Premiers
Album Premiere: Recalibration – Amana Melome’ (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Amana Melome’ describes Recalibration as an awakening, using the analogy of the humble caterpillar turning into the majestic butterfly, an album that captures an artist similarly blossoming...
Rock/Punk/Metal
Vellichor – Get Good (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It’s always great when people whose music you have been a fan of in the past return with new projects. One of the highlights...
Post Punk/Goth
Mohawk – Def Nettle (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
You know that you are in good company when, even on the first pass of the song, you pick up on one, perhaps two Smiths,...
Shoegaze/Dreampop
Afternoon of Acid Rain – Hallucinophonics (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Anything that immediately reminds me of the prog-infused, acid-soaked surrealism of the post-pop golden age of The Moody Blues has got to be a great way...
Indie
Life of a Man – Andy Smythe (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Andy Smythe first caught my ear with “The Drought is Coming,” a song that put the issue of climate change and our attitude towards...
Pop/Power Pop
Running – Vi Talli (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The fact that “Running” is about moving forward in life, putting some distance between you and the past, and reclaiming your life and thinking...
Folk/Country
When The Waters Part – Mirabelle Skipworth (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Because we live in a world where more is more, where music makers in particular seem so enamoured of the modern studio and its...
Singer-Songwriter/Acoustica
Tremble – The Quiet North (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The ability to move so effortlessly between understatement and anthemics is just one of the traits that make "Tremble," the new single from The...
R&B/Soul
Album Premiere: Recalibration – Amana Melome’ (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Amana Melome’ describes Recalibration as an awakening, using the analogy of the humble caterpillar turning into the majestic butterfly, an album that captures an artist similarly blossoming...
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
Invincible – 40pzz (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you’re still clinging to that worn-out notion that rap doesn’t evolve, Invincible should put that idea out of its misery in under four...
Jazz/Blues
It’s Called Love…It’s Called The Blues – Wattmore (reviewed by Dave...
Pop music might have cornered the market for infectiousness, rock for energy, but the blues has always been the place where emotion reigns supreme....
Classical/Instrumental
Video Premiere: Boreal – Seven Crows (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Continuing with the singles that pre-empt the release of the full album, Powers of Observation, Chris Murphy now gives us “Boreal,” another delicate and emotive sonic...
Avant Garde
Avoidance Moon – Zabus (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As I head into the opening titular track of the new and sixth Zabus album, Avoidance Moon, I get the strange sensation that I am listening to...
Interviews
Deep Roots. Pure Soul: Paula Boggs talks soulgrass, the new album...
With the latest album, Sumatra, about to drop, I sat down with Paula Boggs to talk about artistry and ancestry, roots and soul, where music has...
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
Rooks – M3G (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The word ethereal is used a lot in music. Too much, really. Not least by overly-verbose scribblers like me. But sometimes no other word will do....
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
Spin – The Trusted (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Indie, as a musical tag, has been with us a long time now. And, like any established genre, bands wandering its realm need to...
Mohawk – Def Nettle (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
You know that you are in good company when, even on the first pass of the song, you pick up on one, perhaps two Smiths,...
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...
Fog – Lung (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Whoever said that we are meant to mellow with age hasn’t listened to Fog, the sixth and latest album from New Zealand’s Lung. Always known for a unique...
Running – Vi Talli (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The fact that “Running” is about moving forward in life, putting some distance between you and the past, and reclaiming your life and thinking...
To Fall – I’m Not a Blonde (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Some songs are about big concepts, grand events, and commonly shared experiences. "To Fall" is a song about something so small, so intimate yet...
