Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at new releases by Blowupradio.com, Leema Mountain, Nicholas Bacan, ROTOSCOPE, Samantha Starr Stefanik, San Tropez, Ancient Babies, Jon Caspi & The First Gun, and Sci Fi Book Club. Plus a look back at "Free love Walking" by Red Headed Boogie Child.
BlowUpRadio.com is celebrating its 25th anniversary of being Where NJ Rock Lives, and tying it to our annual Banding Together benefit for the Spondylitis Association Of America. The benefit webathon will air on BlowUpRadio.com with 90 artists performing live sets. You can see the full schedule on BlowUpRadio.com or here on New Jersey Stage.
We are also doing a very special compilation the, "Big Box Of Music", featuring 233 songs that have been played on BlowUpRadio.com over the last 25 years. You can download that right now by donating $20 or more to the Spondylitis Association Of America at: https://spondylitis.org/webathon. The full track listing is there as well as BlowUpRadio.com and New Jersey Stage.
Spondylitis is a genetic rheumatoid arthritis that causes fusion of the bone, inflammation and great pain. My wife is one of the estimated 1 in 200 Americans who suffer from it.
So help out a great cause and get rewarded with a plethora of amazing music!
Leema Mountain - "Dinner with Robbie the Skull EP". Leema Mountain's mew release, "Dinner with Robbie the Skull EP" is self-described as, "Small EP of some alt versions/outtakes and second thoughts." 3 of the 7 songs are different versions of the title track, and all 7 songs are lovely indie-folk/acoustic-pop songs.
Nicholas Bacan - "The Second Humming". Listening to Nicholas Bacan's six song EP, "The Second Humming", was for me like sitting in a coffee house hearing the songs as a live performance. There is a raw intimacy to this folk EP, and I like it.
ROTOSCOPE - "TWO IMAGES". Woah! "TWO IMAGES", a four song EP from ROTOSCOPE, is some great art-rock. Elements of experimentalism combine with pop sensibilities into something glorious. Each song showcases a different aspect of the band's sound, but all feel perfectly at home side by side.
Samantha Starr Stefanik - "Mama Said - EP". Samantha Starr Stefanik's debut EP, "Mama Said", is great debut. The songs are not blues songs, but there is a blues feel, to me at least, throughout the album. I think that may be because of Samantha Starr Stefanik's vocals, which are fabulous.
San Tropez - "Museum Of Modern History". If you like artsy-dream-pop as much as I do, then you will be thrilled to hear the new album from San Tropez, "Museum Of Modern History".
Ancient Babies - "Songs for the Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office Or Mobile". I'm not going to repeat the title of the new EP from Ancient Babies, you can read it above. The title may be longer than the EP itself, three songs clocking in at around eleven minutes. But it has been over 7 years since Ancient Babies last release, so getting three new songs is a gift, especially when they are as good as these are.
Jon Caspi & The First Gun - "Airport Plaza". There was a time that doesn't feel that long ago to me, but it is probably the early 00's when physical media was still the primary way people consumed music, a 15 song album wouldn't be unusual. The way we consume music now, it makes more sense to release it as 3 EPs. That is just what Jon Caspi & The First Gun is doing, and the first EP is "Airport Plaza". I could point out it features guests galore (Dan Bern, Ezra Caspi (Jon's son), Deni Bonet, and Amanda Cross), and the other EPs allegedly will too, but this is about the songs, a mix of Americana, Alt-Folk/Country, and Punk-Rock, and they are pretty epic!
Sci Fi Book Club - "Back from Space". Sci Fi Book Club, is not a book club, but their debut release, "Back from Space", is well worth checking out and talking about. A combination of Alt-Rock and Power-Pop-Punk, this album is infectious (in the good way).
Not New, But Memorable Corner
Red Headed Boogie Child - "Free love Walking". Maybe you know Don Lee as a solo artist, or maybe you know him as a member of The Wag, but back in the late 90's/early 00's he fronted Red Headed Boogie Child, and in the early days of BlowUpRadio.com, "Free Love Walking" was popular on our station. 25 years later, it is still a fun song, and don't we need fun songs in these crazy times we are living in. And bonus, this song appears on the aforementioned "Banding Together 2025: Big Box Of Music".
That's all for this week.
Remember BlowUpRadio.com, plays these and many other New Jersey based artists on our internet radio station, so please check us out. #SupportGoodMusic - If you like any of the above artists, please purchase their music from their site. And if you would like to be part of BlowUpRadio.com's New & Notable, please send downloads or contact Lazlo at Lazlo-at-BlowUpRadio-dot-com. We're also on Mastodon (and bridged on BlueSky)
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