rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Even though Define Love signalled that the album to follow from New York's Dope Sagittarius was going to be a wonderfully eclectic affair, few could have predicted such a sweet and sophisticated set of songs. But then again with a playwright father and folk singer mother and as a teen punk-funkster who spent his formative... Continue Reading →
Imagine if you took the idea of a traditional crooner and underpinned the expected swing style with something altogether more contemporary. Imagine if Sinatra was just getting his start and was knocking around with friends who played in indie bands. Imagine if the big sound of the chamber pop era was condensed down into a... Continue Reading →
Pennies By The Pound walk some very fine lines on their latest album, the groovily titled Heat Death of The Universe. The Finnish three-piece have always been open about their progressive leanings, frontman Johannes Susitaival happy to admit a taste for the likes of Marillion and Rush in particular. But like those two bands, it... Continue Reading →
Just reading the titles of the tracks found on this gorgeous e.p. suggests that you are about to experience something a bit out of the ordinary, being that they all seem to be themed around ancient Egypt. But as the first song, Nile, opens up, its full understated majesty…if such a thing is possible…is revealed.... Continue Reading →
Swirling about between, and forged out of all of the best bits that the folk and pop genres have to offer, Circle is a disarmingly gorgeous song. It's as simple as that. It blends charming, chiming and understated pop with the authenticity of folk, throws in a few indie vibes, some almost nursery rhyme sonics... Continue Reading →
There is a gentleness to the music and intimacy to the voice that greets you as Taking Off And Landing opens up this latest three-track offering from Keith Curtis. Guitars are picked, mandolins chime and harmony vocals wrap themselves around his accessible deliveries and although the song runs along at a reasonable pace, it is... Continue Reading →
As the video neatly demonstrates, Blake Red is no slouch when it comes to the musical input on her records, here wielding vocals, bass, guitars and who knows whatever else for this latest single and its tale of rebirth. Rock it may be but it is rock will all of the usual baggage and cliche... Continue Reading →
You can make a fair argument for the fact that classic rock music, a bit like sharks, found its perfect form a long time ago. But the difference is that in the case of classic rock it doesn't hurt to give it a bit of a polish and brush up from time to time. (Warning,... Continue Reading →
Richard Schroder seems to have that knack for writing songs that immediately sound like you have been listening to them for years. Not in a tried and tested, heard it all before, sort of way, more like a, wow, I haven't heard this for ages sort of way. And if the opening riff of We... Continue Reading →
I remember watching a band many years ago and the person I was with saying to me, " I don't really like this band, they don't know what they want to be." My response was, "It's when they work that out that I'll probably stop liking them." And to this day, I would rather listen... Continue Reading →
There is something slightly nostalgic, easy and comfortable about the lazy beats and the warm feeling you get as you listen to Like We Used To, but that is a deliberate move. Understanding that music communicates as much to the soul as the lyrics do to the brain, Coral Moons have created a wonderful twin... Continue Reading →
I pride myself in being able to drop the digital needle on almost any virtual disc and broadly understand what is going on and where it fits into the musical landscape. With Vitamin Sea, however, I think that I have met my match. Not that Fresh Cut Salads are doing anything too "out there," on... Continue Reading →
Pop music gets bad press these days because people have forgotten just how good pop music can be. Just because your average chart single seems to be a predictable slice of style over substance, throwaway, saccharine dross, doesn't mean that that is all it is capable of being. And just because a song is hovering... Continue Reading →
When writing about the previous album, Things I Don’t See, I sort of suggested that Kevin Daniel's sound got to the heart of what Americana is, for this UK based music consumer, at least. Just like most genres, however, it is almost impossible to get two people to even agree on what the term means.... Continue Reading →
There is an interesting insight into how the internal machinations of music-making, at least the music of Bilbosa, works to be found on this gorgeous and graceful EP. The opening and closing songs are the two versions of recent single Neon, the former featuring vocals from Lori Sky, the latter the original, instrumental version. Starting... Continue Reading →
