Dave Franklin
Musician, scribbler, historian, gnostic, seeker of enlightenment, asker of the wrong questions, delver into the lost archives, fugitive from the law of averages, blogger, quantum spanner, left footed traveller, music journalist, zenarchist, freelance writer, reviewer and gemini. People have woken up to worse.
Swindon Shuffle Playlist – Year 15 (part 2)
Part two of the playlist that gives you a flavour and reminder of, (not to mention a reason to make a note in the...
Virtual Reality 123 / Charlotte 12″ Version – The Speed of...
A double A-side? Whatever next? In a world where artists can, and indeed do, release their latest creative urges as fast as their little...
Lionhearts – Karamelien (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
We already know Léanie Kaleido to be an astute songwriter and a fantastic musician, just one spin of her album How To Weigh A...
Cascading Cosmos – When Mountains Speak (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If the eclectic and un-second-guess-able (I'm sure that's a word) When Mountains Speak can wander between music driven by a heavy rhythmic groove on...
Postpunk pioneers Pink Turns Blue release new EP to coincide with...
Trailblazing darkwave-postpunk pioneers Pink Turns Blue kicked off their long-awaited TAINTED 2022 tour on September 2, bringing them to 23 cities across North America and...
WEIMAR’s Heaven on High Street East takes on some sensitive and...
Manchester art-rock quartet Weimar presents the single 'Heaven on High Street East' with an accompanying video driving home the lyrics. A lush prog indie-folk ballad, this is...
Need U Right Now – Montezuma ft. Olha Lishchshyn (reviewed by...
Sometimes, the back story behind the music is as exciting, poignant and interesting as the music itself. Not in an "X-Factor pity-party" sort of...
Jessie Kilguss announces ambitious new album ‘What Do Whales Dream About...
Fabulous NYC-based songwriter-storyteller Jessie Kilguss has released her new album 'What Do Whales Dream About at Night?' four years after her album 'The Fastness'....
Fall – Phil Firetog Trio & Co (reviewed by Darren Baker)
If there is such a thing as progressive folk, then Fall, the latest release from Phil Firetog Trio & Co, is indeed it. It...
The Mirror – The Ember Glows (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I often think to myself, “if I was going to be in a band again, what would it sound like?” The answer to that...
Toronto power trio ON releases new single Blackmail ahead of...
Made up of Lucy Di Santo (vocals, bass), Dan Cornelius (drums) and Steve Fall (guitars) - formerly of popular Toronto acts such as Acid Test,...
Concept Art – Topaz Jack (reviewed by Darren Baker)
Topaz Jack is one of those artists who act as a weather vein for which way the rap winds are blowing these days. What...
Call To Arms – Vernons Future (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Following in a similar sonic vein as some of my favorite artists – The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, The Icicle Works, and my hometown heroes,...
I’m Not Like You – Hando Aguilar (reviewed by Darren Baker)
Without much background information supplied, no blurb or biography with which to initially get a handle, I plunged into Hando Aguilar's flowing waters without...
What I Believe – Chris Beland (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you mixed the troubadour social commentary and questioning of a young Dylan, the melodicism and accessibility of the likes of David Gray and...
Identity – Carl Scogland (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Having turned the heads of critics and the ears of the pop buying fraternity alike via a series of astute singles Better Man, Video...
Eulogy To Lenny Bruce – Chris Connelly (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The more I listen to and learn about Chris Connelly, the more I see an exquisite and frustrating problem inherent in his work. Following...
Psilocybin – Sol Asar (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Imagine if hip-hop music had been birthed not in the late seventies South Bronx but halfway up a mountain in Northern India three thousand...
St Davids – Chesterwhite (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
The Chesterwhite story is one of finding lost things. Specifically, a set of demos from fifteen years prior being unearthed during the Lockdown and...
Yes…It’s Still a Thing! – Duo Sequenza (reviewed by Darren Baker)
To those outside the genre, the term classical music often conjures images of wigged conductors, symphonic music played in opulent rooms, pomp and circumstance,...
Musical Musings – II: Groovers on Manoeuvres
With the dust of the Swindon Shuffle finally settling over the musical landscape and a sense of normality returning to the routine, I thought...
Flames of Greed – Dispel (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Suppose music has the ability to build worlds. In that case, the one that Dispel is creating is dark and delicious, otherworldly, dangerous, populated by...
Monster – Shortcut2Infinity (reviewed by The Night Writer)
Kicking off with earlier single, I Know, is an excellent way of setting the scene for this latest collection of S2I music. It was...
The Acquired Savant – NinémiA (reviewed by The Night Writer)
Rock and Metal, more than any other genre, love their sub-groups. It seems that every band wants to be in a category of their...
High Patterns – Alicon (reviewed by Darren Baker)
I always like to do a bit of research before I plunge, pen first, into a review, but Alicon, like many artists working in...
Never Give Up – Luca Di Luzio (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Many people hear the word Jazz and are immediately turned off. It conjures images of complex and unfathomable, wild and impenetrable tunes, music that...
Mon Souvenir – Frenchy and the Punk (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It is easy to see where some of Frenchy and the Punk’s influences lie – somewhere in a swirl of gothic and post-punk pioneers...
The Bridge – Sicky (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Anything that reminds me of The Manic Street Preachers has got to be good, right? “The Bridge” certainly does that. There is something in...
One Breath Away – Radio Drive (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I've probably said it before (I'm too lazy to check, it's been a tough week), but Radio Drive walks a fine line. It is...
Insecurities – Jenn Connor (reviewed by Darren Baker)
They say, "Those that can, do. Those who can't, teach," Thankfully, we have artists such as Jenn Connor who are happy to blow such...
