THE MOST RECENT
HIGHLIGHTED POST
Despite all the despair, hopelessness, fear, anxiety, death, destruction, and uncertainty that 2020 has thrown at us, we have all taken solace in our music and found hope through it. We are carried through the pain with messages of inspiration, songs of motivation, and songs that just plain electrified our souls.… Continued →
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Best of 2020: Rob Jensen
I was going to write a little intro to this list of mine, but in the end I figured I’d just let it speak for itself. Alot of great music dropped despite all the year brought us and these are my top 20. Let me know what you think!
20.… Continued →
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Best of 2020: Noah Hardwick (Part I)
I wasn’t really sure how I was going to do my “best of” list this year. I was considering breaking it down into genres similar to what Casey did. Or splitting my albums and EPs into two lists. Or just doing my top 10 list like I normally do. In the end though I decided to take a page out of Josh Balogh’s playbook and go big.… Continued →
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Best of 2020: Marco L.
"O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." -Psalm 95:1
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Best of 2020 - Casey G.
Here are my favorite releases of the year by category.
January 17, 2021
REVIEW : Chase Tremaine - Development and Compromise
Chase Tremaine’s Unfall made mild waves in the independent community in 2020, garnering his upwards of 4,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. That might seem like an insignificant statistic, but I’d willingly admit I listen to bands who’ve been at it for years with less visibility. Something definitely clicked with listeners here.… Continued →
January 16, 2021
New Releases: January 15, 2021
Rock & Metal
- Amongst Wolves – Voices
- Ben S Dixon – Born Unto Us
- Chase Tremaine – Developments
- Demon Hunter – Demon Hunter – I Will Fail You / Dead Flowers (Resurrected)
- Fire from Heaven – The Evil Wolf Chronicles
- Five Iron Frenzy – Until This Shakes Apart
- Heliocentric – Ishmael
- Seventh Day Slumber – Unseen: The Lion And The Lamb (Deluxe Edition)
- Valleyheart – T.I.K.
Song of the Day: The Beautiful Mistake - On Building
California’s The Beautiful Mistake is one of my faves from The Militia Group label which sports greats such as The Rocket Summer (whom I’ve seen live!), Copeland, Brandtson (whom I’ve also seen live!) & Acceptance, just to name a few. Their most recent 2020 release, EP You’re Not Broken, I Am, continued the post hardcore/emo trend they became known for.… Continued →
January 15, 2021
Song of the Day: The Virgin Birth - Empires of Excrement
Remember when hardcore was still exciting? Fast loud rules! While hardcore can still be interesting, I find the monotony of some in the genre to be irritating. Here’s the formula: melodic leads, heavy use of breakdowns, some clean singing somewhere, and just enough tempo changes to give the appearance of being innovative.… Continued →
January 13, 2021
Song of the Day: Massivivid - Forgiven
Ever heard of Deitiphobia? Massivivid is what became of Wally Shaw’s (founder of Deitiphobia) musical endeavours. Likened to Nine Inch Nails, the music is more guitar driven than his previous. I remember hearing Wally’s music back in the mid 90s & loved the song Red Society when industrial was at its peak in the mainstream.… Continued →
January 12, 2021
REVIEW : Kendra Blethen - Pilgrimage
Kendra Blethen is one of a host of singer-songwriters I found this past year, and it seems like North Carolina is churning out artist after artist. Blethen brandishes a unique blend of southern grit and spiritual ruminations across Pilgrimage, her debut EP. The core concept came to her during a drive to what I can only assume might be Audiofeed – a reminder that the voyage matters as much as the destination.… Continued →
Too Bad Eugene Returns
One of my favorite 00’s pop-punk/melodic punk acts – Too Bad Eugene, returns this year with new music. While we await such a magnificent return by Adam Nigh and company, the band has just put up the now classic year 2000 full length, “At Any Rate”, for download and streaming on all digital networks.… Continued →
Pantokrator - We The People (Official Music Video)
Swedish Death Metal band, Pantokrator, are back with a brand new song titled “We The People” off the album “Marching Out of Babylon” due out January 29th via Nordic Mission. Pre-Order the album in several different formats including CD, Vinyl, and Tape, right here. This is quality stuff my friends and showcases a band that straddles the line between the brutally heavy and melodic.… Continued →
Song of the Day: Mortification - Standing at the Door of Death
So this review is partially due to a music review veteran Kevin Crothers’ latest top 10 video for Mortification on his YouTube channel in lieu of his White Throne Metal Radio show. I myself, have been a die-hard Morty fan since probably circa 1996 when a friend of mine in high school gave me ripped copies of Circle of Dust S/T, Mortification-Best of 5 Years & Sixpence’s This Beautiful Mess.… Continued →
January 11, 2021
Song of the Day: Danen Kane - When Our Time Here Is Over
Danen Kane is one of a handful of local Wisconsin artists I care about, and in terms of local faith-based artists, he’s top-tier. He models humility and humor. He write complex songs that don’t mask his faith one bit.
