As far as independent solo artists on the internet go, there aren’t many more down to earth and as dedicated to being real as Matt Stevens. (http://mattstevensguitar.com) He’s been a huge influence on me, not so much in musical style, but in how to build true relationships with people from all around the world through music.

The journey of his sound has generally revolved around mathy and progressive acoustic-guitar looping with all sorts of side-roads taken along the way.

With the release of his newest album “Relic” (Embedded Below), Mr. Stevens seems to have honed all the most enjoyable parts of his past work while still pushing forward into new and unique sonic territory.

I would recommend this album to pretty much anyone in hopes that they’ll get to know Matt and reach back into his back-catalogue for more of this type of musical brilliance.

And I can’t, in good conscience, go without mentioning Matt’s band and sibling project called The Fierce and the Dead. (Their album “If it Carries On Like This We Are Moving To Morecambe” also embedded below)

Mixing just the right amount of Mogwai-ish post-rock familiarity with experimentally fresh and wholly unique goodness, this band is definitely a worthy counterpart to this modern guitarist’s solo work.