Here we are again with another month of new music. There have been a lot of changes around here, which I will go into more in depth in a later post, but for now let's just say there are some new priorities on the horizon. We are gearing up to reopen our submission portal for both The CHILLFILTR Review and direct submissions through the site, so that should be ready within just a few more weeks. I am going to be working full-time for the foreseeable future, so I will have considerably less time to dedicate to editing. But I will still be plugging away on the weekends and you are all encouraged to use the new submission platform when it opens up. Sending us a song for Internet radio consideration will continue to be free, so I hope to keep those submissions coming in consistently. I'm still very much enjoying the process of listening to all of your songs, and generating these monthly round-ups as a way of acknowledging the power, scope, and quality of indie music here in the USA and around the world. So keep them coming.

I had our SubmitHub channel shut down for most of the month so that I can get some work done on the backend, and unfortunately I will have to keep that channel shut down until perhaps this summer. I just don't have the free time anymore to manage it, so anyone who is looking for blog coverage will just have to either be patient, or keep a watchful eye on the submit page where I will announce the new portal once it's ready. I haven't completely settled on a price structure yet, but because my volume will have to stay really low the price will certainly go up from the two dollars or so that you would pay on SubmitHub or Groover. As long as I am working full-time which will begin in about two weeks and extend for six months, to possibly years, or even longer, it makes sense to keep the submission channel open for anyone who is willing to pay a little extra for that consideration. SubmitHub especially is notorious for publicists and record labels just pouring lots of money into that micro submission space, where they don't particularly care much about or pay much attention any specific outlets. I suppose it's nice to at least make a little bit of money that way, but it's also disappointing when you realize that you weren't actually selected, per se, in any meaningful way. It's sort of like a cute girl giving you her number at the bar, only to realize that she had 1000 cards printed up and everybody got one. :)

Anyway, on to the music for this month. It's a bit of a shorter list than last month, but there are still some fantastic selections in there. One of the standouts for me was Mikayla McVey, who's new album "Time Turns Everything" is really just a powerhouse of roots pop confection. Her voice sounds fantastic, the songwriting is really top-notch, and the production easily delivers the kind of flow that you might expect from a Martha Wainwright: it's unique, cerebral, and most of all, spiritual and open in an inclusive sort of way. Highly recommended.

More standouts: Talker, Golden Vessel, The Franklin Electric, & Anna Shoemaker.

44 ardent - pieces
Allswell - You Call Me
Amos Lee - Clean
Amos Lee - Worry No More
Couchsleepers - Valentine's Day
Daniele Carmosino - Water Drops
GIVVEN - Losing Colours
Good Morning Bedlam - Salt
Good Morning Bedlam - The Haunting
Holo - Bleu (Radio Edit)
Josh Orange - Her Beautiful Ways
Karmacoda - Traps (Sailor & I Remix)
Katie Tupper - Misbehavin'
KellyMarie - Timing Right
Kenneth Anthony Morton - Alright, Goodnight
KID TRAVIS - Butterflies
Klangkarussell - Home
Lydia Kaseta - Hate The Day
Mikayla McVey - Drunk House Guests
Mikayla McVey - New Year
Mikayla McVey - Out of Mind
Mikayla McVey - Symbol Cure
Mikayla McVey - What I Know
River Whyless - Monoflora - 01 Heaven and Light
River Whyless - Monoflora - 02 Fast Like A Match
Shovels & Rope - Collateral Damage
Shovels & Rope - The Human Race
SYML - Sweet Home
The Mercy Stone - Unlocked
The Private Language - Afterglow
Virginia To Vegas - no excuses
Willem Gator - 0001