Steve Young’s latest release, the heavily autobiographical EP "Riffin For A Livin", arrives with the sudden, exhaling relief of a man pulling off a heavy, borrowed uniform. For three decades, the British frontman, main songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist has existed as the dependable anchor in the background. He’s played alongside stars like Darren Hayes and Lionel Richie, and he’s dutifully grinded through an estimated...

Listening to Nom De Plume’s new album, Circle the Dream, is like finding an old, intricate map for a place that doesn't exist on any globe. This is a record for the motionless traveler, the soul pacing the perimeter of its own skull. Aris Karabelas and Michael Magee have crafted a landscape not of highways and canyons, but of the vast, contradictory terrain behind...