Groovelily

Groovelily is proof that the world can get along perfectly fine without the music industry. If the big record labels suddenly vanished, we would be left with astonishly talented bands like Groovelily, with it’s exceptional sounds. Groovelily is simply one of the finest independent bands in the United States.

If the music produced by the large record companies are like restaurants in a suburban strip mall, designed to appeal to the largest and lowest common tastes, then Groovelily is like an intimate, exquisite café you discover on a trip to Paris or Milan or in the backwoods of your own home town.

If you haven’t heard Groovelily, you are missing one of the most exciting bands to come along in the past decade. It’s hard to use one medium—words—to adequately describe another art form—music—but I will say that Groovelily mixes energetic progressive pop with jazz and dashes of rock.  Groovelily is fronted by Valerie Vogoda who sings lead vocals and plays the electric violin like you've never heard an electronic instrument --or the violin-- played before.  Visit the band at www.groovelily.com. 

The Velvet Janes

One of the things that's great about The Velvet Janes is that they have their own sound. Pushed into a corner, I might say that The Velvet Janes are a mix of the Cowboy Junkies, Katrina and the Waves, and the Indigo Girls. All The Velvet Janes' material is original (with the exception of one U2 song.) The Velvet Janes are the singing duo of Martine Locke and Rose Farrow. Kick your shoes off, lean back in your favorite chair, and prepare to have a fun time listening to The Velvet Janes. Some of their songs are high energy, rough and tumble, while others are sweet and melancholy. It's not that there's something for everybody on The Velvet Janes' CDs, it's that they are musically versatile and have a lot to say. There are songs of love: “I Will Follow,” on their Opus No. 3 CD is one of those. There are songs of family, such “Purple,” about Rose Farrow's mother, who was institutionalized, but shared her love of life even still, on the Opus No. 3 CD; songs about raising children -- “Zac's Song,” about the life and future of a nine-year-old boy. The Velvet Janes cover a lot of territory. The lyrics are sharp, insightful, clever, and sometimes pointed and sardonic. They say that the best writers write about what they know, and it clear from listening to The Velvet Janes' music that Martine Locke and Rose Farrow have lived a lot and have a lot to share. Take “Shame on Me,” from their Venus Calling CD. It starts with a soft pop sounds, then builds increasingly more complex and angry, as the regrets become more self-evident: “Shame on me for kissing you with my eyes closed so tight; shame on me for assuming I was the only one in your life…now the shame is on me.” The Velvet Janes are willing to be bold and to innovate with their music.  Visit www.velvetjanes.com.

October Project

October Project is possibly the best band of all time.  Brilliant, heart-felt lyrics that remind you of some of greatest poets in history, stunning vocals -- that's what October Project is.  Writing about a band like October Project is a difficult thing to do because you have to hear them to know what it is that make's October Project's music so undeniably incredible.  If you were to ask me, if I only could buy one CD among all the bands and musicians you've reviewed, what should I get, the answer would be:  October Project. 

Here a short excerpt from one of their songs, Ariel:

My name is Ariel and I want to be free
It is your sorrow that has made a slave of me
Forgive me, forgive me, but you are all I've known.
Forgive me for leaving...
I'm so afraid to leave, but more afraid to stay.

Visit them at www.octoberproject.net.

West of Eden

In a perfect world there would be incredible bands and musicians whom you never heard of before and whom you simply discovered one day and which brought joy to your life. West of Eden, www.westofeden.com is one such band. It's not just their outstanding lyrics that make this band so special; the sound of Jenny Schaub's voice is among the most beautiful out there. As one reviewer wrote, "Göteborgarna i West of Eden blandar pop med irländsk tradition...Musikaliskt hamnar de någonstans mittemellan the Corrs och Fleetwood Mac..." Which brings me to the other thing I want to mention about West of Eden -- they're a Swedish band that performs what's best described as nouvelle/progressive Celtic pop. They sing in English and if you hadn't known beforehand, you'd swear they were from Ireland or the UK. If you like October Project, Vienna Teng, Capercaillie, Eddi Reader, Dar Williams, Equation, or Dido (to name a few) then you'll like West of Eden. West of Eden's CDs can be hard to find in the US. Look for them here: www.tayberry.com.

Jade Redd

Evocative, sultry, lyrical, haunting and emotive. Those are the words that come to mind when I listen to Jade Redd's music. Simply wonderful. The band's website is www.jaderedd.com, and JadeRedd is more than worth the keystrokes that it takes to visit their site.  You can also sample Jade Redd's music at http://cdbaby.com/cd/jaderedd.   Some bands have the ability to make you feel like you're in another place as the lyrics and melodies simply overwhelm you:  Jade Redd is one of those bands.  My two favorite songs on their CD are "Into the Night," and "Rivers of Stone."  I have this philosophy about poetry.  A century ago everyone read poets. Today, not so much, except for what we have to read in school -- poets of a century ago.  Why are there no great contemporary poets, who write expressive and sometimes confounding works?  Because musicians are the new, great poets, only we don't call them that.  Not all musicians, of course -- and probably not the bands who are in the top 100.  But the indie musicians and bands, such as Jade Redd, had they lived a century or more ago -- well, we would be studying their poetry today. 

Jade Redd's debut CD, "Rivers of Stone" is now on my desert island list. If you put October Project together with Vienna Teng and add a dash of Capercaillie, you'd end up with Jade Reed: Thoughtful, evocative lyrics and a lush, lovely vocalist: Madalena. I ran out of stars while rating the songs on "Rivers of Stone." Madalena has her own sound, her own style, but if you like Mary Fahl, Marina Belica, Karen Matheson and Vienna Teng, then "Rivers of Stone" is a must. This is the CD to buy if you want to be transported into another place, another state of mind.

These reviews and more are moving to NowPublic