Premiers
Album Premiere: Powers of Observation – Seven Crows (reviewed by Dave...
Although Chris Murphy, the man behind the Seven Crows moniker, has been dropping singles for many months as a build-up to this album, hearing Powers of Observation in...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Let Us In – The Shrubs (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
You have got to love a song that keeps you guessing, keeps evolving, keeps adding new and interesting details, a song that doesn’t pander...
Post Punk/Goth
Antivenom – Darkswoon (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Although you can hear plenty of nostalgic vibes running through Darkswoon's third and most recent album, Antivenom, - darkwave shade, brooding post-punk energies, ornate,...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Glass – Frank Joshua (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
For an artist whose work is always defined by hazy atmospheres, softened edges, restrained lushness, and understated creative brushstrokes, “Glass” sees Frank Joshua exploring such evocative...
Indie
Church Street EP – Martyrs (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Seven releases into a planned EP run, Merthyr Tydfil’s “least favorite sons” bring us six songs (three of which are exclusive to the Bandcamp release), steeped in...
Pop/Power Pop
Dreamcast – Heddy Edwards (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If previously I have encountered Heddy Edwards in a more dreamy and pop-infused soundscape, “Dreamcast” finds her exploring new ground. I’m not saying that you can’t...
Folk/Country
Earth – Monique Grimme (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There has always been something elemental at the heart of Monique Grimme's music, something that feels connected to the natural world, timeless and intangible; her...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
Someday Got Away – Kevin Driscoll (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Never has a warning about complacency and whatever the opposite of carpe diem is, sounded so sublime, so sweetly seductive, so intimate, than it does on...
R&B/Soul
ICE Cold Killerz – Darrell Kelley (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I know that I often find myself referencing Marvin Gaye when writing about Darrell Kelley, and with good reason. Like Gaye, Kelley is unafraid...
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
Hope In Hell – Hot Hail! (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It's funny how serendipity works. The day after I referenced The Blitz Kids - that short-lived, massively influential, fashion-driven post-punk London club scene -...
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
Ephemeral (The Weight of Now) – Caleb Knowles (reviewed by Dave...
If album titles are often arbitrarily chosen, perhaps merely for effect or just taken from the name of a track, Ephemeral (The Weight of...
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
Hope In Hell – Hot Hail! (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It's funny how serendipity works. The day after I referenced The Blitz Kids - that short-lived, massively influential, fashion-driven post-punk London club scene -...
Another Monday – Alla Igityan (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is something effortlessly comfortable, instantly likable, and deeply relatable about “Another Monday,” the new single from Alla Igityan, the kind of song that draws you...
My Island Life – George Collins Band (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I shouldn’t be surprised when George Collins drops something like this reggae-vibes roots-pop piece; he seems able to wander into all manner of adjacent spaces and...
Etched In Love – Maryann Connolly (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Although starting in an acoustic pop place, “Etched In Love” gradually spreads its wings and explores other, adjacent sonic territory as it moves forward....
Antivenom – Darkswoon (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Although you can hear plenty of nostalgic vibes running through Darkswoon's third and most recent album, Antivenom, - darkwave shade, brooding post-punk energies, ornate,...
Get Away – Social Gravy (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The second single from the forthcoming The Pebble EP, “Get Away,” finds Social Gravy leaning confidently into their self-described role as “romantic rock ‘n’ rollers.” And if rock’ n’ roll...
