FEATURE - Magic Sound Fabric

Exploring the sounds of electronica in its purest, and perhaps most pristine form, Magic Sound Fabric masterfully serves up the chilly and evocative evidence of those explorations on Observer.

Proclaiming: "There's no reality in duality" on the album's opener, "The World is An Illusion" is a prelude of what is to come. Intimations of science-fiction and sumptuous synth-laden grooves nurture the perfect parallel between existentialist allusions and the obstinate beat-head. "Heaven's Coming Down" is eerily beautiful and brilliantly organic amidst the album's well-established digital disposition. Guitar-laced "Only Love is Real" coalesce with fragments of head-nodding dub, while "Majesty" and "Beautiful," Observer's instrumental tracks, hold their own - polished and glaringly dynamic.

Turning futurism into an aural odyssey, Magic Sound Fabric eludes the club-thumping culture of electronica, and brings intelligent life back to the stereo.

Magic Sound Fabric's Myspace

Magic Sound Fabric's Website

FEATURE - The Tijuana Sun

With lush, gritty vocals, and uncomplicated, but always melodic guitar work, The Tijuana Sun sonically re-establish the fundamentals of rock. Although echoing the quintessential sound of their idols and influences, this Scottish trio is not to be intermingled with today's sycophants of legendary British musicians.

An omnipresence of the acoustic guitar lends itself to the overall rustic feel of the music. "Blinded By the Lights," however, transits into heavier territory with more pronounced guitars, while "Black and Blue" is a staggering exhibition of Mark Ferguson's aggressive and dynamic vocal abilities. Tambourine-laden "What's Goin' On" paints unexpected soul onto their veracious rock exterior, but never indulgently strays from their central sound.

Raw, vehement vocals juxtaposed against nothing more than the most elementary of instruments create a sound that is remarkably fractured and wonderfully abrasive. Clearly, The Tijuana Sun are primed to be emulated.


The Tijuana Sun's Myspace

FEATURE - if 'n

With a seemingly innate ability for channeling the glory days of alternative rock,
if 'n, hailing from South Jersey, has managed to shift the trajectory of the glossy and one-dimensional backdrop of today's music.

Dripping with a certain drawl, if 'n furtively blends a bit of blues into both lyrics and instrumentation. "Confused Muse" is laggard and sonorous, incorporating just the right amount of letdown into the story, while "Rerun," inheriting a more implicit bleakness, name-checks actor John Astin - a bizarre yet befitting acknowledgment.

In clearing away the cobwebs of complication, the music of if 'n remains simple and utterly accessible - two attributes very much alive in the bouncy, guitar driven "Shake."

Undoubtedly, in straying from the precise and the pretentious, if ‘n has given fans a reason to embrace a homegrown, no-frills approach to making quality music.

IF'N's Myspace