Premiers
Video Premiere: Sweeter Than Before – Scott Allen & The List...
As I probably said when reviewing their splendid album, June, Scott Allen & The List has a timeless, almost genreless sound, or at least...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Viva El Monstro – It’s Snakes / Others – Goddamn Wolves...
There is something wonderful about a split single, that is, two bands sharing space on one physical release, something at odds with the modern...
Post Punk/Goth
Drums Are Beating My Steps – Eternal Mourning (reviewed by Dave...
The best music is made at collision points. Either at constructive points of divergence where music pulls away from the core, letting all manner...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Wide Awake – AloneKitty (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Sometimes it isn’t about finding a prettier, more publicly pleasing, or more easily palatable sound; sometimes it’s about appreciating the beauty in more challenging...
Indie
Build – Kaatwalk (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Kaatwalk makes music that is akin to holding a gemstone up to the light. As the light catches it one way and then another,...
Pop/Power Pop
Love You Anyway – The Radaman Song (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something refreshing about a song that doesn’t need to overcomplicate things to make its point. The Radaman Song’s ‘Love You Anyway’ is...
Folk/Country
King’s Grave – Nathaniel Paul (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I’m not implying that the new one from Nathaniel Paul is political; his songs seem more universal, more general, and certainly more tastefully tailored...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
Flowers – Kelley Smith (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something special about music that doesn’t feel the need to announce itself, that trusts a melody, a voice and the exact few...
R&B/Soul
Sugar On Top – The Bamboos (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is a fine line between masterfully drawing on the golden age of soul for inspiration and simply polishing up its most recognisable moments....
Reggae/Ska/Dub
A Fistful of Covers – The Hempolics (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
A band releasing an EP of recordings covering their favorite songs is nothing new. A band doing that while also offering a dub reworking...
Dance/EDM
Rising Empire – Lord Conrad (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
While some artists build their musical worlds around familiar sounds and styles that fall easily into existing comfort zones, Lord Conrad prefers something altogether...
Hip-hop/Rap
Snap, Crackle & Bop – Us3 (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Hip-hop and the myriad styles and sounds that it spawned have moved a long way from the soul and funk and jazz and pop...
Jazz/Blues
Cry For Love – The Heard Eye (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
You have to admire the way that The Heard Eye effortlessly mix optimism and hope with the grooviest of music. And you can tell...
Classical/Instrumental
Oceans – Alexander Laing (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If music with a lyrical component tends to draw you to the artist’s intended conclusion – actually, more than that – it pushes you...
Avant Garde
Phantoms of Nagasaki – Vantablack (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Nick Hudson has been responsible for some of the most moving, eclectic, devastatingly beautiful, beguiling, exciting and adventurous music of recent times, probably because...
Interviews
The Fine Art of Falling: A conversation with Sharpe & Jones
Having just dropped their latest single, ‘The One To Fall,’ there seemed no better time to sit down with Swedish duo Sharpe & Jones to...
Live
Deadlight Dance/Flowers of Sacrifice @ The Tuppenny, Swindon 17th Sep ’26
Ahh, those were the days, my formative years spent in basement rock clubs drenched in dry ice, the smell of patchouli, the floor sticky...
Swindon
My River – M3G (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Trying to stand out in a world of guitar-slinging folk-popsters and would-be hipster troubadours when you make music with just voice and guitar is...
News
Latest single ‘So Keen’ from Indie punk band Poets Corner is...
Following a great bunch of reviews & a host of radio plays for previous single She’s Got You Now, Hull’s authentic indie outfit Poets Corner are back with...
Playlist
That Was The Music Week That Was – 080825
Another busy week at Dancing Towers, plenty of cool grassroots artists put under the pen, lots of great music mused over, and lots of...
Books
Playing the Changes – George Collins (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something wonderfully appropriate about using music as the backdrop to a story about picking up the pieces of a shattered life. Music,...
6 of the best
Oceans – Alexander Laing (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If music with a lyrical component tends to draw you to the artist’s intended conclusion – actually, more than that – it pushes you...
LA STAGIONE DECISIVA – Marco De Luca (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Some artists refuse to follow musical fashions, preferring to carve out their own territory and use music to explore what matters to them. Not...
Birdsong: a short conversation with Alucuo about their calm and creative musical world
Since spring 2025, Alucuo has released a string of calm, acoustic instrumental songs themed for birds. I caught up with him to find out...
Silver Lining – Byorn Gold (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something rather brave about writing songs for your children, especially when you are prepared to admit that parenthood isn't always the straightforward,...
Playing the Changes – George Collins (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something wonderfully appropriate about using music as the backdrop to a story about picking up the pieces of a shattered life. Music,...
On The Line – August Cooke (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
So much contemporary music comes from a guitar base that it is both rare and refreshing when a different instrument is the starting point...
