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2016 is coming to an end - it's time to look at this year and its best music: 1. Emitt Rhodes - Rainbow Ends In 1973, after battling bad contracts and industry demands, Emitt Rhodes saw his last release, Farewell To Paradise . Emitt Rhodes never recorded another full-length LP. Until now. Rainbow E nds released by Omnivore Recordings - it is his first new album in 43 years. After connecting with producer Chris Price in 2013, Rhodes revived his home studio with help from Price and an all-star band, all of whom had been enamored of Rhodes’ work: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Jason Falkner (both solo artists, members of Jellyfish , and currently in Beck’s studio and touring band), indie producer and musician Fernando Perdomo , Rooney’s Taylor Locke and New Pornographers’ drummer Joe Seiders . They would cut the new record live in that space. More special guests appeared to make this momentous release even more special: Aimee Mann , Susanna Hoffs ...

The new song by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is my first highlight for 2017.

Marc Martel , known for his astonishing Freddie Mercury-esque vocals, takes a surprising approach on his new Christmas offering. Aptly named, The Silent Night EP , it serves as a refreshing addition to a chill evening get-together with family and friends. The EP sets a distinct singer-songwriter-meets-synth-pop feel, and is full of moments that would cause anyone to stop and listen. The title track is almost theatrical in its stark acappella intro, conjuring the image of Martel standing in some remote snow-blanketed forest, while singing the most familiar Christmas carol of all-time. Melancholy classics like "O Come Emmanuel" and "In The Bleak Midwinter" also stand out as emotional piano-driven ballads where Martel's refined instinct for preserving a song's fundamental core, while giving it his own artistic arrangement, shines. Grammy award winning guitar and banjo virtuoso, Ron Block (Alison Krauss & Union Station), brings his brand o...

Free At Last is the debut record of Josh Fix . It's his first - and only - full length record to date (also there is the "Steinway The Hard Way" EP from 2004 and the "This town is starting to make me angry" EP from 2009). Free At Last was recommended to me for years, but I was never ready to listen to it properly. Now I did: What I discovered was nothing less than the powerful, refreshing and playful record in years. If you're into Queen, Ben Folds, ELO, Jellyfish, Elton John or Bleu you should take a close listen! Start with: I thought about it first / Jethro / Free at last / Don't call me in the morning

"Shoot Doris Day" from "Rings Around The World" by the Super Furry Animals:

"Lost Stars" is one of the best songs of the recent years. It's such a shame there's no full record from Gregg Alexander or the New Radicals:

The Semantics - Powerbill Demos (1993) 01 Sticks and Stones 02 Future For You 03 Glasses and Braces 04 Johnny Come Lately 05 Coming Up Roses The Semantics - One More Step (Demos - by PopFair / 1993) 01 Heart Attack 02 Simple Thing 03 Vegas 04 Standing Still 05 Pamela 06 One More Step 07 Jerry Deacon 08 Lonely Girl 09 Gone 10 She's So Clean 11 Victim for Somebody 12 Baby It's You 13 This One's For Me 14 The Facts of Life 15 Hippy Woman 16 Wildflower 17 Maria 18 Merry Go Round 19 Avalon The Semantics - Powerbill (1993 recorded / 1996 released) 01 Sticks And Stones 02 Future For You 03 Coming Up Roses 04 Jenny Won't Play Fair 05 Average American 06 Don't Say Goodbye 07 The Sky Is Falling 08 Black And Blue 09 Johnny Come Lately 10 Life Goes On 11 Glasses And Braces Owsley - Owsley (Original Version / 1998) 01 The homecoming song 02 Coming up roses 03 Good old days 04 Uncle john's farm 05 Sentimental favourite 06 Oh no t...

Calling the World is the second studio album by Rooney . With three years of recording, about 50 songs in total and John Fields producing (!), the album was finally released in 2007. Robert Schwartzman (lead vocals, guitar), Taylor Locke (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ned Brower (drums, backing vocals), Matthew Winter (bass guitar) and Louie Stephens (keyboards, piano) present nothing less than their best record to date (in my humble opinion). You can easily discover many influences, like Queen or E.L.O. - and Powerpop all over the record. To sum it up: It's so good, it's in heavy rotation since weeks at my turntable. You might experience the same... P.S.: Though there was a new Rooney record out in 2016 (" Washed Away "), it's sadly not the same level as " Calling The World ". With " Washed Away " the only remaining member of the band is Robert Schwartzman.

Jon Brion released his first - and last - solo album " Meaningless " in 2001. Initially to be released on Lava Records, the album was finally sold independently by Brion on his own "Straight to Cut-Out" label through his website & CD Baby . The lyrics (e.g. "Ruin My Day" and "I Believe She's Lying") and the brilliance of the songs themselves are stunning. " Trouble " and " Walking Through Walls " are pop music at its best. This is a joy to listen to and I highly recommend it. Tracklist: 1. Gotta Start Somewhere 2. I Believe She's Lying 3. Meaningless 4. Ruin My Day 5. Walking Through Walls 6. Trouble 7. Hook, Line, And Sinker 8. Dead To The World 9. Her Ghost 10. The Same Mistakes 11. Voices Because this album was ridiculously overlooked, there is no preview on amazon as usual, but just listen (and as I suggest buy!) it on amazon.com .

