"Summer Rain" by Kristen Castro comes out at just the right time, like when the storm clouds part and the sun shines through, bathing everything in a soft yellow light. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter has really moved me with this song. It is both highly personal and easily understandable to everyone, like finding an old diary entry that applies to your present situation in some way. Five...

Listening to Bloomfield Machine's new seventeen-track instrumental album, “Copium,” feels a bit like stepping into a terrarium during a quiet downpour. The title itself suggests a kind of modern, knowing self-delusion, the balm we apply just to get by. Yet, the music crafted by Huntington Beach’s Brian Kassan is far too sincere for pure cynicism. This isn’t the sound of giving up; it’s the...