Hello, everyone, and welcome to my first ever Artist Spotlight! For every rockstar, there are countless other musicians who never got their dues. Singer-songwriters who never hit the big time, despite pouring their heart and soul into their work. Until recently, Rodriguez was one of these forgotten musicians (at least, in America he was). Despite only releasing two albums and writing only 25 songs (by his personal estimation), the man known as Rodriguez has given the world some incredible, life-changing music, and the story of how he came into sudden prominence is so hard to believe, you’d think it was … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Rodriguez

The only solid information available on the legendary Rosalino “Chalino” Sánchez is engraved into his tombstone: August 30, 1960 – May 16, 1992. However, given what little we know about the late singer’s life, someone may have to travel down to his resting place of El Rancho Los Vacitos in the small town of Las Tapias and chisel “citation needed” into the marble. Chalino, an undocumented migrant who spoke no English, was perhaps the most influential L.A. musician of his generation. But his past prior to becoming a recording artist is murky, unknown except for tales that differ from storyteller … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Chalino Sánchez

Artist Spotlight courtesy of Tyrone Judy Budnitz: Trying to describe Joanna Newsom to people is difficult. It’s a bit like the parable of the blind men trying to describe an elephant. You could start by saying she’s a harpist and singer. But when most people hear the word “harp” they immediately imagine classical music, or tinkling music-box stuff, and their eyebrows go up. You say: No, no, it’s sort of folk music, but sort of not, has a touch of Appalachia but really it’s a style all its own. That just makes people more skeptical. You tell people she’s got … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Joanna Newsom

Artist Spotlight courtesy of Tanagra Growing up, I liked my music like I like my coffee—dark, bitter, and steeped with angst. (Starbucks always seems to screw up the last part of my order.) I wanted my songwriters brooding. Uncombed hair hiding haunted faces, shoulders slouched over keyboards, vocals tinged with melancholy and regret. I was a g*ddamn drag to bring to karaoke. And then, thankfully, I found the music of Matthieu Chedid. Matthieu Chedid was born 12-21-1971 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. He is a talented multi-instrumentalist who began his musical career as a studio and backing musician for acts such as … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Matthieu Chedid

I would like to introduce you to my all-time favourite band, The Sound of Animals Fighting, a little-known supergroup comprised of members from bands of varying genres (hence the band name). An obscure progressive/experimental rock outfit with an ever-changing line-up and just three releases under their belt (five if one includes their live dvd and the remastered re-issue of their first release), The Sound of Animals Fighting may be an odd pick for one’s favourite band, though their unique approach to music completely changed the way I viewed the medium, and it is with the utmost of pleasure that I … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Sound of Animals Fighting

Hopefully a properly formatted spotlight on James from 1994 to now.o So, I left my James spotlight after the double whammy of Laid/Wah Wah. Which, when I realised it was more than 20 years ago, slightly horrified me. The band took a few hits after ’94. Guitarist Larry Gott left and they split with their manager Martine Mcdonagh (With whom the singer Tim Booth has a son) Tim Booth took a break to record an album with Angelo Badalamenti as ‘Booth and The Bad Angel’ For their next album, the band set up in drummer Dave Baynton-Powers house to record. Whiplash was … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: James 2 – The Re-Jamesening

Direct Hit! author’s note: I’m copy and pasting this from a Google doc on mobile so apologies in advance for any formatting errors So, I’m going to go a little smaller in scope for this Artist Spotlight, at least for the band part. Today I bring you another of my favorite Pop Punk bands, albeit one from today and from my home state: Direct Hit! (as much as I’m an exclamation point junkie, I promise it’s stylized as such). Direct Hit! hails from the great state of Wisconsin, specifically Milwaukee (which, really, if a band is going to be from … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Direct Hit!

Artist Spotlight courtesy of FireintheArcade I have a confession to make to you guys.I don’t have any incredibly special personal connection to Car Seat Headrest. I don’t have any deep emotional back story with how I first listened to them. A friend recommended them and he played a song for me. I wasn’t immediately enthralled by the lead singer, and for a long time, only member, Will Toledo’s voice. In fact Toledo himself goes to great lengths to hide it behind heavy levels of fuzz and distortion on the earliest albums. Even with all of this considered, Car Seat Headrest … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Car Seat Headrest

If you’ve never listened to a single second of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti before, I’d like your intro to be “Intro/Where Does the Mind Go?” Although I wouldn’t consider this track to even one of Ariel Pink’s Top 100 songs, it does contain several of the avant-garde pop raconteur’s signature elements: it’s a song of ambiguous genre that goes on a little too long, with several mood changes, meta commentary, absurd lyrics (“Cap’N Crunch left a steaming hot dump in my stereo yesterday”), and a hook so catchy it should be illegal. Ariel Pink (Rosenberg) was born the son of … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

It is 2003, and you have invited me into your living room. We’ve just walked to your house after school, and your pleasant nature has so far done nothing to allay my fears, my suspicions of you. I was a loner, an outcast at a new school, and on the first day, you took a shine to me. You were willing to push your tray next to mine in the lunchroom, and I was nervous (and hopeful) enough to not question this. But now, sitting alone in your beautiful home, I have become keenly aware that this is the first … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Imogen Heap

Sit down while I write a little on my personal musical constant, the Manchester band James. They were the first proper band that I became a fan of. My friend’s sister played Strip Mine all the time when it came out and my 11 year old ears immediately loved it. g”> I got the flower t shirt, grew my hair and decided that I was an ‘indie kid’. I bought Stutter and played it until the cassette wore out. They were weird and different form anything I’d heard before. I think on Stutterthey were different from anything else full stop. What is that album? Pop? … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: James

it is somewhat fitting that yesterday’s non-a7x spotlight of an American band by an Australian poster gets followed up by a spotlight on an Australian band by an American. While my last Artist Spotlight was about my current favorite artist, this one will be about my previous favorite band. It was in 2003 and I doing my semester abroad in Sydney Australia. A sort-of-friend said that this was her favorite band, but said that I probably would not like them. Still, instead of describing the band’s music, she lent me her copy of their recent CD. And she was sort of … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Augie March

Artist Spotlight courtesy of Ninjaneer Creating music is very much like the preparation of a meal: in the hands of an amateur the outcome could be a bland, tasteless mix that is offensive to the senses, but in the hands of an expert even the simplest of ingredients can be combined to create something that is satisfying yet causes a craving for more. Very few musicians are capable of or willing to create beyond pop confectionaries; something to hit the spot for the sweet tooth, but hardly filling. An artist that can put together a feast for the ears is … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Theresa Andersson – Or Cooking With The Kitchenettes

For most people my age, Nick Drake is pretty much known as “the guy who had a song in that one VW commercial”, but I grew up with his soulful, ethereal music and have always loved him. His music is all delicate, unique guitar (and sometimes cello) paired with a fragile voice singing songs that evoke nature, sorrow, and peace in equal measures. I won’t go in to his entire biography here, but I will sum it up as briefly as I can, interspersed with songs of his. Drake was born in 1948, and was encouraged to play music at … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: A Place To Be – Nick Drake Was the Best

So, let’s see how this goes. Bonnie Pink is a singer-songwriter who debuted back in 1995. She has released twelve proper albums and…a bunch of other stuff. She is not well known in the United States and I don’t even know how popular she is locally. I know a bit about her, but focus mostly on her music. I first found her in late 2010 and, while I initially did not feel that much one way or another about her work, she quickly became my favorite musical artist. A few months back, I made an attempt to articulate why I … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: Bonnie Pink