Cloud 9

Teaming with legendary Beatles obsessive Jeff Lynne, George Harrison crafted a remarkably consistent and polished comeback effort with Cloud Nine. Lynne adds a glossy production, reminiscent of ELO, but what is even more noticeable is that he's reined in Harrison's indulgences, keeping the focus on a set of 11 snappy pop/rock numbers. The consistency of the songs remains uneven, but the best moments – "Devil's Radio," "Cloud 9," "Just for Today," "Got My Mind Set on You," and the tongue-in-cheek Beatles pastiche "When We Was Fab" – make Cloud Nine one of his very best albums.

Teaming with legendary Beatles obsessive Jeff Lynne, George Harrison crafted a remarkably consistent and polished comeback effort with Cloud Nine. Lynne adds a glossy production, reminiscent of ELO, but what is even more noticeable is that he's reined in Harrison's indulgences, keeping the focus on a set of 11 snappy pop/rock numbers. The consistency of the songs remains uneven, but the best moments – "Devil's Radio," "Cloud 9," "Just for Today," "Got My Mind Set on You," and the tongue-in-cheek Beatles pastiche "When We Was Fab" – make Cloud Nine one of his very best albums.

Teaming with legendary Beatles obsessive Jeff Lynne, George Harrison crafted a remarkably consistent and polished comeback effort with Cloud Nine. Lynne adds a glossy production, reminiscent of ELO, but what is even more noticeable is that he's reined in Harrison's indulgences, keeping the focus on a set of 11 snappy pop/rock numbers…

Saxophonist, flautist Chip Wickham takes us to Cloud 10 with his most soulful and lyrical album to date.

Waxhatchee’s Saint Cloud is an unflinching self-examination whose raw, exposed narrative terrain is aided by a shift in sonic arrangements. While her last two records (Out in the Storm and Ivy Tripp) featured the kind of big guitars, well-honed noise, and battering sounds that characterized her Philadelphia scene and strongly influenced a burgeoning new class of singer-songwriters, Saint Cloud strips back those layers to create space for Katie Crutchfield’s voice and lyrics. The result is a classic Americana sound with modern touches befitting an artist who has emerged as one of the signature storytellers of her time.

There is a cool and relaxed feeling to this session of "Midnight on Cloud 69" and ethereal quality which sets the tempo and mood of quietude. It is, contrary to the hot and heavy-breathed experience of daily living, and hiatus in which man may forget his tribulations and give vent to his imagination to trail the tail of a cloud as it glides through the dark and empty heavens.

To say that the past decade has been kind to Amorphis would be an understatement. From the elegance of Silent Waters to the pomp of Circle, the Finnish prog metallers have carved a solid foothold for themselves over the course of eight years. So, of course, when a new album is released, the inevitable question of whether or not the flavor has gone bland comes up. Sure enough, Under the Red Cloud proves to be another worthy addition to Amorphis’s discography, as well as one of the best progressive metal releases this year so far…

Shake Me Now is stripped-down, yet dense. There are musical and lyrical traces of the blues, bluegrass, folk, rock, soul, and classical music. Their songwriting stands out on the title track, "Shake Me Now" as well as the upbeat and hopeful "One My Way Tonight". In addition to their original songs, there are reinterpreted versions of the traditional blues number "Deep Ellum Blues", the traditional folk tune "Worried Man Blues", and Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere". One gets the feeling of being on a widescreen road trip through America's past and present, with multiple eras and traditions folding in upon each other. The result sounds familiar and road-worn, yet completely new a quality that Quiles & Cloud share with some of American music's greatest innovators.

Over the last decade, Cleveland wunderkind Dylan Baldi’s Cloud Nothings project has evolved from a ramshackle, home-recorded indie-pop concern to a full-blown punk-pop outfit combining melodic sweetness, pummeling arrangements, and throat-searing vocals. Their previous album, 2017’s Life Without Sound, found Baldi and co. dialing back their characteristic aggression a bit. But on Cloud Nothings’ fifth album, Baldi’s coruscated bark is back in action, along with the hook-laden intensity that’s been present since 2012’s breakthrough Attack on Memory. The band’s penchant for epic song structures has also returned (see: the ebb and flow of the 11-minute “Dissolution”), as Last Building Burning represents Cloud Nothings doing what they do best with zero frills and plenty of passion to spare.