rescuing musical virtue in distress.
As always, A Shoreline Dream seem to pose more questions than they present answers for with their latest release. Then again, if your music isn’t working that hard then perhaps it is just taking up too much space anyway. Seek To Hide is certainly a cluster of contradictions, one that will ponder notions such as... Continue Reading →
Maybe it’s some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. A band who, consciously or otherwise , find themselves going down a certain creative route eventually find themselves working with someone who was, in part at least, one of the architects of just such a sound in the first place. Perhaps it is just co-incidence. Perhaps million to... Continue Reading →
There is an interesting arc between 2012s The Shallows and KOMPROMAT, one which moves from discussing the effect of emerging technologies on the individual to the effect those same inventions can have on whole societies. Can you expand on that idea? I Like Trains: It certainly feels as if there’s a strong link between the... Continue Reading →
Siamese Youth have never been shy about revelling in their 80’s synth-pop influences, and never more so than on this latest sonic slice, Take On Me Too. What keeps things fresh though is that they push those retrospective sounds through a modern prism and what comes out the other side is the perfect blend of... Continue Reading →
A bit of a quieter week on the music review front but still lots of great sounds from emerging artists, underground bands and off-the-radar acts for you to wrap your ears around. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/00hJX2xw9YWj0DigtF93T5?si=XW4BBecAQ2uIAUjEtFcZeA
At the risk of repeating myself, I have to say that any cover found on a release is perhaps the less interesting part of the record. (Yes, I still call them records, get over it.) But sometimes the right choice of cover says a lot about the artist too. I mean, if you throw in... Continue Reading →
Pop songs driven by acoustic guitar rarely reap great results. But that’s because most artist essentially try to take a folk music approach to a genre which celebrates very different sonic elements. The result is very often a middle ground, light-weight, ballad, one which makes use of neither pop’s infectious wants nor folks more cinematic... Continue Reading →
I’m sure that you get asked this a lot but what is it like being siblings in a band? What are the plus points and what problems, if any, does such a relationship come with? The Haunt: It’s definitely a lot less complicated than people think. The biggest plus of being siblings in a band... Continue Reading →
This EP opens with an airy guitar track that took me right back to Vini Reilly's Durutti Column. Beautiful echoey plucked notes meander around a simple drum rhythm evoking warm summers and wistful idling. This theme continues and becomes more layered and textured as the time drifts gently by. There are moments of Celtic influence along... Continue Reading →
Perhaps more than any other creative form, due to its immediacy and mobility, music is often the fastest medium to reflect ongoing events. I’m sure the upheaval of recent times - the pandemic, political divisions, looming economic isolation (I’m writing this from the UK remember) and the renewed drive for racial and gender equality -... Continue Reading →
Music is always as much sonic reflection of its place of origin as it is a series of more conscious influences. Even at the most cutting edge of modern urban music, geography and culture are always important and often unseen underpinning elements of the sound, after all the building blocks which create the London Grime... Continue Reading →
Gedanke has passed under the reviewing pen before, as part of a triple sonic slice of lush, classic infusions of the same name. But some music seems to come even more to life when accompanied by the perfect video and the simple, graceful and effective visuals that we find it with now, are just that.... Continue Reading →
It’s always tough ploughing the singer-songwriter, acoustic troubadour furrow. Tough because there is such a legacy of great music already set in the musical stone. Tough because there is so much competition for the ears and the disposable incomes of music fans and gig-goers. But how do you stand out from the pack, particularly when... Continue Reading →
As someone who is used to spending a significant amount of time making and performing music, how hard has it been to find yourself removed from that routine? Johnny Chops: It’s been a difficult adjustment. I’ve been steadily performing every week for almost 20 years. Having that completely disappear overnight has really taken a toll.... Continue Reading →
Quite a busy week here at Dancing About Architecture with lots of music passing under the pen, breezing in through the open window or just finding its way to me through other karma-driven routes. And as always, here is a round up of some of my favourite sonic moments of the last seven days. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4WKN8YOXtwT4DWb2aJffkU?si=n2G0mBj4SnCC-2MAIcM_ug
