Premiers
Single Premiere: Something in the Water – AudioGust (reviewed by Dave...
There is no substitute for good songwriting. Forget all the studio gimmicks, the clever tricks, and zeitgeist-driven sonic fashion statements; if there isn’t a...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Just Another Me – Lala Vale (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
While you might argue over where ‘Just Another Me’ sits in the grand scheme of things – pop, rock, indie – it is the...
Post Punk/Goth
Terror By Night – Arms & Armour (reviewed b y Dave...
I know that it is my job to put music into words on behalf of the music that falls under my pen, but sometimes,...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Human – Tallulah Rendall (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Tallulah Rendall makes music that comes from a very delicate place and never more so than with her latest single, ‘Human.’ This time out, the...
Indie
Fly Away – Steve Stinson (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Travel might broaden the mind, but there comes a point where you find yourself so far out, so far from home, so ready to...
Pop/Power Pop
One Shot – Bliss Carmxn (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Okay, a quote from a Rocky...
Folk/Country
Helvegr – Skarnheim (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
‘Helvegr’ seems to come from a very different place than most contemporary music, especially as, in many ways, it doesn’t sound that contemporary at...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
In Your Eyes – Dysmusia (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If pop music is generally shiny, instantaneous and groove-led, and folk music more often leaning towards the rustic, raw and real, then ‘In Your...
R&B/Soul
Always Be Mine – Ed Sykes and Friends (reviewed by Dave...
A lifetime of listening thanks to the day job (there is a pun in the band name if you look deep enough) means that...
Reggae/Ska/Dub
A Fistful of Covers – The Hempolics (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
A band releasing an EP of recordings covering their favorite songs is nothing new. A band doing that while also offering a dub reworking...
Dance/EDM
Failure to Comply – Mr. MiLK (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
'Failure To Comply' is less a piece of EDM and more an exercise in soundscaping, less about the consistency that usually goes with music...
Hip-hop/Rap
00′ Shawty – Ja Fearce (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Taken from the EP of the same name, Ja Fearce's latest single, "00' Shawty", sits in a beguiling middle ground between artistry and energy....
Jazz/Blues
Get Up Ya Honky Tonk – Cam Cole (reviewed by Dave...
It is perhaps, in part at least, the process of modernisation and homogenisation, sanitisation and bastardisation that has taken place in blues music in...
Classical/Instrumental
Things Fall Apart – Nathan Amundson (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Music and literature are my twin passions, so it is always great when the two occupy the same space for me. Not only is Nathan Amundson's...
Avant Garde
The Shadows of Alienation – Spectrum of Disorder (reviewed by Dave...
Beyond the questions and themes raised by the spoken words and lyrical fragments on this EP, there is a broader question that faces the...
Interviews
The Method in the Musical Madness: A conversation with Anastasiya Bazhenova...
Less a debut album, rather what Anastasiya Bazhenova prefers to call her “first complete artistic statement”, the release of From Mendelssohn to Madness was the perfect opportunity to sit...
Live
Grasslands @ The Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon, 4th July 26
If ever an artist and a gig location were perfectly suited, it was watching Grasslands in the shaded courtyard outside the museum dedicated to...
Swindon
The Shadows of Alienation – Spectrum of Disorder (reviewed by Dave...
Beyond the questions and themes raised by the spoken words and lyrical fragments on this EP, there is a broader question that faces the...
News
A Shared Experience – recollections of Jimi Hendrix
The authors of a new book on Jimi Hendrix are looking for your help. Following the well-received first volume of 'A People's History of...
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
Revenge of the Bond Girl – Bond Girl (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
James Bond is a divisive figure, definitely a character who hasn’t moved with the times, and even the modern take on him is of an...
One Shot – Bliss Carmxn (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Okay, a quote from a Rocky...
Cheap Rosé – Jay Saint James (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The singer-songwriter image has often been that of an earnest, folky, coffee-shop gigging roots player, disseminating serious songs about social issues and insightful introspection....
Always Be Mine – Ed Sykes and Friends (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
A lifetime of listening thanks to the day job (there is a pun in the band name if you look deep enough) means that...
Inside Out (Radio Edit) – Sean MacLeod (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I’m sure such undercurrents have always been there, but ‘Inside Out’ and the album it’s taken from, That’s When the Earth Becomes a Star, feel...
Helvegr – Skarnheim (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
‘Helvegr’ seems to come from a very different place than most contemporary music, especially as, in many ways, it doesn’t sound that contemporary at...