After devoting the last few years to producing and mixing for various artists, composing for television-film-advertising and writing for publications such as Songwriter’s Market and Guitar World, Mark Bacino finally returns to his post as power pop, singer-songwriter with the release of a new single, “ Not That Guy ”. “ Not That Guy ” not only signals the musical return of the artist TimeOut NY once called “A trad-pop, wonderboy…,” but it also marks the first of several, single song releases Bacino has planned for the coming months.  Mark explains: “ Given my schedule as producer, composer, mixer and sometimes hack, music journalist, I’ve found myself a bit time challenged of late when it comes to recording music for myself as an artist. Rather than wait to amass an album’s worth of new material before sending it out to the world, I thought why not just release the new tunes as I finish them? ”  An up-tempo, piano-driven, pop rock ode to the trials of “frien...

David Brookings and the Average Lookings The new - self titled - record of David Brookings is out now! Listen to the full album below - it's absolutely worth it: Ken Sharp - New Mourning Ken Sharp is back with " New Mourning ". The album features various special guests including Rick Springfield who contributes lead guitar to two songs and background vocals on one track, Wally Stocker of The Babys and Prescott Niles of The Knack.

The Top Boost , Vancouver's psychedelic garage pop trio, have just released their debut EP " Turn Around ". Recorded and mixed in Vancouver and mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, the record is filled with astonishing good songs. To assemble The Top Boost , singer/songwriter Hunter Gogo searched for musicians who shared his love for catchy melodies and vocal harmonies informed by classic '60s groups like The Beatles, The Byrds and The Zombies. He found drummer Greg Johnston and guitarist Kirill Yurtsev and together they began to hone their craft, playing live to enthusiastic crowds at clubs around Vancouver. The band has been working hard writing and performing new material, and have already begun pre-production on a new record. Listen to the full EP here - I recommend to start with " Turn Around " and " What If She Loves You ":  One final note:  This may be the best debut record I listened to in 2016. I demand to have more ...

Do you remember The Feeling ? Ten years ago their debut "Twelve Stops And Home" was not just a quite successful album (No. 2 in the UK charts!) it was also REALLY good! Sadly their success declined with every following album (I also lost track with them). Now - 10 years later - The Feeling is back with the fifth - self-titled - album. A record I didn't expect to leave any impact on me. Boy I was wrong! Instruction Manual for the record "The Feeling": 1) Check your pulse.  2) Find a source to listen to the record in full (Spotify, Apple Music, Google Music ... or if you're as old as me: buy it on CD or Vinyl)! 3) Turn the volume UP (you know how far you can go, do you?)! Alternative: Headphones! 4) Use this track list: Feel Something // Wicked Heart // Spiralling // Real Deal // Repeat To Fade // Let It Be Gone // What's The Secret? // Sleep Tight 5) Check your pulse. Has it changed?

"Good Times! " is the twelfth studio album by the Monkees - and the band's 50th anniversary. Produced by Adam Schlesinger it bring together Micky Dolenz , Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork . The record consists of unreleased songs they wrote together with Neil Diamond, Carole King & Gerry Goffin, Harry Nilsson & Bobby Hart as well as new songs by Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge, Ben Gibbard, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller . The title track was written by Harry Nilsson . A demo was used to create a duet between Nilsson and Micky Dolenz. 

Travis are back! T heir latest full length record "Everything at Once" is their 8th record and the 20th year of the band (time flies!). It was produced by Michael Ilbert at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin . Travis never disappoints with their records. The opener " What Will Come " impressively shows the strength for lyrics & melody.   Fran Healy described "Magnificent Time" as the time of everyone's life where boys and girls become adults. A time where everything explodes and you say "Woo-ooh - wait a second, I can do all THAT now?" - a period you never ever get back and you should enjoy it as much as you can. The song itself is also magnificent, by the way. "Radio song" and "Animal" are dangerously catchy! And there is " Everything At Once ". I had the chance to see it live (it was the opener of the show). Play it LOUD . It rocks! Listen to the full album below! If you don...

About a month ago I asked via Facebook: Just a theoretical question: If there would be enough songs for a proper third record of Owsley, how many people would buy this record or would pay for a crowd funding? Within 24 hours more than 120 people (just at this Facebook group) answered "YES". They would have bought at least this record, many of them wanted give more money just to get this record out. Because of this, I thought a next step would be to start a poll and give you some samples of the songs that are already out in the world wide web (at various sources). These are the songs that are already there. I excluded some collaborations and live recordings. So this is the attempt for a first track list. There are even more songs in the archives. The biggest problem to get this record done are copyright questions and production costs. It could be helpful to estimate if financing of the record (e.g. by crowd funding) would work well or not. So please ans...

The Honeydogs are back. Four years after What Comes After comes ... Love & Cannibalism .  Adam Levy and his band recorded the album at The Pearl Studio in Minneapolis with producer John Fields (Semisonic, Rooney) . Love & Cannibalism will be out April 16, 2016. The album opens with a straight rocker : Vermillion Billows (Shouldn't Take It So Hard). Devices sums up classic Honeydogs sound with soul and jazz influences. Art & Vandalism goes into your ears and gets stuck in your brain (careful!) - it's such an ear-worm. Wheels has a classic (maybe 1970s) touch - the ending is magnificent. Gorgeous harmonies accompany Left Alone . Yet another bad-ass ear-worm.  And then comes Sandstorm : My gosh - this is such a strong song. By the way: the intro reminds me of Bleu's Redhead. Again a hard rocking track: Blue-Backed Speller . The guitar work is stunning, reminds me sometimes of Brian May's Queen sound.  Look Through The Sun (Photokeratits) , ...