Okay, I'm late to the party as ever. But if GagReflex can take 3 years to follow up A Mouthful of Marbles, then I think that I can be three weeks late in getting around to a review. But I’m here now…so what’s going on? Well, it’s safe to say that a lot has changed... Continue Reading →
If, like me, you first encountered Cori Elliott playing weaponised bass and kicking ass as the focal point of The Vim Dicta, then Too Far Gone might come as a bit of a surprise. Then again, perhaps not. They were always a band who knew how to work with drama and dynamics, build atmosphere and... Continue Reading →
Music tends to spend so much time looking back that it all too often forgets to look forward. Occasionally, you catch a glimpse of future pop potential or the shape of rock to come but generally artists are so enamoured with the past, classic sounds, familiar icons and the safety net that copying such styles... Continue Reading →
Music can be a powerful tool, we all know that, it can be used to talk about, promote, question, celebrate and explore everything from the darkest lows to the most euphoric highs, from the universal to the most intimate, from the frivolous to the most poignant. But there is, arguably, no greater theme to explore... Continue Reading →
When you look back over the history of classical music, it is interesting to see how it has moved from been something exclusive, being performed for the upper echelons of society into a modern world where it has found perhaps a new found sense of purpose, being accessible to the masses by its perfect matching... Continue Reading →
There are artists who have short, incendiary careers, burning their name into the annals of history before fading away and then there are those artist who seem to be part of the engine room for a much bigger musical concern. They might not always get the recognition that they deserve but you find their name... Continue Reading →
What is most surprising about this track from Liam Moore's latest album, Visions of a Perfect Life, is not how well thought-out and charming the music is, and it is certainly that, but the reference points that he uses whilst building it. As the song grows and begins to flex its musical muscle it embraces... Continue Reading →
The Wolfhounds have gone against the F. Scott Fitzgerald adage of there being no second act. What is different about being a band and making music in 21st century to your 80’s experience of the same? The Wolfhounds: We’re ‘Band Interrupted’, really – we never ran out of ideas first time around, just time and... Continue Reading →
Will Lawton and his band of sonic Alchemists have always made music which is challenging to write about. But that is what also makes them one of the most appealing bands to write about too. As a writer you tend to find yourself pulled towards adopting a certain literary tone, one which matches the music... Continue Reading →
You can make a fair argument for rock ’n’ roll having found its perfect form in the early seventies. All people can hope to do with it now is make interesting and exquisite copies of its iconic template. And why not, its a great template. Let’s be honest, it isn’t really about the mechanics of... Continue Reading →
You often get tagged as being “folk-rock” but it is easy to hear that there is much more going on in the music. What are your biggest influences musically and otherwise? Town Meeting: We all grew up listening to a lot of different styles of music but collectively we are deeply rooted in folk, rock... Continue Reading →
This is a lesson about just how music works. First of all you are confronted by a song about female gold diggers which has very few lyrics in the verses and lots of the title/chorus being repeated over and over again.Then you realise that the video looks like it has been made by the same... Continue Reading →
There is a wonderful duality to the message in the latest song from Natori Blue. Those of faith will immediately pick up on the references surrounding the creation, the light of the world illuminating everything it passes over, banishing the darkness with truth and beauty. But it is a song whose message has a more... Continue Reading →
It seems as if we have all set our focus to the musical revelation that we thought we wanted to happen that we have missed the musical revolution that we actually needed. Over the last few years there have been many calls for the “new punk,” some new strain of incendiary music which musically reflects the... Continue Reading →
With a CV like the one that Lettuce boasts, you could be excused for thinking that their music is just going to be about technical virtuosity and funky tricks and gimmicks but actually there is a very personal voice at the heart and forefront of this band. Of course they draw on a vast library... Continue Reading →