Evan Toth

Evan Toth  |  Sep 14, 2021  |  1 comments
The Enigmatic Foe’s new album The Original Plan (S/R) offers up contemporary rock and roll in the vein of Real Estate with other jangle pop influences, including distant echoes of primordial U2 with some mid-80s leanings via occasional electronic drums and synth-pop production. Tight, yet airy, the band creates a satisfactory wall of sound - mostly via the shimmering guitars of Josh Dooley (Map, Fine China) and Jared Colinger. Colinger - writer, guitarist and vocalist of the group - explains the topical nature of his tunes, “Sometimes we go to great lengths to be miserable and stay miserable. I once heard a story about a musician who purposely created strife with their spouse to have song fodder. I certainly thrive on creating songs out of misery. Anything else outside that topic seems a novelty.” Colinger, however, camouflages these sorrows with chipper, sparkly production and plenty of guitar chime. Frank Lenz’s (Headphones, Richard Swift) drumming provides a tight, propulsive groove to the whole affair.

Evan Toth  |  Jun 30, 2021  |  3 comments
Pikefruit - a duo (Alex and Nicole) from the Pacific Northwest that creates ethereal, electronic music - recently released a new album titled, Inflorescence. Iridescence? I know what that is. Fluorescent? I get that. Incandescent? Got it! But, inflorescence? I have to admit, even this English major was a bit stumped on that vocab word. Good old Webster’s was able to help out, of course: inflorescence is “the mode of development and arrangement of flowers on an axis” or “the budding and unfolding of blossoms.” As their first full-length reveals, Alex and Nicole are indeed blossoming.

Evan Toth  |  Apr 26, 2021  |  2 comments
Here's one you might have missed along the way: an authentic, late-70s, unsung heavy-hitter of rock and roll medley in the Memphis vein of Big Star and Ardent studios. What if I said that this musician was in fact a peer of Big Star and even briefly had his own group with Chris Bell and Jody Stephens? What if I could characterize the music as a hybrid of Big Star, Emmitt Rhodes and Todd Rundgren, yet also have its own unique sonic quality? Sound too good to be true? Keep reading, it gets even better.

Evan Toth  |  Feb 23, 2021  |  First Published: Feb 23, 2021  |  3 comments
(Review Explosion is a recurring AnalogPlanet feature covering recent releases for which we either don’t have sufficient time to fully explore, or that are not worthy of it. Curated by AnalogPlanet contributing editor Malachi Lui, Review Explosion focuses on the previous few months’ new releases.) This explosion curated by M.F.

Evan Toth  |  Jul 30, 2020  |  5 comments
This year, Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks’ 1994 project, Orange Crate Art, turns 25 years old. To celebrate, Omnivore Records has reissued and remastered the album and brought attention and care to a somewhat disremembered historical artifact created by two musical luminaries. Of note, Omnivore’s campaign is the first time this album has been released on vinyl.

Evan Toth  |  Jun 29, 2020  |  2 comments
Great music doesn’t exist, nor is it created in a vacuum. It evolves from years of being influenced by composers, performers, producers and genres. We don’t reward musically mediocre derivatives; rather, we celebrate musicians who manipulate their favorite influences to create a composite that results in something new and exciting— like Black Pumas’ music.

Evan Toth  |  Jun 03, 2020  |  11 comments
Jason Isbell might just be a genuine modern country legend in the making. After his early years (2001-2007) with the alternative country-rock band, Drive-By Truckers Isbell went solo, releasing several critically acclaimed albums: some under his own name and others with the support of his backing band, the 400 Unit. Isbell quit drugs and alcohol in 2012 and subsequently married his second wife: songwriter, backup singer and fiddle player, Amanda Shires. They had their first child in 2015. Most recently, Isbell worked with John Prine on his final album, The Tree of Forgiveness and following Prine's death in April of 2020 penned in The New York Times a moving and intimate opinion piece

X