Today’s song is one of his best, quickly demolishing the singer-songwriter label and quickly moving into anthemic indie.… Continued →
January 9, 2021
New Releases: January 8, 2021
Rock & Metal
- 4th Point – Right Wrong
- Chase Tremaine – Q2FN
- Fallstar – The Prism Glass
- Light45 – The Medic
- Love and Death – White Flag
- Pantokrator – We the People
- Reclaimers – Say What You Will
- Amanda Danziger – Intercede
- Andrew Ripp – Jericho (Acoustic)
- Chris Renzema – Let The Ground Rest B-Sides (EP)
- The Colour Negative – Good Year
- Cristabelle Braden – Growing (Pop Version)
- Danny Gokey – New Day (Radio Version)
- Eleni Baker – More Than a Million (EP)
- Ginny Owens – Shine Again (Stripped Mix)
- Jared Marc – What I’m Good At
- Joel Vaughn – Louder Than The Lies
- Josh Sellers – The Way It Seems
- Petey Martin, Lauren Daigle – Come Back Home
- Philip Shibata – Sad World
- Nathan Kitner, Lily Grant – I’d Follow You Anywhere
- Scott Riggan – Don’t You Lose Heart (Beautiful and Terrible)
- Trampolines – No One Loves Like You
- Twilight Meadow – Dust
- We The Kingdom – Holy Water (Deluxe)
REVIEW : Several Other Ghosts - Ghost Stations
From the opening notes of “Just Breathe” all the way to its creaky end, this track seems to live up to the “ghostly” vibe of this Washington-based act. Rest assured, this band is neither post-rock nor needlessly-morose. Ghost Stations is instead more coffee shop than haunted house. It shimmers with a certain tender warmth, though vulnerability is around every corner.… Continued →
Song of the Day: With Open Eyes - Winds Of Change
I dig most “core” music genres, & there are tons of them (metalcore, screamo, nintendocore, etc…). One of my faves is electronicore which fuses unclean (growled or screamed vocals) with clean & double bass pedals & a lone keyboardist (which this song has the perfect mix of imho. Formed in Rock Hill, SC, at a pentecostal church, WOE i one of my friends son’s band.… Continued →
January 8, 2021
Song of the Day: Rage of Angels - Don't Give Up
Glam metal gets a bad rap. Especially in punk/indie/hardcore circles. Except for the occasional semi-ironic nod to the genre, it doesn’t get much love outside of 40- and 50-something dads who like to show off old photos of their teenage mullets. Whether the cheesyness or the sleaziness is to blame, folks seem to have a love-hate relationship with it.… Continued →
January 6, 2021
Song of the Day: Miss Angie - Lift My Eyes
Angie Turner is the given name for soloist Miss Angie who has been releasing music since 1997. She was married to Oran from Johnny Q Public (whom I saw back in probably circa in their hometown of Springfield, MO). 2 LPs were released in the 90s that went to the Christian market.… Continued →
January 5, 2021
January 4, 2021
The August Guns - Be Not Burned Up (New Song)
Indie-Emo-Punk band, The August Guns, return with their best song yet. This too has just been released in the new year. I think many of you are going to dig this. Check out the song below and follow the band here.
