A Ringtone Pack is a ridiculous thing to review but this, somewhat absurd, offering from Magnetic Forces is not without merit. These twelve tracks all clock in at just under a minute; an insanely long time for a ringtone but not an altogether unheard of length for a beat sample or demo. In fact, if you framed these tracks as the soundtrack to a videogame, you wouldn’t bat an eye. They’ve got a consistent feel to them, hard hitting drums and compelling lead parts – both twinkly keyboards and the occasional guitar.

It’s unclear who even downloads Ringtones at all anymore but if you ignore the title here, this a fun 12 minutes of interesting song sketches.

Jim Oblon has a startlingly impressive resume. He played on Paul Simon’s 2011 album So Beautiful Or So What, toured as a multi-instrumentalist with Mr. Simon and was a studio musician for Phil Ramone – just to name a few highlights. So, with that kind of CV, you’d have to expect that he’d have plenty of musical ideas yearning to be expressed as his own musical creation and you’d be right.

Kiss the Shaman is one such endeavor that recently came to light (early February 2019). At first glance, it seems to be a quality rock record filled with riffs, memorable choruses and the occasional shredding guitar but a digging in a little deeper there’s more than that at play. Songs like “Cristero War” feature foreboding samples in Spanish, with some unexpected changes and soft moments. “The Vine” has some tropicalia style drums and flourishes carrying the track along. In fact, the deeper you go into the album, the more it sheds its rock and roll veneer and gives away to something altogether different until you reach the final track and a rip-roaring epic is brought back into the mix.

Oblon clearly is a man of many influences and a variety of interests; much of which he’s successfully able to wrangle into a cohesive album that touches on many of them. This variety may feel a bit disjointed on first listen but it’s a refreshing journey, clearly meant to be experienced from start to finish. His official website cites multiple albums in the work for the near future and I’d be willing to bet the next one showcases an even wider range of styles. Looking forward to it.

Back in 2017, ONLY released their Language EP and have been playing consistently around town ever since; refining their sound and recording new material. Finally, we get to hear a bit of the results of that effort. The new “Cheap Weed single is just a small peek inside and it certainly seems like the wait has been worth it.

Calling this a “single” means that one song has to be deemed the A-Side and the other the B-Side; a distinction that simply doesn’t apply here. Both of these tracks are equally enjoyable, so I suggest thinking of this as a double A-Side or simply an EP. The couplet is filled with of plenty of sneering attitude in the vocals and a rapid buoyancy to the music. That may sound a little esoteric but it’s easy to fill lifted by the energy being put forth here. Seeing this live would likely result in a horde of jumping, sweaty, masses.

One can hope that a new EP from the band is just a tip of the hat towards a longer full-length but even if this is all we get from Only for the entirety of the year, it’s a helluva good time.

It’s been a minute since we heard from Black Cat Sylvester, hip-hop musician and creator of the SynthTable. Fortunately, that drought is over with the release of the official video for “Horse with Lo Mein” and the promise of a new EP slated for release on February 19th.

Interestingly, Mr. Sylvester seems to have wiped the Internet of his history. His YouTube and Instagram have only five videos; resulting in broken embeds from anyone that wrote about his undertakings previously. Is this an intentional nod towards the new direction in sound or simply par for the course in 2019 Social Media? You’d have to ask him yourself.

Speaking of that new sound, all we’ve got to go off of at the moment is this single track. The video is entrancing – filled with drone shots, VHS interruptions and a mysterious female vocalist. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there’s a visual nod to UNKLE or Aphex Twin here; embracing a bit of the goofy while still managing to be sinister. Sonically, it’s a touch of funk, a touch of R&B groove and a touch of all out rock. If this is the new Black Cat Sylvester, I’m all in.

The newest EP from Nosediver, Floating Item, serves as a refreshing reminder that the Nashville music scene still has plenty of pleasant surprises left to unearth. While we’re all in agreement that the city has more to offer than country music, it’s less accepted that there is quality 90’s math rock stemming from our ether.

To be clear, pigeonholing Nosediver into “90’s math rock” is underselling the goods being offered. Yes, there certainly seems to be influences from the ilk of Jawbox, Faraquet or Nashville’s own Serotonin but with the lulling ambient composition of “4” and the chunky anthems built into “Polished” the band is investigated territories well beyond a pre-determined genre.

The runtime here is incredibly short – just under 10 minutes in total – but that’s the strength of a well done EP; there’s simply no time to falter. The band makes great use of every second at their disposal and begs for repetition.