To say March has been a productive month for local music is an understatement, and as we exit it in just a few days, we still have six releases to talk about. Starting online we've got a new compilation from The Medusa Collective. If you don't know what the collective is, check out my article on them from February. Representatives of the collective have contributed songs to this brand new album, The Medusa Collective Vol. 1. Some have already been released like track from Baby Ghosts and Night Wings, others are fresh out of the box like tracks from Violettas and Big Baby, but overall it is a fantastic look at music coming from members of local women and non-binary fronted bands. You can download it for a mere $2 on Bandcamp.


Next up is a brand new release from Matt Starling, who some of you may know previous as Matt Dixon, one of the minds behind Salt Lake Electric Ensemble. He recently launched an IndieGoGo fundraiser to get some backing for this lovely project, Terry Riley's Dorian Reeds (For Brass). It's a complete brass rework of the 1964 track from Riley, all 42 munites of it in a single track. You can download it for $8 on Bandcamp, but the fundraising went toward making big packages, which you can also purchase through that link.


Switching over to a little bit of R&B and Pop music, we have the debut EP from Soft Touch. This is a cool four-piece made up of musicians from SLC and Provo including Cam Sackett, Erik Maloy, Riley Parsons and Jake Burch. The group have only been together a short time and are still getting their bearings as far as local shows go, but they've already cranked out an EP called Touch. You can download it for just $3 from their Bandcamp.


We'll stick with pop but slide over to soul as we hear the latest from Chase Baker. You might know Baker as one of the 9,000 members who make up The Strike, One of the few members to step away from the fold to do his own thing, Baker just released his debut EP, Size Up, which has a very '90s pop element going for it with elements of soul mixed in. You can download it from Bandcamp, but this is one of the few times I'd advise you to exercise caution, as its only 4 tracks long, but he's charging $7 for it.


The last of the online releases comes to us from Durandal, a Utah-based dubstep producer and DJ who has been working hard in the music scene for over five years now. Unlike many dubstep creators, his tracks fit more in the dark side of things, they don't really jump right out as dance tunes. The man has had three EPs over the past three years, this new release titled OFD Tracks will be his fourth, you can download it for whatever you'd like to pay on Bandcamp.


Getting to release shows, we only have one for this Saturday from the band Blackwave. If the name doesn't jump right out at you, that's totally cool, but there's a perfectly good explanation behind that. This is one of the bands you may see perform on a regular basis at The Rock Church, or at least if you go to their church. It is an awesome steady gig, but it comes with little promotion or fanfare, much in the same way that whatever church you may attend doesn't put out flyers about their resident organ player. They are a religious band, but they've got a pretty decent rock sound to them, so depending on where you stand musically and religiously, you could either really love them or really hate them. The band will be releasing their latest EP this weekend called Abide, which you can snag a copy of the album at The Rock Church where they'll be holding their release show. Joel Pack & The Pops and Andrew Goldring will be opening the show, it is completely free to attend and starts at 7 p.m.


Love music, head out, buy local!