Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#951 in the Series) is Big Country, Steeltown 30th Anniversary Edition The 80s were, without a doubt, a golden era for Scots pop/rock music.  A storm which began brewing deep in the punk and new wave sounds of the late 70’s suddenly gathered it’s forces and unleashed a Tsunami of talent which didn’t diminish for years. One of those talents was the wonderfully gifted Stuart Adamson, a young man who was a founding member of The Skids, a fantastic band from Fife which had great success between 1977 and 1982, became very influential , and which these days has attained semi-legendary status among fans of the Punk/New Wave era. Adamson actually left the band...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#949 in the Series) is Roxy Swain, Restless Hearts Restless Hearts, the second record from local Chicago favorites Roxy Swain, is about as perfectly crafted a set of songs as your ears will enjoy all year. With influences that seem to float from Fleetwood Mac to Emmy Lou Harris, with a hint of daisy-duke era Linda Ronstadt thrown in for good measure, Ms. Swain, the front-woman for the group, with her back of the barroom pipes, slight Americana warble, and abundance of Indie Rock-Chick swagger could be the love child of Chrissie Hynde and Lucinda Williams. There is definitely some palate cleansing retro fairy dust that is sprinkled throughout this highly addictive album...

  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 (#948 in the Series) is Billy Joe Shaver, Long in the Tooth On the Mount Rushmore of 70’s Highwayman Icons, a zip code that includes Willie Nelson,Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristoffersons, Billy Joe Shaver could very well be considered the fifth Beatle, the under the radar cowboy that jump-started the movement with Honky Tonk Heroes in 1973, and in the process put the outlaw in Outlaw Country, reshaped the image of Waylon Jennings, changed the landscape of Country music forever, and just might have laid the foundation for Roots Rock and the Americana movement that is in full force today. Having already used up most of his nine lives, he...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#947 in the series) is Tom Petty,  Hypnotic Eye Every couple of years, starting in 1976, Tom Petty demands our attention. With his debut, self-titled release, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, a game-changing blend of straight ahead Rock, Ramones style Punk, and Byrds harmonies, a new contender for the title of future King of American Rock and Roll was Born. Stretching their influences instead of imitating them, this was about as strong a coming out party as you could possibly find, and “American Girl,” the first actual full-length song that Petty ever wrote, created the blue print for the straight ahead sound, and the lyrical purity that has served them well over...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#942 in the Series) is Rival Sons, Great Western Valkrie Great Western Valkyrie, the latest and certainly the greatest album from Los Angeles rockers Rival Sons just might be the best pure Rock record since Guns ‘n’ Roses scorched the Sunset Strip earth with Appetite for Destruction in 1984.  No need to adjust your ears, you heard correctly. This album is that damned good, and then some. The slow burn to album perfection started for Rival Sons in 2011 with the release of the consistent but not overly dramatic Pressure and Time, a record that did not quite reach the unwashed masses in large numbers, but did get the band on the...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#939 in the series) is Monks of Mellonwah, Turn the People Sydney, Australia’s Monks of Mellonwah released their debut full-length Turn The People back in March and it’s certainly worth a listen. For all fans of Nine Inch Nails’ style of industrial rock, Satriani-esque guitar weavings and lyrical meditations on an existential theme, the Monks bring a late 90s vibe with 2014 relevance. At first listen, a trip through the album feels a bit like you’re caught up in a plot from the Fast and Furious franchise – you’re speeding through a European capital in the middle of the night, cars whizzing as you enter a tunnel riddled with strobe lights en route...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day ($#935 in the Series) is Ready Never,  Eleutherophobia Oh, the modern EDM craze. It isn’t my first choice to queue up when I’m making dinner, while I’m at work, or even when I’m driving and just want background music, but it has a special place in my life. For me, it’s when I’m clubbing after midnight in Nairobi, Kenya, not sure how or when I’m going to get back to the hotel to make the flight home to Kigali tomorrow. Or when I’m supervising a school dance and the kids are bouncing up and down with the lights and the beat and the waves of heat and sweat. It’s me being 17 and finding...

  Considering that we recently had  Coachella, record store day and Easter all occur, I thought I’d publish my review on The War on Drugs show from Phoenix’s Crescent Ballroom from a couple weeks back.  After all, these things all relate to the show in the fact that The War on Drugs are one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen (Coachella), their new album (Record Store Day) supported by this tour is incredible and this is the most psychedelic yet “traditional” band (Easter Holiday) that you’ll probably hear in your lifetime. If you’ve never listened to The War on Drugs they are a band that I cannot recommend highly enough. For starters, they will restore your belief...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#920 in the Series) is  Johnny Cash,  Out Among the Stars In the last years of his life, and currently with the multiple releases of the Rick Rubin produced American Recordings series of recordings, we have been treated to new music from Johnny Cash. The songs presented on these records were mostly scaled down un-plugged style versions of old classics along with deep in the vault songs from artists Cash admired. Every song in the series was a powerful reminder of the greatness of the past, and a sobering look into eyes and on to the soul of one of the greatest artists ever to walk the line. And now, courtesy of the...