rescuing musical virtue in distress.
We live in an age where your average pop-picker demands an easy handle on their music, a quick soundbite to help them compartmentalise a track by genre, sound or style. The irony of the internet age is that the new found freedom that should have been ushered in has instead resulted in an even more... Continue Reading →
Most people will relate to Davey Woodward's eloquent and wonderfully ragged songs because he sings about the day to day life of the everyman, the human condition, of love, loss and longing. I relate to him just as much because his home town of Bristol looms large in the background of his songs, a city... Continue Reading →
All manner of sonic sweeties and nurishing noise that have kept me sonically fed and watered through out this last week. Have a listen, buy a few tracks, let's return the love to the grassroots music makers. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2eS1uD0RFHeinv4iHHcgxY?si=HlbYz0YyQhKBNtWfslgB_A
Who isn’t a sucker for a bit of soft, soothing, soulful reggae, for some smooth island vibes and bubbling bass lines, funky, off-kilter beats and sunshine-infused grooves? I know I am. Although I have to admit that it isn’t a genre that I actively seek out, when I find myself confronted with it, I love... Continue Reading →
The pandemic, and all of the disruption it has caused, has seemed to evoke the same response in people as any other psychological or emotional shock. Initial denial that it would not be a problem. Anger at the loss of liberties. Depression brought on by the isolation of lock down and finally acceptance. Most people... Continue Reading →
If I were the sort of person who relied on cheap comparisons and less than subtle name-drops, I would at this point be mentioning people like Nick Cave, Damien Rice, and perhaps Elliott Smith. Thankfully I am above such unimaginative approaches to reviewing music. Ian Clement builds music largely from understatement and a clever use... Continue Reading →
From the opening strains of Bach’s Cantata 147 it is clear that Joe Hodgson is more than just a “guy with a guitar,” that he perfectly understands the broader musical landscape in terms of genre, geography and history. And as those classical notes scatter and re-assemble into the funky, blues, electric and eclectic instrumental of... Continue Reading →
As soon as its sassy ska groove comes into earshot, Who Calls? takes me back to my youth, coming of age, as I did, in the shadow of the British Two-Tone movement of the late seventies, its exotic and earthy tones working their way into my very DNA and quenching my musical thirst. But that... Continue Reading →
I always maintain that the job of a single is to advertise a forthcoming album. It’s an old-school notion I know, especially in this age where today's artists seem to feel the need to spew forth every and any sonic endeavour as soon as the paint is dry. But if I am right and singles... Continue Reading →
Music has the ability to take you places that you might never have dreamed of, musically and physically. In the case of Cristobal Jimenez Van Cauwelaer what started out as a back-bedroom beat-making project in his Chilean home evolved into a full live band operation after moving to London. And musically Not A Citizen seems... Continue Reading →
With a lot of artists, it is easy to set the scene before heading off into a the rabbit hole of writing a review. So many seem to have a definite direction of travel or a style or sound which is easy to sum up in a few short soundbites. But where do you start... Continue Reading →
Those with even a cursory amount of musical training will understand the reference in the title, Una Corda being a musical directive that indicates the use of the piano's soft pedal, or as the artist himself puts it, “It’s when things go quiet.” Quiet is exactly the right word for this gorgeous and gracefully collection... Continue Reading →
What better to take your mind off these dark and isolated times, as the winter draws in and the future is looking far from certain, than a bit of escapist pop? And Hollywood, the latest sonic slice of sunshine from Olya K is certainly that. Crisp beats, buoyant vocals, infectious grooves and euphoric dance-floor crescendos,... Continue Reading →
Pop and rock are often at their best when the two genres are allowed to bleed into each other. Take rock’s drive and urgency and leave behind its cliched testosterone-fuelled baggage, add pop's fun and infectiousness whilst swerving its more style over substance traps, mix thoroughly, serve hot and voila!It is in such crossover territory... Continue Reading →
What a difference a video makes! Around this time last year Stand On Love found its way to me and, if I recall, I waxed lyrical about the fact that ReLoVe was definitely a band untethered by genre or style. And whilst the video which accompanied it was great, the fact that it was in... Continue Reading →
