The Useless Critic 2.0

I'm happy today to be writing about one of my favorite male voices in indie music, Ramesh (Srivastava), formerly of the band Voxtrot. Austin-based Ramesh has been doing his own thing for a while now, which is amazing because the guy is incredibly talented! He's just released his first new solo music since 2014 - a bit of a hiatus, which makes his "comeback" (so to speak) all the more rewarding.  The sound of "Eternal Spring" (the name of his second album, to be released later this week on Cult Hero Records) as well as one of the singles off said album is uplifting, powerful, like a more pop-informed Sufjan Stevens. It's a departure from his work with Voxtrot, but a welcome departure and a maturation/evolution that's quite lovely to witness. The album's themes deal with Ramesh's self-exploration, particularly in regards to fame and his sexuality.  "Eternal Spring" drops March 11th. 

Here's a nice breezy, almost sensual song from AM Higgins (the solo project of musician Annie Toth) to start your Tuesday off right.  Her debut album "Hymning" will be out November 5th on Victorialand Records. The album was mixed by Casey Foubert, a frequent collaborator of Sufjan Stevens. The album "captures the first years of moving from an American city to rural France." Sounds like "Hymning" will be a welcome escape from the world we live in right now, especially considering that Annie Toth counts poets Mary Oliver and Thomas Merton as influences.

For starters, I'd like to introduce this by stating it's not going to be overly elaborate or ornate; I'm not even going to Google anything if I don't have to (!!!). I'm sure once I finish writing this up, I'll think of several bands/musicians I should have included, but I'm running out of time, so to paraphrase Allen Ginsberg: "First thought, best thought." Music From 2015 (or just about that) That I Enjoyed in 2015 I'll try to leave out Irina's picks. I'm not huge on redundancy, except on my social media updates. Big Grams   Big Boi + Phantogram = Surprising greatness! I was a bit skeptical when I heard about this collaboration, but it was more or less seamlessly executed. There are a few cringeworthy moments on their debut album - Sarah's rapping is endearing but awkward and Skrillex managed to pull off what sounds like an audio panic attack, but other than that, Big Grams should have been our summer soundtrack ... it ...

I accidentally stumbled upon Sufjan Stevens' lush new album, Carrie and Lowell , while actively seeking ways to ignore its existence. I loooooooooooved 2010's Age of Adz , but it's been about five years and he's not done much for me lately (to paraphrase Miss Jackson). I think what happened with Sufjan and me is that, frankly, he got much too big for me to keep up with. I am now going to sound very pretentious, but: For a group of people in the early-to-mid 2000s, Sufjan was very important and precious. I won't say "figurehead," but I doubt his popularity couldn't have helped usher in acts like Bon Iver and the like.  When he became more - well - ubiquitous in a manner of speaking, some of that value/novelty for me (and perhaps others, I don't know, I haven't asked anyone!) disappeared. And when became a little more outrageously experimental, I was intrigued at first. Then, I backed away, distracted by other musical going-ons of the t...

So, Mr. Stevens has a ton of Xmas music out. Like, if you weighed it. It would be a ton. But this is my personal favorite. I hope we hear more from Sufjan soon, just in general. He's so talented. Do you remember how big he was in the noughties? I do! Him and his scraped 50-state project. Lolz. Here's a bonus secular song to get you through today: And another personal favorite: Hey random girl covering Sufjan songs! You have a good day! XOXOXOXOX

Sufjan Stevens is both: a.) releasing another ( another !) massive Christmas album b.) touring Even though Christmas is two months away, this is enough to prepare you for it. Kind of... Wait, he's playing Tucson and not Phoenix? What is this crap? What is even in Tucson?

This is where I wrap up relatively "new" artists of the year and recommend them to you. what I discovered this year and what you might discover too! IT'S MUTUAL! LET US EXPLORE Chris Garneau Like Sufjan Stevens if his balls were eaten by bunny rabbits. Good Shoes Just a really fun Britpop band, think a la the Maccabees or even Arctic Monkeys or Art Brut. A lot of Britpop bands sound SO ALIKE OMG. Good Shoes stands out. Check out their last.fm for a free MP3. Adam's girl, Florence and the Machine She's a legend in the making. Truly talented. my personal favorite: SO EPIC Greg Laswell His voice is beautiful- what seperates him from the dozens of other unmemorable singer-songwriters out there at the moment- shit, his talent. his cover of Kristin Hersh's "Your Ghost" gives me shivers. He has a very slowcore thing about him, a la American Music Club. But I gotta keep my eye on him in the future. He's currently touring with, yes, Ingrid Michaelson. plu...

- there are apparently Trojans on this website? :( I feel bad about this. I am sorry. I don't know how this happened. but it's so- you know, anyone can do this. so maybe we got hacked? I'm sorry. I was alerted by my friend and I certainly don't want to harm anybody's computer. - Sufjan Stevens is in Cleveland September 24th. No Pittsburgh. stupid website. that's all for now.

The messiah himself, Sufjan Stevens (err), will be touring this fall. ! I don't know how I was oblivious of this until, like ten minutes ago. I mean, who doesn't like Sufjan Stevens? srsly? you can see all his upcoming tourdates HERE (and he's got some interesting places on that list!) http://allgoodnaysayers.net/events/ He will be in Cleveland on October 26th and in Pittsburgh November 4th. shitty timing Mr. Stevens! I can't see you! "Casimir Pulaski Day" Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens Uploaded by MartyMcBenji . - Watch more music videos, in HD! and he takes and he takes and he takes. I have that song memorized.

oh my god, I always avoid viral videos, because they seem like the most low-brow, pointless things ever. I mean, a baby crying? gag me. but this won me over immediately: seriously, I've been to so many shitty, boring weddings. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUN. Lady GaGa would have approved. p.s. New Sufjan Stevens (!!!) = AT LAST = October 20th = Brooklyn-Queens Expressway? wow, you weirdo.