MM - soul, psychedelic, and the creeps

Gin Wigmore – Holy Smoke (2009)

Maybe it is because my heart is still mourning the loss of Amy Winehouse, but Wigmore definitely reminds me of her. True, Winehouse was more blues while Wigmore leans heavily on rock, but the voices are eerily similar to me. Wigmore has that old sound in her voice, a twanging, sultry edge that I would probably sell a foot for. I’d be a peg-legged songstress and I’d make millions, I tell you. Her EP Man Like That is a bit more punk rock, while Holy Smoke has a wider range of sound that is all fun to sing along to. As a bonus, she’s from New Zealand, so her talking voice is just as wonderful to listen to as her singing voice.


Allah-Las – Allah-Las (2012)

One thing I’m very concerned with now is getting stuck in the past – especially when it comes to music. I know new music is often if not always inspired by older generations and fads, but I don’t want to only listen to the golden Oldies and completely ignore the new stuff either. For a long period of time, that’s what I did. Scorning my Warped Tour past, I listened only to classic rock my dad listened to as a kid. Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is I’ve finally discovered a band that is modern and is a beautiful mash up of British rock, California psychedelic rock, and garage grunge rock. Finding Allah-Las on Spotify was like coming home again after wading through the rough seas of crappy or confusing new music. Except it’s not the home I left but a cleaner, sharper home that is mostly the same but is set up with wi-fi. Allah-Las makes me want to put on my platform knee-high pleather boots and start doing the Monkey on a raised platform.


16 Horsepower – Folklore (2002)

Alternative country band. There’s a genre I never thought I’d listen to. Spotify calls 16 Horsepower a combination of “rural backwoods kitsch with edge, off-kilter country-rock”, which is accurate, if a little condescending. Folklore is a great album because it makes me feel uncomfortable, but in a good way. There is so much atmosphere wrapped into every drawn out guitar, every fiddle whine, every deep baritone growl. The music and the lyrics are what’d you hear walking through a barren forest at the edge between fall and winter – it sounds like the last thing you’d ever hear again. And sometimes I want to listen to things like that, okay? Their cover of “Sinnerman” gives me chills. Also, they are from Denver, which means they should be all the time so I can see them live, darn it.