… Continued →
At The Wayside - My Denial (New Song)
At The Wayside return after a long 3 year wait with BRAND NEW MUSIC! That’s right, the band just dropped their new single titled “My Denial” which will be the first song released from their upcoming independent EP that is due out this winter. Check out the song below and make sure to follow the band on social media.… Continued →
Song of the Day: Jaded Thorns - 130
Jaded Thorns were a grunge band that hailed from New York . Releasing 2 LPs & disbanding, this was a band that I wished for more of. It is hard to find much on them as their record label did not last long. Both Epiphany & Things My Father Taught Me were on Word of Mouth (The Roosevelts, Sides of the North, Mending Point, Poor Man’s Riches).… Continued →
January 3, 2021
New Releases: January 1, 2021
Rock & Metal
- Arson – In too deep
- At The Wayside – My Denial
- Atlas and the Attic – Gold
- The August Guns – Be Not Burned Up
- Convent Bonfires – Shaky Hands
- Remedy Drive – Dragons
- WeAreGeneration – Photographic Memory
- Zahna – Look What You Made Me Do
- Allan Scott – Hold It All
- Anna Waters – Walkin on the Water
- Apollo LTD, Social Club Misfits – Good Day (feat.
New Releases: December 25, 2020
Rock & Metal
- A Secret Ending – Deliverance (EP)
- Evans and Stokes – Diary of the Damned
- Killdevil Theory – Brotherhood
- Charlie Peacock – Faith, Hope & Love
- Charlie Peacock – Freedom Come Tonight
- hadassa morais – homesick for somewhere i’ve never been
- CS LIT – Deleted 4
- Davis Absolute, Oh-So – Still Snowing
- Living Scars – O Holy Night
- Mouthpi3ce – No Delay (EP)
- Mr Del – MD 2020: Soulside
- Paradox, ReFlex the Architect – Freedom (EP)
- Saint Jones – I’d Rather Be Hot (EP)
- Tylynn – Sown
- Uknowfro – Street Preacher 3
- Iwan & Rebekka Sahertian – Your Kingdom come
- Poor Bishop Hooper – Psalm 53
- Ramp Worship – I See an Open Door
- Relion – Gospel (Our God Be Praised)
- Theunis Pretorius – Only One Thing
- Charlie Peacock – See for Miles
- Charlie Peacock – Surprised Me Too
- Charlie Peacock – Your Stardust Kiss
- C3 NYC – A Christmas Story (Live) (EP)
- The Crossing Music – Light in the Night
- DaySpring Worship – Our Emmanuel
- Emmanuel Worship – Angels
- Former Ruins – Fruit of Winter (EP)
- Hope Music – O Holy Night
- I.AM
Best of 2020: Noah Hardwick (Part IV)
Creating a list of my top 100 albums and EPs has been fun and all, but it’s really these last 25 that are my personal favorites of 2020. They’re the ones that I’ve listened to the most and the ones I think I will keep coming back to in 2021. So here it is, my top 25 albums and EPs of 2020:
… Continued →
January 2, 2021
Vanessa From Maine - I Still Have Faith (Ex-One Star Story)
Going way back into the vaults of IVM history a few of you might recall a female led indie pop-rock band called One Star Story. They had news and reviews on this site as well as appeared on multiple compilations. I just got a blast from the past when Vanessa (Rose) emailed me about her new project after more than 6 years away from making music.… Continued →
Song of the Day: B.U.C.K. - Next
Starting this new year off right with some fun ska music from B.U.C.K. (building Up Christ’s Kingdom) aka Buck Enterprises. This Detroit, MI six piece band released a few albums before disbanding. I remember writing a college paper on ska & B.U.C.K would be classified as 3rd wave ska. Their 1998 self-titled release featured more horns than the second & featured a cartoon character which appeared to be skanking in a raincoat while holding up a checkered black & white ball which are the normal colors for ska music.… Continued →
Best of 2020: Noah Hardwick (Part III)
Something I realized once I started breaking my top 100 albums and EPs of 2020 list down into four posts is that each post became a micro-list of its own. For example, I wasn’t really thinking too hard about what album I was going to rank 26th when there were 100 albums.… Continued →
January 1, 2021
Best of 2020: Noah Hardwick (Part II)
Some would say that putting together a year-end list of your top 100 albums and EPs is insane. And I agree. It’s one of the most ambitious things I’ve attempted since I started writing for IVM. So how did I do it exactly? Well I started out by putting together a list of all the albums and EPs I listened to during 2020—a feat in its own right.… Continued →
Song of the Day: Champion Birdwatchers - Resolution . . . in C
So, it’s New Year’s Day. 2020 is a recently faded memory, but with the obvious enduring repercussions. Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Or affirmations, or commitments, or whatever else people are calling them nowadays? My wife (who is an artist) loves the New Year holiday. She sees it as a blank slate.… Continued →
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