Tommy Capretto is certainly a well-known name in House and Techno circles and his music has found its way outside the dedicated clubland community via some of the biggest labels and music companies in the land. Breath, however, sees him return with a slight sonic change of direction. Not too much, the track is still... Continue Reading →
If you were to consider music in terms of writing, as perhaps sonic pen strokes on a musical page, then Norrisette’s 2020 is the equivalent of stunning calligraphy but also written in a somewhat off-beat and otherworldly hand. Some people just make music to merely communicate or lift spirits, Norrisette seems more concerned with enthralling... Continue Reading →
Is a song ever truly finished? Can there ever be a definitive form, one that can’t be improved on? Isn’t there something to be gained from revisiting, reimagining, reclothing music which is already close to your heart? These are all the sorts of questions which must concern Michael Ciravolo and in trying to answer them... Continue Reading →
It’s safe to say that Dani Stevenson has rubbed shoulders with the great and good of the modern music scene. From Missy Elliot to Nelly to Pharrell Williams, it was an exceedingly fast rise that saw her go from singing the National Anthem in Junior High to working with such an illustrious cast. This time... Continue Reading →
Maxine Linehan’s latest release certainly chimes perfectly with the sounds and sentiments of the season, a song about loss and longing, of how the natural world itself can usher in nostalgic thoughts and reflections. But it also stands apart from the usual musical fare too. Why? Because rather than being built from overused sonic tropes... Continue Reading →
The connectivity of modern music that the digital age has ushered in can take you down some wonderful musical rabbit holes. One minute you are bopping about to something familiar, something which you have deliberately sought out and a few cursory clicks and lateral links later and you might find yourself immersed in music three... Continue Reading →
It’s been a while since any new music from George Wilding popped up on the radar. That might be due to my tardy ways, or possibly his, let’s just say that its been that sort of a year and leave it at that. You Do You gets to the heart of what George is really... Continue Reading →
Blending beat with beauty, Magic Wands manage to make music which is driven by a tightly-wound, energetic engine room yet simultaneously the stuff of blissed out, sonic dreamscaping, and that is a hard thing to pull off. But pull it off they do and Blue Cherry is all the proof that you need. Dream dance... Continue Reading →
It’s been an unprecedentedly strange year by anyone's standards and at any other time the idea of a crow seeming to provide the vocals for an incendiary and wonderfully hypnotic dance tune would be a cause to raise at least one eye-brow. Not this year. But also because the tune in question comes from Jamit,... Continue Reading →
What better way to announce a forthcoming full-length album than with a cracking new single, especially if you can also call in your long-term musical buddies to help with the workload. To this end, Fred Abong has unleashed not one but two videos, one lyricocentric, the other a more visually narrative based affair, filmed by... Continue Reading →
All music should evolve. All music must evolve. Even rock music is slowly being dragged kicking and screaming out of the comfort of its sonic tropes and musical traditions, stumbling blinking into the light of a new day and the potential that might offer. And if you want an idea of what music breaking with... Continue Reading →
Another week of eclectic artists, beguiling bands and melifluous music, why not give it a spin, explore some of the artists further, buy a track or two and help keep grassroots music ticking along in these dark times.spotify:playlist:2n0f0ieIBf5pLqpb2hHH9t
Forgive me for repeating something which tends to raise its head whenever I put pen to paper on behalf of a new Tombstones In Their Eyes record, but it does really get to the heart of what makes them stand out from the rest of the post-punk pack. As the imaginary needle drops on the... Continue Reading →
As Flair kicks off this small but perfectly formed e.p, blending chilled and spacious dance floor beats with beguiling electronica, you realise that A Photo In The Dark is a musical entity unconcerned with fad or fashion, which is happy to ignore the zeitgeist and would rather follow its own sonic pathways to musical ends... Continue Reading →
Ahead of a new e.p. Say Goodbye to the Light, Thrillsville delivers a cool slice of dirge-disco, one part industrial edge, one part gloom-beat…is that a thing… let’s assume it is…one part sultry and twisted electronica. It’s a dark and sullen affair, one which is strangely addictive too but then it is that element of... Continue Reading →