“Hey, Glance & Smile” by Mishu Hilmy (Folk/Country Artist from New York (NY))

"Hey, Glance & Smile" is the full-length debut from eclectic folk artist Mishu Hilmy. Hilmy is a solo artist and creates all of the sounds on the album, drawing from deep within his instrumental repertoire and laying down tracks with piano, acoustic guitar, accordion, banjo, and ukulele. The tracks are simple, relying maximally on two instruments and Hilmy's vocal performance for the fullness of sound, but it is the simplicity that makes it enjoyable. Hilmy's lyrics are quirky and narrative, conveying the wide variety of emotions that come with sleeping in cars and the redundancy of life. The overall sound, vocally and musically, is experimental folk that sounds like a wild combination of Modest Mouse and Bob Dylan. "Hey, Glance & Smile" was recorded at Hilmy's and his friends' houses, and the album has that raw, four-track sound that fits the genre and Hilmy's do-it-yourself mentality. "Front Door/Back Door" is an acoustic-driven track with some accordion, great lyrics, and a catchy chorus. "Road Kills" is a clean acoustic track about a run-in with a deer and features the memorable lyrics, "The world stayed fat/But who's to blame?/So I said, 'Oh my God.'" "Hey, Glance & Smile" is the result of a workhorse's endeavor to create a do-it-yourself, raw experimental folk album. Fans of the genre, show your support and pick up Mishu Hilmy's debut.

-Chris & the RadioIndy.com Review Team
Check out Mishu Hilmy's music on RadioIndy.com with link to purchase and links to popular sites

“Same Old Slippers” by Judy Fjell (Folk Artist from Montana(MT))

"Same Old Slippers" is an inspirational and excellently-crafted progressive folk album from singer/songwriter Judy Fjell. Judy is a Unitarian-Universalist lay minister, and her songs reflect her liberal yet religious disposition. Practicing what she preaches, "Same Old Slippers" is filled with eighteen solid, spiritual, upbeat, thought-provoking, and heartfelt folk songs about positivity and love, in hopes of a better tomorrow. Judy delivers a great vocal performance to compliment her great acoustic folk arrangements, and her overall sound is reminiscent of Malvina Reynolds (of "Little Boxes" fame) and Peter, Paul, and Mary. "Same Old Slippers" is well-produced, with clean vocals, crisp violin and fine acoustic instrumentation. "Oh You Know We Are One" is a great opening track as her lyrics cover religion, race, and even animals, as she sings about world unity, giving the listener insight to Judy's world perspective. "One Of Us Can Make A Difference" has a great violin and acoustic arrangement as Judy argues that, through "loving thoughts and positive actions," it only takes three people to change the world. "If There Is A God" is a controversial track with deep lyrics about Judy's personal religious battle, where which she sings that, God or no God, there is good and grace in this world. "Same Old Slippers" truly is an inspirational album that asks us to look past our minor discrepancies and realize that we are all the same. Fans of excellent folk music with a thought-provoking and positive message, be sure to pick this one up.

-Chris & the RadioIndy.com Review Team
Check out Judy Fjell's music on RadioIndy.com with link to purchase and links to popular sites