I've never really known where the sonic demarcations in dance music lie, where Downtempo merges into Ambient, where Deep House gets so blissed out it becomes Chill-wave, but then, I suspect not many people have, certainly not those who make the music. To such creatives, it is just music, and the sounds, styles and samples... Continue Reading →
Long before you even get to the moment when you start playing the music, TMTE offers a lot of intriguing ideas and interesting elements to think about. Firstly titles. Titles are important. They speak volumes. Take Istanbul Hovercraft, just those two words together are intriguing, songs with names such as Casting Nasturtiums shows that they... Continue Reading →
The term alternative, when applied to music at least, seems to have a very predictable meaning these days. Which is ironic. Hear it, and you think of leather-jacketed, skinny-jeaned indie kids with a complicated hair and all the right designer labels playing music just left of mainstream. Hardly an alternative at all. This latest single... Continue Reading →
I shouldn't be surprised that a music maker based in Jakarta seems to channel about half of the bands I was watching and listening to as far back as the '80s. The world is a small place. A connected place. A place where influences and ideas ebb and flow across both time and geography. It's... Continue Reading →
On paper at least, the ideas and influences which go into FLDPLN's sound shouldn't work. A return to the saxophone as the driving instrument, the nostalgic whiff of classic 80's pop music (as experienced through the ears of a young music fan via a late-night Walkman), electronic soundscaping and plenty of it. But in the... Continue Reading →
Some artists tell stories via a song. Others create longer narratives via, for want of a better word, concept albums...or at least albums of concepts. Keeley, via the band of the same name, has an even more focused and singular approach to story-telling. Five years ago she read about German tourist Inga Maria Hauser, whose... Continue Reading →
This record takes a while to get moving. It initially feels like the electronics are driving the artists but after the loops and crunches hook onto a suitable groove the artists enter with shamanic chants and choral calls and responses. This all adds up to a well-considered aural journey. There are fragments of Swans, Can,... Continue Reading →
There's a great attitude driving the heart of, not only this song but Likeness' attitude towards music in general. By understanding that music comes from within, that it is an extension of our very souls and that the sounds and styles that we work with are merely sonic building blocks, tools to get a job... Continue Reading →
The quirky and cooly odd (or perhaps oddly cool) cover might hint at some sort of alt-pop explosion or indie-infused anthemics treating your ears but what lies within is something altogether more original and satisfying. Ambient, filmic, cinematic, experimental, understated and deft are all words that sum up what is happening here but even those... Continue Reading →
If ever you needed proof that the only thing that separates music genres is the labels and divisions that we make for ourselves, especially now that geography is no longer an issue, this latest single from Chris Murphy is it. Try to find the place where folk merges with country, Celtica with Americana, blues vibes... Continue Reading →
Based around understated folk guitars, gentle vocals and just the merest hint of more ambient and indie sonics to help create a wonderfully fluid platform behind them, Shining Out is a master class in getting to the very essence of a song. There are songs full of delicacy and grace, such as the carefully crafted... Continue Reading →
The last time I had Chris Murphy under my pen it was to discuss the understated, cinematic and ambient creations of Seven Crows. This time out it is for a return to his more signature sound…if someone as creative as Chris could even be said to have a signature sound. Sovereign sees him back in... Continue Reading →
If you can tell a lot about a person by the company that they keep, the same is equally true of musicians. And, this being the case, the company that Ron Wright keeps on this 18 track album, speaks volumes. After all, any album graced with collaborations and contributions by people who have played for... Continue Reading →
Hitting the sweet spot between rock's rabble-rousing aggression and alt-pop accessibility and addiction, Light Me Up is instantly contagious. Even the most hard-hearted cynic or entrenched musical tribal follower would be hard pushed not to fall for its raucous charms immediately. Some songs achieve anthemic status through clever media and marketing, though record company drive... Continue Reading →
Getting old. It happens to us all. It also creeps up on us quicker than we could ever expect. One minute you are bouncing about on the stage at CBGB's playing to like-minded gutter-punks and rock 'n' roll rebels, the next it is just a fading memory. And at that point, you start to get... Continue Reading →