rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Reviewing a punk album can be a tricky job, from the outside, punk can seem constrained and limited in its scope, there are key ingredients that are required to keep it from straying into metal or heavy rock. Energetic drums, heavily-distorted guitar, thumping bass (which can often have a trebly tone to combat the bass-heavy... Continue Reading →
Another great week for underground, grassroots and off the radar music. Here is just the tip of the sonic iceberg. As always check the artists out, explore the back catalogue and buy a track, an album perhaps even a t-shirt and help keep these lovely people making the world a brighter place. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75mFDoHpIZoYZ5V8oZ7xy6?si=PhfdxTNCQhSfEn80x5NuuQ
Short-Haired Domestic don’t make things easy on themselves. With wonderfully self-explanatory titles which range from A Song In Latin About The Importance Of Comfortable Shoes to A Song In Yoruba About Leaves, Memory And Time, they not only cover a great range of subjects with their lyrics, they deliver those lyrics in many different languages.... Continue Reading →
I Like Trains feel like something that we lost along the musical way. They also feel like something that is more necessary today than at almost any time in recent history. Some of the most interesting musical movements, hip-hop, punk, even rock and roll itself, grew out of disenfranchisement and boredom and such genres embraced... Continue Reading →
There is nothing like kicking off an album with some beguiling and engaging sounds, the sort of musical exoticism which grabs the listener right from the first languorous and luxurious vocal, the first skittering and skewed beat. That’s how you get peoples attention and Bakhchalarda does just that and does it perfectly. A blend of... Continue Reading →
Love ballads often get a bad rap. But then again many do actually deserve the reputation that they get. Angel Woman might be a love ballad but it is also just as much a chilled pop song, a slice of understated indie, a dial-down piece of pop-rock. Names and genres just seem to get in... Continue Reading →
Finally! An album coming out of the hip-hop corner of the world which reminds me why I was so bowled over by it the first time around. I don’t want to point fingers or anything but, generally speaking, it is a genre which has been hi-jacked by mumbling, self-aggrandising rappers, wielding a lap-top to create... Continue Reading →
A lot rap music seems to follow the same sonic lines. Trap beat. Wobbly middle ground electronica. Mumbled and indistinct lyrics to top it off. You get so used to cuing up a track, dropping the digital needle, as it where, and then hearing the same old sounds coming back at you. And that’s why... Continue Reading →
I know that I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the world is a small and culturally mixed place but it still has the power to surprise me. That a trio playing 70’s inspired, blues driven, incendiary rock, with a slightly Hendrix feel to it should be found in Amman, Jordan rather than say, London,... Continue Reading →
Just when you think that you have got the measure of an artist, they can still often throw you a curveball. The goods ones can anyway. And I thought I had the musical measure of Billy Roberts and his roots-rock posse. They are all about country-tinged rock and roll, raw edged, low-slung, foot on the... Continue Reading →
Sometimes you just need to escape the hustle and hassle of the rat-race. Sometimes you need to forget your day to day worries and cut loose. Sometimes you need to leave your problems at the door. Sometimes you need music like On Da Floor. Its an anthem to having a good time…make that a great... Continue Reading →
As the recent title track revealed to us, the parent album, from which this lush track comes, is a gorgeous piece of slow burning, wide-screen, cinematic and ambient instrumental beast. And Two Swords is the perfect taste of what you will experience if you dive into its cool sonic depths. Painting gentle celtic vibes onto... Continue Reading →
Art, music especially , can only ever be a reflection of its times. And we seem to be living in unprecedented times; from political entrenchment to the pandemic to the renewed energy driving social justice movements, and so we must expect unprecedented music. Music like Riot. Hip-hop and all the prodigal sonic sons and daughters... Continue Reading →
One of the things which is great about the modern musical world is the new found belligerence when it comes to genres and styles. In the past there were a few artists who never took much notice of where the various sonic demarcations lay and they were seen as outsiders and, sometimes, even trailblazers. Now,... Continue Reading →
It’s funny how mainstream music seems to age very quickly but its underground opposite number always sound exactly what it always was. I suppose that is the trouble with surfing zeitgeist waves in search of fad and fashion. That’s the trouble with conformity. Follow you own mind, abide by your own rules and no-one can... Continue Reading →
