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Metro Staff on January 22, 2020
After reuniting in 2014, South Bay alt-rock veterans Strata are poised to release their first proper full-length of new material since 2007’s commercially successful Strata Presents the End of the World. So far, the band has only released a pair of teaser trailers on YouTube, featuring a clip of a new song and…
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Nick Veronin on January 22, 2020
While its shiftless younger cousins, rock and hip-hop, rely on the impulsive tendencies of youth, blues is a genre that rewards mastery. From B.B. to John Lee, the best bluesmen only improve with age. Case in point: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Elvin Bishop. His 1976 single “Fooled Around and…
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Metro Staff on January 22, 2020
DJ and producer Erick Orrosquieta, better known by his stage name Deorro, has been spinning up progressive house and trap bangers for well over a decade. Currently signed to Ultra, the recording and production company behind Florida’s annual EDM party, the Ultra Music Festival, he is in good company: He counts Steve…
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Bill Kopp on January 22, 2020
The name might be a trifle misleading: this Utah-based classical crossover group features a pianist (Jon Schmidt) but he’s just one-fourth of the lineup. The Piano Guys also include Steven Sharp Nelson on cello and two producers, Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek. Like Postmodern Jukebox (another act operating on the…
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Nick Veronin on January 22, 2020
Though their moniker was likely adopted with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Conrad Keely and Jason Reece—the core duo behind …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead—have secured a permanent seat in the indie rock pantheon. Their 2003 album, Source, Tags & Codes, was as sweeping and orchestral as…
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Anne Gelhaus on January 22, 2020
In all of its nightclub iterations over the last few decades, the space that is now The Ritz has always made room for the Reverend Horton Heat, and with good reason. Considered by many to be the godfather of modern rockabilly and psychobilly, the right reverend and his band have been heating…
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I saw you. That is, I saw the grainy cell phone camera video of you and your heroic deed. Every year, you and your pals are the butt of many mean jokes and derisive comments. I suppose it’s because you like to attach colorful, fluffy tails to the backside of your jeans…
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Wallace Baine on January 15, 2020
It’s hard to fathom, but the musicians who played alongside the legendary Bob Marley during his creative heyday in the 1970s are still upright and making music. The Wailers, circa 2020, continue to create their rastaman vibrations with bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett, guitarist Junior Marvin and guitarist Donald Kinsey—all of whom…
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by
Matei Predescu on January 15, 2020
This Los Angeles tribute band—made up of session musicians and veterans of the music industry—draws on its collective experience and deep love of Linkin Park to produce faithful re-creations of the SoCal rap-rock titans’ catalog. Formed in 2017 in the wake of Chester Bennington’s untimely death, In the End takes its responsibility…
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by
Matei Predescu on January 15, 2020
Melding indie rock and dream-pop influences, LA-based slowcore band Sprain pairs spacey, minimalist arrangements with emotionally compelling narratives. Their sonic subtlety reveals an understated and strikingly nuanced tonal palette, fluidly transitioning between moods and atmospheres with their use of unconventional compositional structure, harmonic color and instrumentation. Still pushing its 2018 self-titled debut,…
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