It’s 6 a.m. and I’m driving to the beach for a day of waves. It’s dusk on a cool summer day and I just don’t feel like driving home, so I don’t. The newly released Big Echo by The Morning Benders is the kind of music I want with me on a solo road trip – reminiscent of The Posies, a throw back to surf rock, mellow, but not too mellow. Big Echo   posted by Camas

Although I won’t put pop music at the top of my musical genre preference list, I do like pop music – especially when it’s quirky and when the vocals are admirable. The debut album from Marina and the Diamonds, while not faultless, is the first pop album I’ve been intrigued by in quite awhile. A couple of the tracks (I Am Not a Robot, Hollywood) are admittedly a little kitschy, but for the most part “The Family Jewels” is a creative addition to the female pop vocal world. Marina is very Bjork-esque and is often compared to Kate Bush and Tori Amos. She has a ways to go before she’ll live up to those comparisons, but songs and videos like Mowgli’s Road and Obsession show a lot of promise. More than anything, I am excited to see a creative (and vocally talented) contribution to the new generation of pop. ~Camas