![](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/miles_zuniga.jpg\")
Miles Zuniga \u2013 These Ghosts Have Bones<\/em><\/strong>\nIf the artist\u2019s name strikes you as familiar, you\u2019re right: Zuniga is a member of Fastball<\/strong>, the band that gave us the great hit \u201cThe Way\u201d and the shoulda-been-hit \u201cYou\u2019re An Ocean.\u201d Fastball\u2019s still around, but this side project finds Zuniga in a more pop-oriented mood, occasionally (though not always) less rocking but equally compelling. \u201cRock Paper Scissors\u201d sounds like a more melodic Cake<\/strong><\/a>. One suspects that these songs were selected because they didn\u2019t fit as well within the band format; that\u2019s what a solo album should be. Influences from all over are distilled into Zuniga\u2019s intimate style. Good stuff.<\/p>\n
More to come.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/slowtrain.jpg\")
Slowtrain \u2013 Bound to Find You Out<\/em><\/strong>
\nThis piano-based rock-pop from Austin TX shows some healthy influences. A Dr. John<\/strong>-meets-Randy Newman<\/strong> sensibility is crossed with dramatic flourishes of grandiose pop (think: Queen<\/strong> or Jellyfish<\/strong>) to create something that sounds oddly familiar while being fresh and new. On some songs, lead singer Adoniram Lipton<\/strong>\u2019s blues-shouting approach is wedded to story songs from the John Hiatt<\/strong>\/Nick Lowe<\/strong> school of songwriting. On others, a breezy, this-side-of-country approach is used, but it\u2019s delightfully free of that genre\u2019s overused tropes. Uptempo rockers, contemplative ballads: they\u2019re all here. In a just world this sort of music would catch on in a big way.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/john_illsley.jpg\")
John Illsley \u2013 Streets of Heaven<\/em><\/strong>
\nHere\u2019s another name that might strike a chord with liner-note readers. Illsley was a guitarist in Dire Straits<\/strong>; and even if you didn\u2019t recognize the name, you\u2019d almost certainly pick up on the tone when you spin the disc. (And you thought that sound was all Mark Knopfler<\/strong>!) For whatever reason, this record is the guitarist\u2019s first solo album since his old band folded in 1995. In places the record sounds very much like Dire Straits. In other spots \u2013 take \u201cTell Me,\u201d with its south-of-the-border horn arrangements and gypsy fiddling, for example \u2013 Illsley charts territory that is more his own.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/grand_atlantic_constellations.jpg\")
Grand <\/strong>Atlantic<\/strong> \u2013 Constellations<\/em><\/strong>
\nSoaring, big guitars of the anthemic variety are juxtaposed with airy arrangements that show the band knows when to back off to allow the songs to breathe. A hallmark of this record is chiming guitars with just enough distortion. Grand Atlantic play and sing as if they\u2019ve already made the big time — think U2<\/strong> \u2013 and maybe, just maybe, that \u201cconceive it so you can achieve it\u201d approach will work for them. Constellations<\/em> is filled with catchy, rocking, memorable songs. The band bursts out of the gate with \u201cSearchlights,\u201d but album as whole shows they\u2019re not one-trick ponies. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/icon_twitter_small.jpg\"){kind=icon}
Twitter<\/a> and get notified![\"I](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/cmply_1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n