Monophonics EP Takes Top Honors In 2018 Best New EPs List

Courtesy: Transistor Sound

The countdown to the end of the year is officially on, and with that countdown on, many critics — if not most — are either submitting their year-ender lists or have already done just that.  Now this critic is joining those ranks with the first of many year-enders to come in the form of the year’s Top 10 New EPs.

Those who have followed this critic’s daily ramblings year in and year out know that the year-enders have always started with the smallest records, the EPs, and this year is no different.  This year has seen a variety of interesting EPs released from across the musical universe.

Veteran rock band Sister Hazel is joined on this critic’s list this year with not one, but two new EPs — Wind and Water.  Each one stands out in its own right.  Also worth noting this year are new releases from the likes of up-and-coming hard rock/prog-metal outfit Hyvmine, World Music act Te’Amir, with two of its own new EPs and pop country artist Max Ater among many others.

As with every year past, this critic’s list features not 10, but 15 titles.  The top 10 titles are the primary titles, while the next five are honorable mention titles.  With everything noted, here with out any further ado, is Phil’s Picks Top 10 New EPs of 2018.

PHIL’S PICKS 2018 TOP 10 NEW EPs 

1. Monophonics — Mirrors
2. Hyvmine — Fight or Flight
3. Sister Hazel — Water
4. Sister Hazel — Wind
5. Memphis Ukulele Band — Holidays Ain’t The Same
6. Grand Canyon — Grand Canyon
7. Max Ater — Small Town
8. Te’Amir — Abyssinia
9. Te’Armi — Abyssinia Rise
10. Sammy Johnson — Midnight Lovers
11. Sevi Ettinger — Salty Water
12. Facing Fire — Facing Fire
13. Ali McManus — Unbreakable
14. Doc Rotten — Sick & Suffering
15. Anialator — Rise To Supremacy

Up next from Phil’s Picks is this year’s Top 10 New Rap and Hip-Hop Albums.  That list features some well-known and not-so-well-known names and titles.  Stay tuned for that, too.

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Mill Creek Entertainment’s latest is a “grand” success

Courtesy: Mill Creek Entertainment

The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of North America.  As grand and stunning as the Grand Canyon, many people don’t realize that it’s only one part of a much larger natural wonder that is centered on the “Four Corners” region of the country.  That larger natural wonder is known as the Colorado Plateau.  Thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment, now viewers can learn about the entire Colorado Plateau and what makes it the amazing wonder that it is in the new blu-ray release in the National Parks Exploration Series focusing on The Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon focuses on more than just the Grand Canyon.  It focuses on the entire Colorado Plateau, which according to the documentary, covers regions of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.  The Colorado Plateau, according to the documentary, is larger than New York, Illinois, Georgia and Virginia combined.  Yet for its massive size, no one lives there.  However at one time very long ago, it was home to the Anasazi.  That time is covered in one of the four segments that make up the documentary.

“The Grand Canyon” is seprated by four different segments:  “The Colorado Plateau”, “The Beauty”, “Geology”, and “The Parks.”  “The Parks” segment takes up the majority of the documentary’s hour and twenty minute run time.  It’s in this segment that it focuses on the ancient Anasazi people, their cliff dwellings and the art found in and around their homes.  It’s amazing to learn that the roofs for their homes were built using trees taht had to have been brought by hand from roughly fifty miles away.  It’s explained that these people didn’t have the wheel or anything else to use.  They had to bring the trees used for their homes by hand.  The discussion on the art foudn in and around their dwellings is equally interesting.  It discusses how they were drawn, and their signifigance.  And for those who want to believe, it doesn’t avoid the obvious extra-terrrestrial theories, either.  Though those theories are made mostly in a quick passing note.

The focus on the Anasazi is just one part of the in depth feature on each of the National Parks that make up the Colorado Plateau.  Another of the amazing National Parks featured in this segment is the Petrified Noational Forest.  This segment notes that many people come to the Petrified National Forest, expecting to see really tall stone trees.  That’s not the reality, though.  What visitors to this park see is remnants of trees from the late Triassic Period.  They will also see the famed “Painted Desert.”

From the “Painted Desert” to the Petrified Forest, to the Delicate Arch and Balanced Rock, the entire Colorado Plateau offers so much awe, wonder, and beauty.  This documentary does include a segment titled, “The Beauty” that focuses on all of that natural beauty that visitors will experience.  But it’s only part of the entire work that will leave audiences amazed at everything this entire region has to offer.  As noted in the documentary, it’s one of those places that everybody has on their bucket list.  And those who didn’t have a visit to the region on their list will after watching this beautiful video post card.

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