Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1050 in the Series) is Digital Sex, Essence  Do you know this one? No you say? I somewhat expected that. No, not because the band wasn’t good enough or deserving enough because they indeed were. They were quite good but they were unfortunate to be another one of those talented acts that fell through the cracks. I don’t remember seeing them on MTV and that was the quickest and easiest way to get your name in front of people back in 1986. This was the indie rock of the time period. This was an Indie rock act back when you didn’t have the internet to help promote the little guy. It...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1018 in the Series) is Hellucination. Los Angeles based songwriter/ producer Betty Moon has been a familiar name in her native Toronto scene since the early 90s. Over the span of over two decades, Moon has released over nine studio albums and countless singles to keep her name top of mind. What’s unique with Moon is that without substantial touring she has managed to maintain a long term career which is credited to “finding other creative ways to spread the word including streaming music, local shows, licensing and selling physical product.” There’s no question her music is stellar and her brand is 110% individual, which we can see from just checking out some...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#1005 in the Series) is The Reconstructed Great North Wind.  When first approached by the CEO of Cool Album of The Day to write this review I was met with great trepidation. My exact words were “I’d feel foolish writing a record review for an album recorded by a good friend.” After some serious introspection while out mowing my lawn it occurred to me that people need to hear this album! So in the interest of transparency………….yes ….Martin England the lead vocalist and chief songwriter is a dear friend. The Reconstructeds’ latest effort is titled Great North Wind. Their home base is the Seacoast area of Maine/New Hampshire. It’s been several years...

  GROW MUSIC PROJECT is proud to present episode #06 of “GMP • The Session Diaries”, a new documentary web series about great emerging independent artists and bands that you might not know, but should. Ep.#06 features JUICE LUCAFO, hailing from Phoenix, AZ, (via Chicago, IL) Juice puts you straight away into the heart of the song, especially with a track like “All Tied Up.” There’s no filler with Juice – If she wants to say something, she says it – and with a vocal prowess that is as impressive as it is unique. She’s the complete artist – one that blows you away and remains stuck in your head after just one listen. This episode chronicles the creative...

  Today’s Cool ‘Album’ of the Day (#906 in the Series) is Ummagma “Rotation” b/w “Live and Let Die.”  To paraphrase the bio on their website, Ummagma is a Canadian-Ukranian duo comprised of Alexander Kretov and Shauna McLarnon. They deliver an eclectic yet harmonious kaleidoscope of dream pop, post-punk, ambient/ethereal, shoegaze and spacerock, creating sublime resonance, beats and rhythm to create other worldly soundscapes. Truthfully, it would be hard for me to describe them any more clearly than that. If you are a fan of shoegaze (Lush, My Bloody Valentine), dream pop (Air, Chvrches, The Cranberries), or space rock (Pink Floyd, The Verve) then in all likelihood this is a band you should give a listen to. More specifically,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#861 in the Series) Is The Zutons, Who Killed ….. The Zutons The Zutons may very well be the summation of rock music at the turn of the century. What I mean by that is if I had to pick one album that incorporates one of the most varied mix of styles and influences from rock history, it would be their debut Who Killed…… The Zutons. The alchemy of the sound includes psychedelia, punk, folk, and garage rock. There is the raw energy of the 60’s, the flamboyant coolness of the 70’s, the tight pop of the 80’s, and the grungy bite of the 90’s. All their influences are often so seamlessly blended...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Never Run Away” by Kurt Vile (Matador Records) Kurt Vile’s lo-fi bedroom records from the past have given way to a more produced sound on his latest record called Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze.  While some of the edges have been smoothed out production-wise, the songwriting is as sharp as ever on his most assured collection yet, as he comes to terms with balancing life on the road and raising a family at home. Vile is married and has two young children and more than on any of his previous albums, the overriding theme of homesickness pops up time and time again. Both “Pure Pain” – “well I want to be...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “From The Sun” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra Out of the murky haze of gauze- encased melodies and tranquilized, processed vocals arrives the second album from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, cleverly titled II. UMO is the brain child of Ruban Nielson, formally of the band Mint Chicks, who counts artists as diverse as Captain Beefheart and Sly Stone as major influences. Their muffled sound is an amalgam of neo-psychedelic acts like MGMT, Ween, Apples In Stereo and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, coming off like an updated Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. However, their totally unique angular melodies set this group apart from all the rest. It all began in June of 2010, when...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “That Look You Gave That Guy” by Eels Eels are capable of bone-chilling, howlin’-at-the-moon, terrifyin’ rock and roll, and when they are in that mode, they are at their very best. But Eels also have a tender side too, as exemplified by this superb ballad from the 2009 album Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs Of Desire. For those that don’t already know, Eels are the handiwork of one Mark Oliver Everett (aka “E”), and whomever he chooses to work with at any particular time. For Lobo, Everett’s co-conspirators were Koool G Murder on bass and Knuckles on drums. The album came after a four year layoff, and was the first (and...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Make It With You” by Bread To some, Bread’s brand of soft rock was nothing more than insipid drivel. To others they were purveyors of well-crafted, easy listening staples that provided some of the greatest guilty pleasures to be heard on AM radio during the early ‘70s. To me, their songs were minor annoyances that didn’t make me rush to change the station when they used to pop up on the radio, but now their heavenly brand of melody-driven soft rock provides a welcome dose of nostalgia for the wonder years every time I hear them. When they released their first eponymously titled album in 1969, the band consisted of...