Premiers
Album Premiere: All Hat No Cattle – Turn Turn Turn (reviewed...
There seems to be an undignified rush these days to brand everything vaguely rootsy as Americana, even though you would be hard pushed to...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Puzzle Piece – Alwyn Morrison (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Puzzle Piece” finds Alwyn Morrison heading out for pastures new, and while the song is clearly built on rock ‘n’ roll traditions, it can be branded...
Post Punk/Goth
Play Along – Cable Street Riots (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I will start with a confession. I will start by admitting that it is the band/artist’s name that first caught my eye. History buffs...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Snake Charmer – Moon Construction Kit (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The wonderfully named Moon Construction Kit feels like a return to the past’s psychedelic and dreampop sounds and simultaneously a search for their next chapters. And...
Indie
The Way We Were – Rob Lalain (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Some will tell you that you can hear an echo of the Beatles running through most modern music, and that is certainly the case...
Pop/Power Pop
I Love You Even More Now That You’re a Little Fucked...
You have to love a song with an unconventional and offbeat title. But if Ian Vargo’s latest single has a fairly unwieldy moniker, the song...
Folk/Country
Big Boots and Wide Brimmed Hats – Ker (reviewed by Dave...
Rather than labelling his latest single a country song, Ker stresses that this is a song of the country. Subtle difference. (And at least he didn’t call it Americana, which seems the go-to...
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
Figure It Out – Inches From Sin (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I probably say this every time an Inches From Sin record comes under my pen, but there is something about their music that feels...
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
Furtiva – FREZYA feat. LPSV (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It is perhaps quite telling that the single's cover shows the image of a strawberry-shaped, golden hand grenade because "Furtiva" does sound like someone...
Hip-hop/Rap
Mind How You Go – PanthaDogg (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Hip-hop has come a long way from its birthplace in the South Bronx all those years ago. And while all genres move with the...
Jazz/Blues
It’s About Time – Ndidi O (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Finding such a highly regarded, not to mention award-nominated, blues musician in Ireland can only be a reminder that most Western roots traditions can...
Classical/Instrumental
Double Helix – Eric Angelo Bessel (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
This latest double offering from Eric Angelo Bessel, “Double Helix” and “Upstate, “acts as the companion pieces to last year’s album Mirror at Night album, and is...
Avant Garde
Avoidance Moon – Zabus (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As I head into the opening titular track of the new and sixth Zabus album, Avoidance Moon, I get the strange sensation that I am listening to...
Interviews
New York City Boy: Talking to M. Spano about delivering Something...
With a new single, “Something Different,” just dropped, I sat down with M. Spano to find out about his roots, his style, and his...
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
Father and State – Boxing Club (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The indie world is full of bands that can make a decent racket. It is less well populated with bands that make you think....
Magnolia Soul – Cypress Key (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Some albums feel like just a collection of songs, nothing wrong with that, but often, having listened to what they have to offer, you...
From Nowhere Revisited – Satellite Inn (reviewed by David Marx)
The trouble with a lot of so-called Americana is that it invariably rests on its own languid induced laurels.
Indeed, whilst pertaining to be something...
Unstoppable – Lois Powell & Night Wolf (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As someone who writes about music all day, I look forward to songs like this to brighten up the process. As you might well...
Sumac Red – Quality Living (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is a lot to unpack in Quality Living’s latest single, so without resorting to my usual, slightly tangential preamble, I’m going straight in. (About...
Honey Gold – Monique Grimme ft. Sapphire Star Studios (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
After establishing herself as someone who can spin more sophisticated rock sounds and folk imagery into songs that are at once atmospheric and elemental, this...
