chords, reverent horns, and dramatic shifts from soft to loud, but it's also got ramshackle drum fragments, chaotically … Continue reading Daily Yinz/Premiere – Sheridan Woika – Beehive (Strength)
Avant-popper Andrew Muse recently released a split single, the second half of which focuses on a little-known act of political protest. Early in the morning on April 14, 2018, a man named David Buckel set himself on fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Buckel was an influential LGBTQ+ rights lawyer--he had represented the estate of Brandon … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Andrew Muse -The Monk of Prospect Park
E.W. Harris is a futuristic folk artist from Akron, OH (not Pittsburgh I know, but the dude's got musical connections to the city, so we're counting it) who recently released a single called "Bad Ghost." The track uses a series of impressionistic, forbidding images to tell the story of a ghastly late-night murder and subsequent … Continue reading Daily Yinz – E.W. Harris – Bad Ghost
Bored In Pittsburgh 