Music Review: Husky, Ruckers Hill

By Melissa Bratcher

Australia’s Husky have made one of the best albums I’ve listened to this year. Ruckers Hill is transporting, moving, and packed with glorious, goosebump-inducing harmonies. Vocally, frontman Husky Gawenda bears more than a passing resemblance to Paul Simon, and as a result, many of the harmonies reach that Simon and Garfunkel sweet spot. There’s a retro feel to Ruckers Hill, but with modern sensibilities. The songcraft is as tight as the harmonies.

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Music Review: KaiL Baxley, A Light That Never Dies

By Melissa Bratcher

While KaiL Baxley has interesting autobiographical details about which a book could be written (Golden Gloves champion, as a child held dance offs with his neighbor James Brown), what is the most fascinating is his new album A Light That Never Dies. A follow up to his 2013 debut Heatstroke/The Wind And The War, his latest is a genre-bending masterpiece, an album with many layers, all shot through with Baxley’s fascinating voice. A Light That Never Dies just gets better on repeated listenings. It’s definitely a “headphones on” sort of record; there are rich nuances and instruments buried down in the mix, and Baxley’s voice is swoon-worthy.

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Music Review: Ella Squirrell, Loop EP

By Tyler Hodg

Soulful. Seductive. Satisfying. Sound appealing? If so, Ella Squirrell is the artist you’re looking for. In her first release, an EP titled Loop, Squirrell’s music embodies the aforementioned descriptions while feeling impressively progressive at the same time. There is a sense of folkiness in the tracks, most notably found in her lyrics, but the incorporated pop elements, like the polished production and vocal melodies, carry a heavier weight. When listening to it, Loop is over before you know it and does a successful job of convincing you that much more of it is exactly what you need.

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Blu-Ray Review: Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus

By Less Lee Moore

In 1972, African-American writer, director, and actor Bill Gunn was given free reign to make a film that would capitalize on the success of Blacula. The result was the bizarre yet beautiful Ganja & Hess, his rumination on addiction, religion, and African-American culture, which would thrill audiences at Cannes, only to be savaged by critics upon its eventual release. The producers re-edited and repackaged Ganja & Hess as Black Vampire and the film was mostly forgotten.

But Bill Gunn never forgot. In 1973 he wrote a scathing letter to the NY Times, which said, among other things, “Your newspapers and critics must realize that they are controlling black theater and film creativity with white criticism.” Sadly, Gunn died in 1989, after making only one more film, 1980’s Personal Problems.

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Music Review: Todd Grebe & Cold Country, Citizen

By Melissa Bratcher

Hailing from Alaska, Todd Grebe & Cold Country make good, old-fashioned country music. Their newest, Citizen, has the feeling of a classic, with witty lyrics, outstanding music, and Grebe’s unconventional voice. Produced by David Ferguson (known for working with Johnny Cash), Citizen has a crisp, brisk sound, in which every instrument sounds brilliant.

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Music Review: Doomsquad, Pageantry Suite EP

By Jeffery X Martin

“You review music! That must be a dream job,” everyone says to me, and that is how I know the person talking does not review music for a living. While I agree that reviewing music for a living is a sweet gig, and I do get to hear a lot of cool tunes before the general public does, there are times when it provides just as much frustration as any other job.

The latest Doomsquad release is one of those frustrations. Their last album, Kalaboogie, was a Tantric trip back to the cradle of civilization and beyond (review). That’s a pretty heavy description, but it was a great record, filled with thunder and mystery, giving us only hints about where the trio was going next.

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