Too many artists spend too much time looking backwards, hoping to trade on nostalgic sounds and past pop glories, that they forget to embrace the future as it rises up to meet them. JPOPD1 is not one of those artists and Deep End is definitely the sound of someone looking forward rather than behind them.... Continue Reading →
How can you not love music this joyous, this full of life, this celebratory, this vibrant? Victory is a blend of funky bass grooves and gospel harmonies, direct, communicative vocals and soaring choruses, soulful brass and skittering drum beats and when they are put together with this much skill the result is nothing short of... Continue Reading →
Pretty much everything that you need to know about this track and the man behind it is found in the title. Get The Funk is full of funkiness and Billy Ray rocks! It's as simple as that. The track is a wonderfully groovesome blend of 70’s funk vibes andd R&B sass which wanders dangerously close... Continue Reading →
From little acorns might oaks grow, so the saying goes. And My Worth certainly resonates with such an image. From an impromptu beat, laid down after a few drinks, this funky, Southern Rock instrumental, grew via a regular See Your Shadow jam session to evolve into a full and flourishing sonic oak.The artistic director of... Continue Reading →
It seems that, in a world where we seem to look up to “celebrities” and politicians and even big comic book heroes turned into escapist film icons, we have forgotten that heroes walk amongst us. They look just like you and me but you can often spot them by the coal dust, the oil, the... Continue Reading →
As the anagrammatically titled (almost) Red Omen deftly showed us, Ed Roman is an artist able to wear many sonic hats and why not? After all, you wouldn’t expect a chef to repeatedly make one meal or an artist to constantly repaint the same picture, so why shouldn't a musician be free to turn his... Continue Reading →
Having been prepared for Christopher Dallman’s evolution from more traditional singer-songwriter into a creator of chilled, electronic-pop thanks to his exquisite single So High, I now find myself in the fortunate position of having a full album of such deft creations before me. Digital Blue, which will be unleashed on the public in about a... Continue Reading →
As the opening shimmering salvo and drifting haze of Turned Too Slow washes out of the speakers you know that you have found your way back to a very special musical place. But even though e.ps and singles have kept us abreast of the what has been going on there, it seems a rawer and... Continue Reading →
Even before we get to talking about the intricacies and sonic charms of the music, Sofi Maeda’s Ashita has lots to say about the modern world. The first thing it reminds us is that the world today is a very small place indeed, particularly artistically and culturally speaking. That there is no reason why artists... Continue Reading →
It’s a simple message but then those are always the most effective. Less is more and all that. But it is also a very fluid message, one applicable to the smallest, most intimate as well as the most world changing and relatable of situations. Although Eddy Mann’s music is an extension of his own faith,... Continue Reading →
There is something old-school about Clara Zimm’s voice. Like a mid-twentieth century, European diva meandering her way through polite society and cafe culture, tugging heartstrings with the depth and emotion, regret and romance of her lingering and languid torch songs. But in contrast musically speaking she is about as modern as you can get. And... Continue Reading →
Cyborg Asylum has always wandered between timelines and done so effortlessly. A band making music predicting the future yet inspired by music of the past. Leaning on post-punk sonic pioneering styles whilst making post-futuristic moves. Using cutting-edge digital technology to update and upgrade a sonic movement which began in the late 70’s. Artists based very... Continue Reading →
The first track I heard by you guys, “Yesterdays”, reminded me so much of any number of British, post-punk bands that I was surprised to find that you are from the quintessentially American Orange County. Perhaps we can start by discussing the band’s sound and influences? Erick: The West of House “sound” is an interesting recipe of... Continue Reading →
Musicians often rely on the sonic sucker-punch, the gimmick or the quick and obvious saccharine hit to hook the listener and draw them in. And then there are musicians who are smarter than such that. Violinist Chris Murphy has turned his hand to almost every conceivable style of music over the years, from classical to bluegrass,... Continue Reading →
Bang! Straight in. That’s how you make an impression. But then with the overall song weighing at just over two minutes there isn’t any time to mess around with enticing intros and tantalising sonics teasers. The Persian Leaps get straight to work, you have to admire that. Depending on which era you were born into you’d... Continue Reading →