Bob Fish

Avoiding the highways tends to slow one down. You can’t drive quite as fast, but you get a better view of the countryside. For Jason Simon, that’s the point. What you see along the way makes all the difference. A Venerable Wreck is the proof of that.

Bare nerves and raw emotions, backed by arrangements fueled with a combination of power and panache create the heart and danger at the soul of Paddy Dennehy’s music.

Camille Delean has seemingly found the balance point between solitude and loneliness, between desolation and despair and come out on the other side. She shares messages we can all learn.

Regardless of the season, the jubilant grooves of Rearrange Us provide a perfect way to swing into summer. The music sways with the breeze, shimmering and coming alive thanks Mt. Joy.

With reference points from Miles Davis to Nick Drake, Modern Nature reflects on a myriad of influences inspired and incorporated over the course of twenty-one minutes, distilled to the essence of Annual. Let the draught mingle with your senses and feel the pull of time.

Nothing really prepares you for David Grubb’s new album, Nano. While it is an instrumental commentary on the dark side of modern society, there are also moments of great beauty and potentially a message of hope.

The images Ben Kunder lays out on Searching For The Stranger establish a songwriter who is not afraid to expose himself. The raw emotion that he displays gives us a glimpse of what it is like to be alive in a word that swings wildly from one direction to the next.

Long after the scent of patchouli has faded, Ripley Johnson’s Rose City Band is still able to provide the soundtrack for both old and new generations of cosmic travellers. With Summerlong he has proved that even in the dark days there is always hope for rebirth close at hand.

On Stormweere, the new album from new Belgian band Spilar, they revel in their diversity sharing songs from their Flanders homeland alongside contemporary and self-written gems.

There’s a sense of subtlety and grace to The Weight Of The Sun that only comes from a band that is confident in their ability to find the power in the music…a psychological camaraderie binds the band together.

Taking the road less travelled doesn’t mask the pain, it just makes the journey more real. For Lesley Barth, the learning process has begun. And that makes all the difference in the world.

Danny and LG Green have concocted a heady brew that reflects their own journey. Spirit Glow is a salve for the soul, a gentle reassurance that love always seems to find a way. We just need to be open to the music.