If the Pac-Man arcade cabinet at the corner of a musty Scottish pub could talk, it might recount something akin to Rok's self-titled odyssey. Nigel Dunn, the one-man conductor behind this electrified locomotive, paints in phosphorescent streaks of emotion while clutching an aesthetic pulled straight from the neon abyss of ’84. Yet, “Rok” isn’t content with cosplay. No, this album doesn’t merely wear the...

Danny Watts is to acoustic strings what winter frost is to tree branches: an unexpected adornment, at odds with what you thought you knew, but too breathtaking to question. With "Angels In The Snow," the Downtown Patriots step into a snow globe of uncharted soundscapes, leaving behind the grungey scrape of amplifiers for something quieter, but no less expansive. It’s a curveball—a swerve from...