by Steven Miller

There is a special feeling when a quartet listens as intently as Quartetto Noûs. Their new release, Ravel & Fauré: String Quartets, reflects these as they present two pillars of French chamber music. The eight pieces reveal them as a quartet that lets the music breathe through harmonic color, rhythmic interplay, and an ear for sonic balance.

Ravel’s 1903 String Quartet in F major is the youthful voice of a composer still in dialogue with Debussy and Fauré. Quartetto Noûs makes the music shimmer by leaning into the harmonic transparency of Ravel’s writing. The opening Allegro moderato floats, [...]

By Shannon Smith

From the opening drum roll, Castle Rat’s “Serpent” coils itself around the listener with the kind of vintage-metal authority that is hard to resist. Recorded under the steady hand of Randall Dunn and mixed by Jonathan Nuñez, the track bears all the marks of a band intent on situating itself within the heavy metal continuum while pushing its theatrical boundaries forward.

The Rat Queen (Riley Pinkerton) anchors the performance with a vocal delivery that channels the urgency of early NWOBHM and the gothic charisma of proto-doom. Her voice is commanding with a full-bodied timbre that is serrated at the edges. The vocals have [...]

by Steven Miller

Josh Lawrence’s Still We Dream, released on August 15, 2025, bridges the structural angularity of Thelonious Monk with the lyrical depth of Frédéric Chopin. The twelve songs bring these two composers together through careful arranging and inspired improvisation. The music finds the common thread of form, melody, and risk.

With Diego Rivera on saxophones, Art Hirahara on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass, Rudy Royston on drums, and Mason Bryant joining on guitar for two tracks, Lawrence has surrounded himself with musicians who understand the weight of history and the joy of invention.

The album makes its case [...]

by Shannon Smith

From the first song of Wildflower, Zandi Holup makes it clear she is here to bare her voice to tell stories in song. It’s a debut that feels like a set of songs that understands restraint is as powerful as release. Producer Ryan Hadlock frames her in warm sonic settings of Bear Creek Studios’ warm wood and Pacific Northwest stillness. The album’s mood leaving space for her to work her magic of instinct and craft. You hear her draw from the long tradition of country storytellers, a well of emotional honesty that makes vocal performances stay with you.

“All That’s Left Is Me” is the first seed in this garden, a medium-tempo [...]

by Shannon Smith

Reneé Rapp’s BITE ME is a sophomore album that realigns vocal charisma with production choices that finally match her natural intensity. Where 2023’s Snow Angel often paired Rapp’s voice with too much restraint, thin arrangements, and overly safe balladry, BITE ME brings her into a louder, rougher, and more stylized soundscape. This time, the production invites her to push, snarl, and smirk.

The album opens with “Leave Me Alone,” a genre-establishing track that frames the rest of the record: guitar-forward, percussive, and unafraid to let Rapp’s vocals sit hot in the mix. The fuzzed-out [...]

by Steven Miller

Catalyst: The Music of Gregg Hill is a striking testament to the adaptability of Hill’s compositions, illustrating how his works can be reinterpreted and transformed when placed in the hands of a visionary ensemble, resulting in a very enjoyable world music album. The album marks a departure from the straight-ahead jazz settings that Hill’s music has historically inhabited. Hill’s compositions have long been fixtures in jazz contexts. However, on Catalyst, the Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet, under the direction of bassist Dave Sharp and with arrangements from Elden Kelly, takes [...]