June 10, 2008: Last week was my last post as a blogger for Prex. This week is my first post as one of the newly appointed Editors of the Blog, making this my first Letter from the Editor. A response from a reader stated, “I for one am interested in learning about new and upcoming acts, I’m just interested in those that are a little off the edges of typical American pop music.” These are the Editor’s Picks from Jersey Stock 2008 (‘Jersey’s version of Bamboozle): 5 reviews of up and coming local ‘Jersey bands.

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With no elitist apologies, I’m a huge fan of public radio.  

Sure, I’m happy to see that indie rock has a new home on commercial radio in many markets, replacing those ungodly “classic rock” stations, and very little makes my “Triple AAA” music heart beat harder and faster than hearing there’s a new station with that format. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rock-pop-folk rock group brings hope back to the music scene

April 29, 2008– On a sunny Friday afternoon outside his house in Ewing, I sat at a black wrought iron patio table with Patrick Llewellyn, founder and lead singer of Patrick Llewellyn and His Band—a folk/pop/folk-rock group out of Stanhope, New Jersey. He began by saying, “Thank you for doing a piece on me, this is great exposure.” But by the end of the interview, I felt I should be thanking him for his profound insights. To date, this interview put me in my place; and opened myself up to a whole world of thinking about music, identity and insights into the music industry that was very humbling and inspiring. Read the rest of this entry »

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[bands to watch]: Throw me the Statue

Seattle-based Indie Pop makes a believer out of the cynical.

Indie rock at its worst is esoteric lyrics with an emo twist, overly done up instrumentation, and excessive bridges instead of skilled solo’s which leave the listener with a feeling of emptiness. The fact that I was going to observe Throw me the Statue at The College of New Jersey’s on-campus bar/restaurant the Rattskeller, which is dank, dingy, in need of massive redecorations and intense cleaning didn’t help. Throw Me the Statue is the total opposite of my worst misconceptions of indie rock. The combination of basic rock structures, electronica influences, vocal centric aesthetic, major key tonality, and a mix of acoustic and electric rhythm guitars was simply amazing. Read the rest of this entry »

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