Christopher McVicker, under the alias Swiftumz, has been an influential figure in San Francisco’s music scene for over a decade. Simply The Best marks a significant milestone in Christopher McVicker’s musical journey with Swiftumz. The album presents a rich array of sounds, weaving together intimate, vibey bedroom ballads with sparkling, idealized pop rock. Each track…
Tigers Blood is the latest album from the talented singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, known by her stage name Waxahatchee. Having begun her career over a decade ago, Crutchfield has garnered critical acclaim with six albums under her belt. Crutchfield’s path as an artist has seen her evolve from indie lo-fi folk to the lush alt-country we…
After over a decade and 4 full-length studio albums with Best Coast – her band with multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno – Bethany Cosentino has stepped away to create her solo debut, Natural Disaster. Given her previous ventures in power pop/alt rock with excursions into surf rock and country, her solo work here, supported by Nashville producer…
#10 Gus Englehorn Dungeon Master Secret City Records [2022] Montreal singer-songwriter Gus Englehorn’s sophomore record, Dungeon Master, may be one of the most unique listens TFN put its ear on this year. The album was written in a cabin but it sounds much bigger with its frequent rock out moments from Englehorn’s guitar mashing with his…
Nora O’Connor’s list of credits providing backing vocal support, both in the studio and on tour, is as long as her arm. She’s recorded and toured with Iron and Wine, The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, Robbie Fulks, and sang on Mavis Staples’ “You Are Not Alone” album produced by Jeff Tweedy. Knocked off the road during…
Singer/songwriter Natalie Mering performs under the moniker Weyes Blood, a name derived from her original stage name Wise Blood, taken from Flannery O’Connor’s debut novel. While her earliest works have been more experimental in nature, Mering has settled into a songwriting that recalls 70’s pop artists like Harry Nilsson and The Carpenters, her voice often…
When Beth Orton came on the scene in the mid-nineties with her mix of folk and electronica, aided by then boyfriend and producer William Orbit, it was her distinctive vocals and provocative poetic lyrics that made her music special. The British singer/songwriter went on to collaborate with the techno band The Chemical Brothers, made a…
This Is A Photograph is singer/songwriter Kevin Morby’s 7th album which once again is a record that captures his look at life with intelligent lyrics, complex arrangements and his calm as can be vocals. Since his gospel-folk delivery on the fantastic Singing Saw (2016), Morby has tweaked his style with each record that has followed…
While 2021 may have been a rough year due to the pandemic, it was a great year for new music. At year’s end we saw a flurry of new releases, and some, like this sophomore full-length release by Snail Mail, warrant our attention before we turn whole-heartedly toward what the new year has to offer….
If there are actually five stages of grief, Nashville singer/songwriter Madi Diaz may have stumbled on a few more levels of pain on her ANTI- Records debut, History of a Feeling, where she explores her sense of loss at the ending of a significant relationship. Diaz left the Berklee College of Music to self-release her…
