Authors: Ryan Hall
Local Reviews: Sayde Price
Sayde Price’s debut album is something of a revelation. Price’s skeletal folk songs aren’t revelatory in the sense of ground breaking musically or topically, but rather in the way a voice and a guitar still sound impossibly intimate and personal after the genre has been done to death. … read more
Local Reviews: Trenton McKean
Ah, the lonely life of a session musician. You make an album like The Many Shades listenable, but you will never be mentioned beyond the liner notes. I am truly sorry. Along with the expert musicianship Trenton McKean has at his employ, The Many Shades has quite a few nice things going for it. … read more
Local Review: Drew Danburry – Geraniums
The first time I saw Drew Danburry play live was beside a fire at Kilby Court. I walked into the courtyard mid-song, half the audience turned and shot me dirty looks like I was interrupting something. And in a way I was: the amicable Danburry held court like it was his living room and we were friends who stopped by. … read more
Local Reviews: I Hear Sirens
E. H. Gombrich said, “To talk cleverly of art is not difficult, because the words critics use have been employed in so many different contexts that they have lost all precision.” So is writing a review about a post-rock record. … read more
Local Reviews: Striation
If Striation could learn the difference between brooding and moody, “Memories We’ll Keep” could have been a great radio single 10 years ago. I am not being sarcastic, “Memories We’ll Keep” has the loud-soft dynamic, reverby vocals, driving bass and simple power chords that dominated the ubiquitous, qualifier-driven alternative rock of the late nineties. … read more
Local Reviews: The .bLARE”
Every unpaid music critic dreams of writing a critical review of a band’s early release that prompts them to make prescribed changes and then go on to great glory. I know this is a mirage, but still …The .bLARE”, let’s chat. Like any first time director, you have a great first act, but have no clue how to follow that up. … read more
Local Reviews: The Lionelle
Musically, The Lionelle could easily exist as a simple vehicle for Tate Law’s strange but drop-dead affecting voice. Law’s vocals, if you haven’t heard them, sound like a mix between a collapsed-lung Tim Kasher and an emotionally attached Johnny Whitney. … read more
Local Reviews: La Farsa
La Farsa’s visual packaging, replete with feather boas, top hats, elbow-length gloves and evening gowns, when paired with their survey sample of twentieth-century musical styles that includes soul, blues, doo-wop and a strange type of Balkan-gypsy minstrel-show thing going on, speaks for a band born in the wrong century. … read more
Local Reviews: Beta Chicks
When did Cache County become Dance Rock Capitol, U.S.A? If skinny ties, keytars, and tight grooves that follow lock-step behind killer electronic production aren’t synonymous with Logan, UT, The Beta Chicks are on a mission to change that. … read more
Local Reviews: Big Sky Tribunal
Big Sky Tribunal, while often sounding like the unique vision of band leader Brian Oakley, is made up of a veritable who’s-who in established and up-and-coming SLC artists. … read more