Pop essentials and a little bit more

Author: Lisa Hafey

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat. Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

It's Just Craig - Photo Credit: Kyle Helmond

It’s Just Craig – ‘Dark Corners’

August 30, 2017

It’s Just Craig was originally a planned mid-life crisis: just before his 40th birthday, Craig Helmreich ran off to San Francisco with ten songs, and six friends – Elijah, Marc and Kirsten Ford; John Vanderslice; Jason Slota and; Rob Shelton. They put the ten songs on two inch tape at Tiny Telephone recording studios, where they convinced Bernie Grundman to master the record, and cut the lacquers. This became ‘Blood On The Table’. Now Craig and his friends are back, together with Jess and Kelsey from Von Strantz. They’ve recorded album 2, ‘Dark Corners’, once again at Tiny Telephone.

Ted Addic Releases LP ‘Idubology Vol.1’

August 29, 2017

From the inner western suburbs of Sydney comes Ted Addic, an Emcee who has been hard at work producing a new mix of trap-rap ahead of his first LP release. He’s also been filming several new music videos, with ‘IDUBOLOGY VOL. 1’ a powerful exploration of topics such as drug criminalisation, to Ted Addic’s advocacy of weed culture.

Natalie Paige Bentley – ‘Ride Home’

August 27, 2017

‘Amaurotic’ is the name of Natalie Paige Bentley’s latest EP project, with the title taken from a scientific word meaning:

“a sudden and unexplained occlusion of sight – an interruption of the usual transmissions of daily life.”

Jane N’ The Jungle – ‘Killed Someone’

August 27, 2017

Jane N’ The Jungle are a musical tsunami of tenacity, an intriguing mixture of diverse musical aesthetics, creativing a veritable mosaic of indie ear candy. With singer Jordan White’s background in musical theatre to guitarist Brian Dellis’ years as a punk rocker, the Arizona up and comers are building a great reputation on their fearsome live sets, while at the same time releasing superbly constructed songs.

Van Gordon Martin – ‘Let it Grow’

August 27, 2017

Chicago native Van Gordon Martin is a dedicated guitarist with a love of reggae, dub, and soul music, who started his career at the age of seven. His first job was polishing and stringing guitars in a local music shop, which he followed up by playing them, mentored by Bernie Worrell, the legendary keyboardist of Parliament Funkadelic and Talking Heads fame. Van felt the need to spread his wings, and moved to Boston, where his career in music took off.

MaWayy – ‘Wrong’

August 26, 2017

‘Wrong’ from MaWayy has all the elements of a great summer song. Downtempo, yet energetic enough to get the party moving. A contemporary sound, with a great drum build, a hooky chorus, and synths that melt across the vocal sample. It’s easy to picture it played at a party, on the open road, in the gym, and especially at the beach.

Sarah Ragsdale – ‘This Kiss’

August 26, 2017

Based in New Jersey, Sarah Ragsdale is a singer, pianist, songwriter, and composer who uses her piano to tell stories, combining pop, jazz, and folk, resulting in what she calls “Ragstime.” Sarah has taken her style around America, Europe, Asia, and Africa and has made television appearances around the world.