Premiers
Video Premiere: Death Valley Dream Cult – Death of Creation (reviewed...
There is considerable debate over how to keep the long-established rock and roll genre relevant to successive generations of discerning devotees, especially since it...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Song for a Diva – Alley the Band (reviewed by Dave...
There is something luminous, ethereal, otherworldly about the way that “Song for a Diva” drifts towards the listener, a blend of floating sonics and...
Post Punk/Goth
Spin You Around – Loudness Wars (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Depending on your age, record collection, and general sonic demeanour, “Spin You Around” will remind you of any number of past sonic waypoints. Aging...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Fertile Mind – Frank Joshua (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If, to those still bothered about genres and musical pigeon-holing, the singer-songwriter conjures images of acoustic precision and folk finesse and dream-pop, blends of...
Indie
Sugar Man – Midniter (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
He cut his teeth on punk and rock and roll bands, dresses like a sleaze-rock 1970’s John Lennon, and makes music best described as...
Pop/Power Pop
Sweet Tough Alien – BeaVoys (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
In the past, Alan James, the man behind the BeaVoys moniker, wandered between duties as musician and composer, occasionally (recent singles) being sonically more front...
Folk/Country
Derby Hill – Derby Hill (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As “Restless and Forgiven” opens up this self-titled EP, you can only admire the way that Detroit’s Derby Hill wraps his songs of everyday trials and tribulations...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
Tremble – The Quiet North (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The ability to move so effortlessly between understatement and anthemics is just one of the traits that make "Tremble," the new single from The...
R&B/Soul
Point of You – The Heard Eye (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As a title, "Point of You" is a wonderfully open and ambiguous phrase. Is it accusatory? Is it a chance to list your achievements?...
Reggae/Ska/Dub
Album Premiere: Lost Files – JaDon Blaxx (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If Dancehall arrived in the seventies as reggae's leaner, faster, more street-charged younger sibling, then Lost Files is a clear snapshot of where that...
Dance/EDM
The Woven Project – Laura’s Kitchen – Intro/Outro (OuNoSoGo Remixes) (reviewed...
The Woven Project's music is, for the most part, a quietly mercurial experience, more sound as atmospherics or sparingly collated strands of ambience than...
Hip-hop/Rap
Invincible – 40pzz (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you’re still clinging to that worn-out notion that rap doesn’t evolve, Invincible should put that idea out of its misery in under four...
Jazz/Blues
Milogather Parts 1 & 2 – Crescent (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love that Crescent’s debut release looks as much to the past as to the future. And by that I mean that, while, of course,...
Classical/Instrumental
Video Premiere: Boreal – Seven Crows (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Continuing with the singles that pre-empt the release of the full album, Powers of Observation, Chris Murphy now gives us “Boreal,” another delicate and emotive sonic...
Avant Garde
A Glimpse For Bobby – When Mountains Speak (reviewed by Dave...
Although written in tribute to the recently departed Bob Weir, visionary musician and one of the founder members of The Grateful Dead, you could...
Interviews
Power to the People: A catch-up with Power Down’s dynamic duo,...
Separated by generations, Dan Voss Jr. delivers sucker punches of ’80s and ’90s rock edge—echoing his days writing and producing for major artists—while Zeus propels their sound forward,...
Live
The Crack – En Heat (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If, like me, you feel that mainstream music is all a bit safe, merely appealing to fads and fashions, comfort zones and marketing reports,...
Swindon
Rooks – M3G (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The word ethereal is used a lot in music. Too much, really. Not least by overly-verbose scribblers like me. But sometimes no other word will do....
News
‘Mariachi El Bronx IV’ out February 13 Marks Alter Ego of...
On February 13 LA trailblazers Mariachi El Bronx will release Mariachi El Bronx IV, their long-awaited new album, and first in over a decade. MEB is the alter...
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
How Not To Write About Music – III: Starting the Week...
One of the joys of writing about new music is that it stops you from getting trapped in the past. Of course, bands like...
6 of the best
Video Premiere: Death Valley Dream Cult – Death of Creation (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is considerable debate over how to keep the long-established rock and roll genre relevant to successive generations of discerning devotees, especially since it...
Goodbye To All That – Mark Vennis & Different Place (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Over several singles, I have worked out where Mark Vennis & Different Place sits on the musical map, spiritually at least. At his most punky, he...
Stretch My Plum – Blackfoot Daisy (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If Bog Witch is the musical vehicle through which Wendy DuMond is let loose to run the complete gamut of the musical spectrum from roots to rock to...
You Better Believe – Criminal Hero (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Sometimes you need something new, a change, an experience outside your comfort zone. Sometimes it is great to see that the world is constantly...
Sweet Tough Alien – BeaVoys (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
In the past, Alan James, the man behind the BeaVoys moniker, wandered between duties as musician and composer, occasionally (recent singles) being sonically more front...
Derby Hill – Derby Hill (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As “Restless and Forgiven” opens up this self-titled EP, you can only admire the way that Detroit’s Derby Hill wraps his songs of everyday trials and tribulations...
