The debut 9-track album from Oklahoma City quartet The Bottom of the Barrel is a rip-roarin’ time, and that’s no small feat for an acoustic record. Comprised of guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and upright bass, the sounds on Sober are noticeably light on percussion, with just the occasional snare, shaker, snap, or foot stomp to […]
Evan Jarvicks
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Smooth Local
Times are hard, and with the holidays forthcoming, they might get harder. These relaxing recordings may help. This is for You by Community Girlfriend and Lennon Bramlett (2021) Soft and experimental, This is for You combines electronics, strings, field recordings, and an ebb and flow of graceful vocals. The album drifts from moment to moment […]
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Soundcheck: Local Man Ruins Everything – Local Man Ruins Everything
The best Local Man Ruins Everything music video is the one painted by the mind’s eye. Certainly, a talented visual artist could do wonders with the instrumental fusion band’s euphoric sounds, but that would encroach on the purity of Local Man. Even with no words, the music speaks for itself. Comprised of some of the […]
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Who’s on First
Thomas Who? raps better than you. Is it a bold claim? Yes, but it doubles as an even bolder dare. As a rising cornerstone of Oklahoma City hip-hop’s next decade, Thomas Who? has plenty of mindbending, dexterous verses in his catalog to substantiate his place on the leaderboard. However, when he boasts his catchphrase — […]
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Soundcheck: Jacobi Ryan – IKIA
The latest release from Lawton hip-hop entrepreneur Jacobi Ryan is the opposite of its homonym. Not to be confused with IKEA, the Swedish brand known for its fickle furnishings and labyrinthine stores, IKIA is rich with focus and merit. As the title track explains, IKIA is an acronym for “I Know I Am,” which is […]
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Soundcheck: Neon Cathedral – Velvet
There’s something palpable within the shrouded layers of fuzzed-out guitar, delicate vocals, and hypnotic rhythms of Velvet. It lurks under the soft yet heavy sheets of reverb, vague in form but muscular in aura. The lyrics that share its air are mysterious enough to protect its identity from the wider world, but for those who […]
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Divine rhymes
UPDATE: Jay Electronica has canceled his September tour dates to aid in New Orleans hurricane relief efforts. Chris “The God MC” Cain will still be performing Sept. 25 at 89th Street, but admission is now free. If hip-hop is a religion, few practice it as devoutly as Chris “The God MC” Cain. It’s more than […]
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Unconventional ‘Cuts’
Here’s a riddle: What makes tracks but leaves no footprints? A music studio. Of course, in a figurative sense, studios and music labels do tend to leave footprints. Whether as subtle as an album’s liner note or as loud as a marketing campaign, those footprints often mark a direct path to a music company. For […]
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Digital Showcase
Where is the local music scene? Conventional knowledge finds it in the small coffee shops and dive bars of a city, but savvier minds find it on the internet. As social media has taken gig posters from record store windows to digital feeds over the years, the challenge to stay engaged with new bands in […]