It Came From ReverbNation #12: Featuring Wooster, Pete Special, Maquina Mono (The Monkey Machine), Red Emery, Junior Toots, and Squeaker
From April 4th to June 4th The Ripple
Effect ran a campaign on the excellent online music website ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com). This campaign allowed any artist or band
registered with ReverbNation to submit their music to The Ripple Effect for
possible review on the site and airplay on The Ripple Effect radio shows. When all was said and done we had received
4,799 submissions! Incredible! The purpose of this column is to highlight
those artists and bands whose musical submissions I accepted as being worthy of
consideration. While these are not
reviews per se, I’m going to provide a brief rundown of what to expect from
each artist/band, a sample when available, and a link to check out more on
their corresponding ReverbNation page.
Wooster – All
right, all right. This five piece band
from Santa Cruz, CA caught my ear thanks to their slow simmering song
submission. The vocals are heavily
influenced by reggae, and they sound perfect against this musical
backdrop. Another song I listened to is
quite a bit faster and reminds me of a track by Maroon 5. Similar artists include The Black Keys,
Foster The People, and Mason Jennings.
If you’re looking for something mixing rock, reggae, funk, and blues
this is your band.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/wooster
Song Sample – Live In Sebastopol
Pete Special –
Okay waveriders. When I read that
someone played with Levon Helm and “The Band” you have my attention. This gentleman and his two musical cohorts
out of Chicago, IL play some mean blues with prominent strains of classic
R&B and Southern soul. The first
comparisons that jumped to mind vocally were Dr. John and Michael
McDonald. Very impressive!
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/petespecial
Song Sample – “Mississippi”
Maquina Mono (The
Monkey Machine) – Blasting out of New York, NY comes this seven member
Latin rock group. Their song submission
is bursting with signature Latin rhythms, an active horn section, and
exceedingly catchy vocals sung in Spanish.
“Music to listen to & dance all night” they say in their bio. I couldn’t agree more. Similar artists include Los Fabulosos
Cadillacs and Mana.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/maquinamono
Song Sample – “Dejame”
Red Emery –
Question. Who’s in the mood for a dirty,
sleazy, down-tempo Portishead/Garbage sounding song? Me too!
I listened to the incredibly refreshing submission sent in by this five
member band out of Montreal, Canada multiple times. Ultra groovy music, and the female vocals are
downright sinful. If you have any liking
for trip hop and groups like Massive Attack this band is for you.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/redemery
Song Sample – “Kept In A Cage (Sample)”
Junior Toots –
I’ve said it before waveriders. Reggae
is not a genre of music I can be considered knowledgeable about. I do know what I like however. Junior Toots, the son of Toots Hibbert of
Toots & The Maytals, fronts this five piece band out
of Berkeley, CA that takes the sonic blueprint of reggae and adds some ska,
roots rock, and dancehall elements to the mix.
It sounds fantastic! Hear for
yourselves!
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/juniortoots
Song Sample – “Puss & Dog”
Squeaker – Man,
if this is what all pop rock sounds like in Adelaide, Australia then I need to
hear more! Considering what I’m used to
this song submission would fall squarely into the heavy alternative rock
category. This female vocalist sounds
superb, and I really like the electronic/industrial elements throughout the
song. Reminds me of Nine Inch
Nails. Along with NIN other similar
artists listed on their bio page are Garbage, Pat Benetar, and Evanescence. Click on the link waveriders.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/squeaker
Song Sample – “You’re A Star”
--Penfold
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