Speed Demons

Yet another fine group from Athens, Georgia, Maserati was formed in 2001. This quartet creates spacey aural soundscapes that follow in the tradition of groups like Explosions in the Sky and This Will Destroy You. All their songs are instrumental and feature layers of guitar that ebb and flow. The term Post-rock is used to describe their music, which I feel is quite apt. Unfortunately, their amazing drummer passed away not too long ago. They’ll have a hard time replacing him.

Sweet Sixteen

It seems almost impossible that Nikki Yanofsky is merely 16 years old. The young Montreal based singer already has an impressive resume. She sang several sold-out shows at the Montreal Jazz Festival when she was just 12 years old. She’s gone on to release a couple recordings in both the jazz and pop genres. Because of her scatting ability, she’s been compared to Ella Fitzgerald. Tough shoes to fill. But her scatting is absolutely remarkable for such a young singer. Sure, her voice lacks the depth of a more mature vocalist, but her range and poise are uncanny. Give her a few years and I think she’s going to be famous. Her career also wasn’t hurt when she sang to a worldwide audience at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. All I can say is, “Canada, you’ve got talent”!

A Heavenly Voice

To say Angel Taylor has a gorgeous voice is an understatement. She has a nice range and has a powerful, soulful tone. Angel started out singing in coffee houses in Southern California. A few weeks before her freshman year in college, she made contact with producer Mikal Blue. He eventually got her signed with Aware/Columbia Records, and helped produce her first cd, Love Travels, which was released in 2009. Her songs are sort of folky pop tunes with catchy lyrics. It’s pretty refreshing to hear a new young singer who isn’t totally overproduced.

If The Shoe Fits…

Clogs is a classically-trained foursome who met at Yale in the late 90s. Their music is a compelling mix of chamber, jazz, and post-rock. In iTunes, under the Genre heading, they’re tagged as unclassifiable and when you hear their music, that makes a lot of sense. Some of their tunes are pure chamber music, while other selections have a film soundtrack quality them. The group has five recordings to date and they’re all consistently excellent.