Premiers
Album Premiere: Thunderbird Lodge – The Flavor That Kills (reviewed by...
Rock music is not generally known for having much to say, at least little in the way of the poignant and the profound. It...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Beast Machine Theory – Storm Boy (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Like all good bands, you can’t always pin Storm Boy down stylistically, but you can always point to their general direction. They are over there, running...
Post Punk/Goth
8th and Alvarado – Youth “Champagne” Remix – Darling Black ...
Name-dropping is all the rage. Especially in artists’ press releases. Usually, such sheets are full of information that relates to the fact that a...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Birthday Cake – Ava Valianti (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If I were one of those more pedantic writers, I would probably be giving you a potted history of the early eighties post-punk scene...
Indie
We Are Echos – Across Phoenix (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Opposites, they say, attract, and that is certainly true in the case of "We Are Echos," the latest one from Across Phoenix. Somehow, they...
Pop/Power Pop
Bloom – Lady Nade (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Bloom” is a much-needed message of hope and support in a world where it is easy to be dazed by the speed at which...
Folk/Country
Sumatra – Paula Boggs Band (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Soulgrass,” that’s the name Paula Boggs has given to the music she and her band make. And although genre labels are often odd and arbitrary affairs, I...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
Tragedy on Market Street – Untold River (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Hear the term singer-songwriter and many people will think of those old seventies icons, or, if their thoughts turn to something more contemporary, a more...
R&B/Soul
In Every Quiet Moment – Lawrence Tomini (reviewed by Dave...
“In Every Quiet Moment” is a song that seems to exist in a very specific space, a place between not only genres, sounds, and...
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
Make Fear Work For You – Monique Grimme ft. Sapphire Star...
The inspiration for a song can often be found in the most unexpected places. It can be found in the most everyday events or...
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
Floating Sheep – Floating Sheep (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Floating Sheep might easily be labeled as a “nu-jazz” outfit, but the emphasis is definitely on the word “nu.” Of course, jazz vibes and such...
Classical/Instrumental
Kielder Water Music – Dan Moore (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If there is a place that perfectly typifies where sound and psychogeography meet, where music attempts to encapsulate the idea of a place, is...
Avant Garde
True Human Trough – Bell Barrow (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Comfort zones? Who needs them? Well, not Bell Barrow that’s for sure. Anyone already familiar with any music that Jeremy Moore has made under this or any other...
Interviews
Stranger Than Fiction: A short chat with The Flavor That Kills...
With a new album, Thunderbird Lodge, on the way, I sat down and caught up with The Flavor That Kills guitarist, singer, and lyricist Ryan Corcoran, to find...
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
Back where it all began. A Big Day out with EXTC
Terry Chambers will always remember his twenty-first birthday. After all, who would forget being subjected to their friend’s TV show reel, fifteen minutes (well,...
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
The World is Waiting – The Long Honeymoon (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
New bands, generally, come in two types. Firstly, there are the young whippersnappers, champing at the bit for attention, chasing their first taste of notice...
Hope To Hell – The Gated Community (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Music has always been a powerful tool, a voice for important issues, to provoke thoughts, spark dialogue, and make your opinion heard. The fact...
8th and Alvarado – Youth “Champagne” Remix – Darling Black (reviewed by Dave...
Name-dropping is all the rage. Especially in artists’ press releases. Usually, such sheets are full of information that relates to the fact that a...
The Noticer – Mt. Kili (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something intimate at the heart of Mt. Kili’s songs, something hushed and whispered, as if they were never meant to be played to...
Sumatra – Paula Boggs Band (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Soulgrass,” that’s the name Paula Boggs has given to the music she and her band make. And although genre labels are often odd and arbitrary affairs, I...
Album Premiere: First Light – Dark Pale (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Progressive rock has, for some at least, been a much-maligned genre, often conjuring images of keyboard players dressed as wizards, songs about taking rings...
