Matthew E. White - Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection (Magenta Vinyl) - VINYL LP

Broken Mirror A Selfie Reflection is a timely callout to the power of collaboration, of kindred spirits connecting in crowded rooms. More important, though, is this collision of two profoundly Southern artists, meeting to shed expectations of generation and genre, scene and situation and exchange truth, wisdom, and energy. The real world is more complicated than a pretty digital picture, bowdlerized of blemishes. As Broken Mirror A Selfie Reflection reminds us, it can be more revelatory and transformative, too.These racks are balls of energized contemplation, Holley crooning grievances and observations above surrealist grooves so irrepressible and heavy that the words strike with the force of gospel. Holley strolls into InchI Cried Space DustInch as if he's wandered into the On the Corner sessions and offered unsolicited insights on true transcendence. InchI'm Not TrippingInch is an anthem of self-worth and self-enjoyment for a society mired in self-doubt, the words breaking like light beams through clouds of atomized drums and synths. And Holley begins the title track as a character mindlessly staring into a cell phone, captivated by his own image like Narcissus at water's edge. Holley ponders the egotism of projection over dizzying keyboards and guitars so jagged they conjure fractured glass. By song's end, he's mocking this infrastructure of pandering for likes, jeering us all above a savage bassline that dares you to differ.Holley and White may seem like unlikely collaborators, divided as they are by decades and disciplines. Holley, 70, first earned attention as a sculptor far removed from the fiefdom of fine art, using society's detritus to create curious bricolages that ferried deep narratives of ancestral pride, enduring pain, and eternal hope. His music-privately stowed on stacks of cassettes before he released his staggering 2012 debut, Just Before Music, a

Singer, songwriter, bandleader, and musical polymath, Matthew E. White’s new album 'Fresh Blood', is the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed debut, 'Big Inner'; an album that took influences like Randy Newman, Curtis Mayfield and The Band, and turned them into a progressive, 21st century update. Produced by White and Trey Pollard 'Fresh Blood' is a bracing, beguiling record and a bold advance for White - a record that feels like the brilliant bloom to 'Big Inner’s striking bud.

Mourn knows quite a bit about setbacks, but a latent belief persists within the negative will eventually become positive. It's the belief in the wonder of resilience. It's the name they chose for their new album Self Worth.The band isn't the same as when they formed. The world isn't either. Mourn grew up, and that's evident in the songs that make up Self Worth. Their melodies - energetic and captivating - venture into less level grounds, and their lyrics show a newfound readiness to tackle issues of a different weight and size.InchMenInch is lyrically patent proof of this growth, and their heightened consciousness as women. A revealing song, necessary and deliberately uncomfortable. A beautiful melody of war against patriarchy; the impulsive rescue of the riot grrrl. Certain needs stand out through the album leaving behind abusive ties, externalizing the interior noise. InchWe talked a lot about getting out of toxic situations - not resigning ourselves to that, not enduring that anymore. The songs are like flags to stand up and say 'we are done.'Inch Just as InchStay ThereInch draws a limit and InchApathyInch spits truth in your face, InchCall You BackInch seems to paint that instance in which love paralyzes, and InchI'm In TroubleInch turns exasperated voices into machine guns. Punk assault with a clear message the body speaks when the mind is not well.Mourn is an enclave of post-teens dealing with the dilemmas of adult life. InchThis album gave us what we needed self-worth, the desire to go forward, to love ourselves, with everything, with the good and bad. This album empowers us.Inch