Chicago hip-hop has become synonymous with Kanye and Common, but there is a different side to the Windy City story.  Enter David Cohn, a.k.a. Serengeti.  On his first solo release Family & Friends, Geti runs the gamut of emotions, but spends most of his time on the darker side of the tale.

Minimal beats and straight-forward rhymes, Family & Friends is hip hop without all of it’s current effects.  Forget the bling and the entourage, this is Geti stripped and on point.  Whether he’s rhyming through a blues riff or a plucked violin he never loses sight as to why he’s here – to tell the story the way it went down.

While Serengeti and former partner Polyphonic have currently parted ways, he has brought a few new friends along for this ride.  Yoni Wolf from the group Why? and Owen Ashworth have delivered the beats on Friends & Family while members of the Australian group Otouto have given vocal support.

When the time comes for all true hip-hop heads to be counted, Serengeti will be standing at the front of the line.

TAGS: Reviews, Music Reviews

As a product of the 80’s, I often lose interest when I hear the rehashing of sounds from yesteryear.  And at first listen, you may think that’s what Portland’s Soft Metals are getting at.  But listen harder.  On their debut release, this moody duo goes deep.  Deep in to the sounds that inspired the new wave and industrial scenes, but with a uniquely modern twist.

With a “strange nostalgia for places not yet visited,” Soft Metals have crafted synth-driven love songs and soundscapes for the Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch set.  Reveling in the “transformative power of love, knowledge and imagination,” Ian Hicks and Patricia Hall have created a ten-track ode to a time when music really was being explored and reinvented.

Inspired by the sounds of Laurie Anderson, Patrick Cowley and Devo to name a few, Soft Metals are destined to re-imagine the electronic music scene one byte at a time.  So bust out your 808’s and your Casio’s because it’s time to get real again!

TAGS: Reviews, Music Reviews

“Simple.  Sparse.  Immediate.  Fucked Up.  But honest.” No, I’m not describing former girlfriends.  These are the words used to explain the sounds of the dynamic duo of Alex Knost and Christina Keyes, also known as Tomorrow’s Tulips.

With their first full-length release Eternally Teenage, this boyfriend and girlfriend combination nostalgically winds their way through lo-fi fuzz, loose-string garage guitars and a three-piece drum set without missing a beat.  Never contrived and rarely in tune, Tomorrow’s Tulips will have you smitten from the very first blast of feedback.

Produced by Matt Mchugh of The Black Lips and Vivian Girls fame, Eternally Teenage is 32 minutes of heart-on-the-sleeve, naked and unashamed indie pop music.

TAGS: Reviews, Music Reviews