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Human Again is Ingrid Michaelson's strongest release yet

Ingrid Michaelson has made a career of being emotional, quirky and waltzing to her own drumbeat. Her lyrics have ranged from lovey-dovey and witty to heartbroken and sharp as a knife, all while singing in a voice…

Five piano pop songs offer a glimpse at Jesi Kettering’s talent

Say this much about Jesi Kettering: she’s serious about this whole music thing. For the lighthearted way she presents herself (she lists her shoe size among her contact information on her business card) and the whimsical look…

Hayley Taylor's piano-tinged pop rock is too much of a good thing

Too much of a good thing. Some would say the notion is a myth, others that it’s true and still others would claim the idea is too ridiculous to even consider because, really, who cares? Whether this…

A fine job balancing multiple talents, layers, sounds and meanings all at once.

Merry Ellen Kirk and Aaron Krause — the duo who make up The Shakespeares — are an interesting one-two punch. In addition to doing their own things musically — she plays solo and he is the lead…

Rufus Wainwright – All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu

Perennially brooding troubadour Rufus Wainwright would be an enigma if not for the fact that everything about him is laid out in the open. Sentimental. Sometimes cold. Bare. Just as he’d have it. His torch-y piano ballads…

Aqualung – Magnetic North

Magnetic North is like a brilliant 12-part love song to life. It’s not aimed all at one person, the tunes aren’t all happy, and the songs don’t all sound the same, but there is no doubt that…

David Thomas Owen IV

Call it the solo plank, if you will. That moment when someone firmly established in a decently known act decides the artistry within is dying to get out, even at the expense of the security of the…

Brooke Waggoner

For her next act, Brooke Waggoner’s changing things up a bit. Gone are some of the quirkier, more experimental aspects from her initial EP and full-length. Instead, Go Easy Little Doves features orchestral arrangements that dominate a…

Rachael Yamagata – Live @ The Vogue

The converted-theater crowd at Indianapolis’ Vogue was mournfully sparse for a Saturday night, but a quirky, upbeat Rachael Yamagata rocked the house, regardless. Indie rock’s reigning geisha started hushed with the sublimely sad “Elephants,” the title track…

Alexander

Ryan Alexander believes he reached too far. I don’t buy it. Then again, his opinion matters a lot more than my own. Alexander’s last album, White Flags and Silver Spoons Have to Sleep in Separate Rooms, found…