Premiers
Single Premiere: Be the Light – Mother Coyote (reviewed by Dave...
If anywhere needs a song of hope at the moment, it is Minneapolis. There are many troubled places and turbulent events taking place across the world,...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Rising From The Ashes – Brunhilde (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Backed up by a run of European gigs starting later this month, Brunhilde’s latest release, “Rising From The Ashes,” reminds us of all the things...
Post Punk/Goth
Visions From the Frontier – Noise Factory United (reviewed by Dave...
As you work your way through the six songs that make up Noise Factory United’s Visions From The Frontier, you quickly realise that the frontiers that...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
The Laws of Life – Lois Powell + Night Wolf (reviewed...
This fourth collaboration between Lois Powell and Night Wolf sees the two artists pushing their already hard-to-pin-down sound, but hey, isn’t that the whole point? As a famous...
Indie
No FEAR – Paul Archer (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“No FEAR” might be taken from Paul Archer’s debut album, but that doesn’t mean that he is new to the sonic fray. Anything but. With bands...
Pop/Power Pop
Bad Feeling – Rowhome (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love songs that sit on the cusp, or in the case of this latest one from Rowhome, many cusps. I get it if you like...
Folk/Country
Broken Vein – Outpost Drive (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Outpost Drive is perhaps one of few bands that actually deserve the title, “Transatlantic Americana”, which is as much a description of their music as it...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
To Cold To Swim – Art Schop (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is always a deeper story running through Art Schop’s songs, not for him throwaway lyrics or offering up merely more of the same old,...
R&B/Soul
Call Me Crazy – Gregory Ackerman (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I’m not sure if “Call Me Crazy” is an echo of a golden age of music past or a sonic signpost to a better...
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
Video Premiere: Hearts Like Caves – Dilly Dally Alley (reviewed by...
As I sit here writing, the spring sun streaming through the window, the cat following the warm spot across the floor, green things sparking...
Classical/Instrumental
Rust Mountain (Monochrome Piano Version) – Aptøsrs (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It is one thing to listen to and enjoy a song; it is another to understand it, or at least get a feeling for...
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
Home From Home: Ben E Davis talks London, LA, his musical...
With the single “Hometown” dropping, I caught up with Ben E Davis to talk about being that American Boy in London, how he got started in...
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
Heartbreak High – The Danphes (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love it when I get a piece of music under the pen, and it is an excuse to break out all my favourite...
Perpetual Light of the Void – Daphne Parker Powell (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Coming ahead of her album, The Death of Cool, which features an array of New Orleans, Mississippi, and Muscle Shoals musical royalty, “Perpetual Light of the Void” is a...
Ur Cure – Royal Blush (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Feeling like a modern piece of music made at the alt-rock/power-pop divide yet seemingly following the tenets that made so much nineties sound and...
The Grief – The Sway (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Cards on the table, I wasn’t aware of The Sway back in the day, well, you can’t be everywhere, can you, and I suspect that back...
Rust Mountain (Monochrome Piano Version) – Aptøsrs (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It is one thing to listen to and enjoy a song; it is another to understand it, or at least get a feeling for...
Telling Stories – ALLEY the band (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It’s always fascinating when, having heard only one song by a band, you are faced with a more complete array of their music. Was...
