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.
I Tried – David Celia
From the outside, the world of the modern musician may be perceived to be one of tour busses, jet setting, swimming pools and all...
The Sound of Meat – Schnauser
I think Schnauser come from another planet. That’s not a social comment on the state of Bristol; I suspect Bristol is just the town...
Run Back To The Safety of Town – Benny Zen and...
I always look forward to the little packages of CD’s that I am sent from Jezus Factory Records, they tend to be amongst the...
Bending The Dark – The Imagined Village
Like a bunch of genetic scientists beavering away in secret laboratories, for the last decade The Imagined Village have been exploring the secrets of...
The Last Days of Rock and Roll – The Snakes
Alt-country is a loaded tag, especially the second half of the term. Most people who think that country music starts with Dolly Parton and...
Drunkaleidoscope – Sukilove (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Like pretty much all of the music that emanates from the Jezus Factory roster, Sukilove are a band that defy easy labeling. You might...
“I Couldn’t Die Now, I’d Only Just Got A Video Recorder.”...
Danny Baker has lead a charmed life; and like fellow music obsessive and presenter Andy Kershaw it has largely about being in the right...
Neptune Estate – King Krule
The Zoo Kid is back! Well, I guess he never went away. It’s just with ever shifting stage names to match the differing styles...
A Funny Thing You Said – Superman Revenge Squad (reviewed by...
Things I like. Bands with tongue in cheek, ridiculously long names (though not those over-earnest metal bands that try too hard…who wants to go...
Wake Me When It’s Over – The Courtney Yasmineh Band
Well, if you ask me (and if you are reading this you kind of did) the evolution of the rock chick and all that...
I Wanna Be Okay – Melinda Ortner (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
After a slew of UK Brit School babes being turned out with an eye on dominating the charts, from the nostalgic soul drenched Adele...
Phantoms – The Driftwood Fairytales
Although an easy label for The Driftwood Fairytales would be folk-rock, it’s a term I really despise; most bands associated with the name are...
A Thousand Times Before – Goodbye Labrador
Long distance relationships are pretty hard to work with, more so if that relationship happens to be based around being in a band. The...
Urban Fox – Steve Folk
The word troubadour is banded around all too readily these days, I’m as guilty as anyone, but anyone who spends a summer living, recording...
Familiars e.p. – Familiars (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Networking, that’s the word. Or put another way, it pays to badger those people who may be able to help your band get on. ...
Being Ragdollian – George Wilding (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I know it is a rather clichéd thing to say, but isn’t it great when you stumble across a young, local artist who is...
Cave of Swimmers – Arcade Parade
When I reviewed the single Cave of Swimmers at the end of last year, I praised this young band as “one to watch” for...
18th Century Romantic Poets – The Illustrations.
It’s always nice to come across young bands who remind you that the future of the local music scene is being passed on to...
Horizons – Whitemoor
When we find ourselves this far down the indie highway, you could assume that everything has been tried and tested. From it’s post punk...
Letting Go – Great Cynics
A lot of bands list influences that are more wishful thinking that an accurate description of the noise that they make. I’ve reviewed bands...
Inch of Doubt – Born Thief
In a world that it is generally filled with indent-i-kit indie rock at one extreme and disposable, studio hatched, created by committee, dance music...
Neptune Estate – King Krule
The Zoo Kid is back! Well I guess he has never been away, it’s just with ever shifting stage names to match the differing...
Mondo Porfondo/New Worlds – Karda Estra
Some music is easy to pigeon hole for purpose. Music to dance to, music to chill out to, music that excites or soothes, makes...
Test Your Love – Buffalo Clover (reviewed by Dave...
As someone who hasn’t travelled as much of the world as I would like, who explores a lot of the world through it’s music...
Sometime Soon – The Snakes
Watching a band evolve over time is an interesting experience, an experience made even the more enjoyable when the people involved are familiar to...
The Big Hunt – The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company
I guess I find it hard getting my head around the idea of a band such as The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company coming from...
Reclaimed – Louise Latham
It is far too easy to label singer-songwriters as folk artists just because of the often laid back nature of their music and the...
Pastor Skull – Blyth Power
Following that eternal quest to bring to the publics attention some of the worthy yet obscure bands and albums that have helped colour my...
Wythches – Incubus Succubus
Incubus Succubus are not a band that many people will have heard of, which is a shame, particularly if you are passionate about rock...
The Book of Secrets – Loreena McKennitt (reviewed by Dave...
Loreena McKennitt is not a household name for many, though she has been creating a very unique brand of music for many years, her...
