rescuing musical virtue in distress.
I sat down with Sky Palmer of rising PR company Pressful.com to find out how the project was born, what path lead him to setting up the company and where he would like to be heading going forward. Let's start with the basics, who are you, when and where were you born? Sky Palmer: My... Continue Reading →
What if indie music could be as infectious and attractive as its big sister, pop music? What if it could be as groovesome as the most addictive dancefloor offerings? What if it made clever sonic choices and had something to say? What if it oozed underground cool as easily as it vibed with all the... Continue Reading →
It is usual to glance through the list of bands influences and inspirations and see the same worn out and over-cooked role-call of artists, a list that usually has more to do with what a band would like to sound like than the music that they make. It is wonderfully refreshing, therefore, to come across... Continue Reading →
Although the world occasionally moves forward through leaps of faith and lateral thinking, generally it advances through more gradual and accomodating steps. And this is certainly true of music. Forget all of those jarring fusions of conflicting genres, which those looking to create the next fad and fashion try to sell us as the first... Continue Reading →
Folk music has taken great strides forward in recent years, and the contemporary blending of folk with ambient, electronic and indie music has opened up the genre to whole new and younger audiences. But as much as moving forward and evolving in any genre is important, so too is remembering where you came from. Lewis... Continue Reading →
Arsenic Tea Party makes a wonderfully big and joyous racket for a two-piece. But such are the advantages of being a musical artist in the modern age with access to all the studio tricks and techniques that it offers. And if the music is a joyous riot of beats and bombast, the lyrical content comes... Continue Reading →
Life is at its most fulfilling when it is challenging. It needs to be full of the unexpected and the new. Of wonder and possibility. It needs to take us to new places and allow us to see the world in different ways. And the same is true of music, music that matters at least.... Continue Reading →
It seems that hardly a month goes past without something new from Tombstones in Their Eyes landing on my desk. This is fine by me as they have never let me down and I always look forward to hearing any new musical machinations that they send out into the world. Being prolific is great but,... Continue Reading →
Some songs get themselves noticed through big musical moves and unmissable sonic punches. Others through more deft and delicate song crafting. Second Guess seems to employ both of these, often mutually exclusive, approaches and does so masterfully. The structure of the song is fairly robust, woven out of rock riffs and indie urges, mainstream accessibility,... Continue Reading →
In spring last year, when most artists' careers were slowing down due to the isolation and enforced hiatus (hiatui? hiatuses? hiatery?) brought on by the pandemic, Dolph Chaney found himself riding high with the release of Rebuilding Permit. Although he has been steadily ploughing a poised, power-pop furrow for many years, it was this album... Continue Reading →
Music can be many different things to many people. It can bring joy or sadness, can be fun and throw-away or deep and meaningful, it can be analytical, it can be hopeful and so on through a vast spectrum of attitudes and emotions. But to those who make the music, it can also be therapeutic,... Continue Reading →
Never rely on genres. They always let you down. I should imagine that ten different journalists writing about Arhkota's strange and beguiling new single would label it with ten completely different generic soundbites. And even then, none of those would accurately capture the broken, classical grace, the oriental vibe, the blending of ambience with abrasion,... Continue Reading →
Not only does modern gospel group True Visionaires revel in a timeless, soulful sound, but their latest single, Money (Revisited), also has something very important to say. Don't let money change who you are. It's as simple as that and although it is a warning as old as money itself, it seems to be a... Continue Reading →
There was a time when band members had to be at least proximate to each other to even function properly and band histories were once a role call of exodus and acquisitions and ever-shifting line ups. But technology, as always, came to the rescue and even with band members spread as far apart as California,... Continue Reading →
Another week scored by a wonderful and eclectic soundtrack to put under the pen. Hopefully, you will find something new to fall in love with or familiar to celebrate. As always, please support these artists in any way you can, listen, explore, buy, whatever you can manage. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PGDPAvBnVLsBjJAbL5biF?si=vKHLSKvWTQ-iq1dfcY-0cg
Above & Beyond's Thing Called Love rightly found a large audience amongst the pop pickers and denizens of the dance scene a decade ago, but just because a song already has such a firm following that doesn't mean that it isn't ripe for reinvention. And that is exactly what Lian Gold does with her latest... Continue Reading →
Retro Band does pretty much what the name might imply. They revisit, re-imagine and re-work songs from the past so that they get another day in the sun. Although they have covered many eras of the 20th century, this volume gathers together songs from the '30s to the '60s and gives them a new lease... Continue Reading →
As soon as the first few tracks of this soulful and sassy album had floated out of the speakers and into my senses, I knew that there was something familiar about the sound. To find out that the vocalist is none other than The Magic Numbers' Angela Gannon and that various members of Danny and... Continue Reading →
Ahead of a full-album next month, tantalisingly titled Monster Mind Consuming, Barren King offers a wonderful taste of the musical and mystical world that Manntra calls home. Blending sea-shanty sonics with searing metal licks, industrial grind with folk grandeur, traditional sounds with otherworldly, gothic vibes, Barren King is a fantastic flight of fancy. It is... Continue Reading →
Having woven his way through some very innovative and interesting musical landscapes over the years, on stage, in the studio and behind the scenes, any new music from Sebastian Reynolds makes a loud ping on the radar of any interested in experimental, forward-thinking music. Nihilism Is Pointless, following very quickly (certainly by modern standards) on... Continue Reading →
You have to admire Blind Uncle Harry's approach to first world problems. Whilst others are trying to find deft answers to delicate problems, are looking for ways to unify different sides, are looking for ways to understanding opposing arguments and attitudes, he advocates getting stoned. It's as simple as that. And he isn't even suggesting... Continue Reading →
If Hawk Hill seemed like a bit of a shimmering, ever-changing musical gemstone, one which exploded with different cascades of sonic colour depending on which way you held it up to the light, My Muse seems to be a more focused affair. It echoes with so many past references from my formative years. The rush... Continue Reading →
I know that it might seem like a lazy reference point, but there is something Beatle-esque about So Sad. With only a few changes, mainly to reflect the production capabilities and tone of the times, you might even think that this is a lost track from the recording sessions which resulted in Revolver or Rubber... Continue Reading →
We already know what a breath of fresh air Sofi Maeda is, Ashita was proof enough of that, a punk-pop single which left all of the usual locker-room bravado and frat boy nonsense behind and laid out a new template for the genre in the 21st century. But of course, one great single does not... Continue Reading →
Watchu Tryna Do? is a chilled slice of modern R&B, one where the sound of the genre’s 90’s heyday is reimagined via the most up to date pop tricks and dance floor grooves. But even if the technology moves on, the core vibes remain; an easy and infectious rhythm, crystalline vocals, deft musicality and dexterous... Continue Reading →
Writing this from the other side of the ocean, it is easy for the placenames of American towns to sound magical, otherworldly and iconic. Even the titular Mobridge, South Dakota resonates with the sort of cool lacking in my own part of the world, in places such as Newport Pagnell, Didcot or Swindon. But as... Continue Reading →
Mixtape. Album. Compilation. Call it what you will but what we can agree on is the fact that Straight From The Soul is the perfect showcase of Speedy2x's sonic style. That style is a blend of old school rap and modern, urban soul, street corner grit and slick uptown club culture but more than that... Continue Reading →
As a rule, sub-genres are pretty meaningless. Sub-genres of metal seem to be the most meaningless, especially when you get right down into the realm of post-this or that-core. But as soon as I saw, those three words… Nautical. Folk. Metal… all strung together, I knew that this was for me. And as a label... Continue Reading →
This latest album from The Fairchilds is full of contradictions. A largely rock-based album with a social conscience! Mainstream sounds but with mass appeal to the more discerning and underground listener too! Music which grooves but still has something to say! Guitar music as funky, pop-poised and danceable as the best artists that those genres... Continue Reading →
I guess the question is not why artists such as Doctor Ravan are still writing songs lyrically based around ideas of unity, equality and peace, especially when it comes to minority cultures and communities, but why there is still a need for such a movement in this day and age. Music has always been a... Continue Reading →