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.
The Ones Who Love – Zero Swann (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Having just tried to unpick and process Jeremy Moore’s more avant-garde project, Bell Barrow, The Ones Who Love from Zero Swann, another of his musical outlets, feels almost like a...
True Human Trough – Bell Barrow (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Comfort zones? Who needs them? Well, not Bell Barrow that’s for sure. Anyone already familiar with any music that Jeremy Moore has made under this or any other...
Day Trip – Sssstephen! (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Day Trip” is the definition of a song built on a majestic and marvellous slow-burning evolution. Starting in a sort of indie-folk cosmic haze,...
Some Kind of We – Every Us (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It is quite telling that the captain of the Every Us ship, Ryan Jones, has spent years living in cities around the world, absorbing, understanding, and collaboratively...
Joni Mitchell Smile – The Buddy System Forever (reviewed by Dave...
I know that my reference points need updating and that few even knew The Pursuit of Happiness at the time, but there is so much going...
Want Me To – Betty Moon (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Too sophisticated to be rock, too clever to be pop, too original to be labelled merely indie, Betty Moon sits in one of those unique and...
She Got A Bad Thang – C.R. Knight (reviewed by Dave...
All genres evolve—it's the natural order of things. Sounds constantly shift, styles move with the times, and what once felt cutting-edge slowly settles into...
wanderlust – FATECRIMES (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Yesterday, we said tomorrow we fly!”
What a great line, one loaded with that timeless reminder that we need to get out in the world...
Humanity (Magic Wands Remix) – Killing Kind (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love tracks like this; they are, as well as so much else, a reminder that the darkwave music makers of those early days...
Bring It On – Criminal Hero (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love Rick Harkness’s resilient rock-and-roll vision. Not for him a complicated or convoluted mission to rebuild the genre. There is no year zero agenda,...
Last Train to Midnight – Bleach Dreamer (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There are two sets of vibes at work in this latest single from Bleach Dreamer, one musical, the other purely atmospheric. The former seems to...
Free Everybody – The Heard Eye (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
A cynical mind might accuse The Heard Eye as being idealists, but their message of freedom and love is exactly what the world needs...
To Cold To Swim – Art Schop (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
There is always a deeper story running through Art Schop’s songs, not for him throwaway lyrics or offering up merely more of the same old,...
Echoes of Our Past – Medusa’s Wake (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
For reasons too complex and often too distressing to fit into a short music review, the people of the Celtic fringes of Western Europe...
Wing Song – Matthew Squires & Sunk Coast (reviewed by Dave...
Having read that one astute reviewer labelled Matthew Squires as an obvious “successor to Austin’s late great Daniel Johnston,” I don’t think I could put it better myself. Which is...
Single Premiere: Be the Light – Mother Coyote (reviewed by Dave...
If anywhere needs a song of hope at the moment, it is Minneapolis. There are many troubled places and turbulent events taking place across the world,...
Video Premiere: Hearts Like Caves – Dilly Dally Alley (reviewed by...
As I sit here writing, the spring sun streaming through the window, the cat following the warm spot across the floor, green things sparking...
Album Premiere: Lay Fallow – Flutes & Low (reviewed by Dave...
There is something both elemental and ethereal about the music that greets you as the needle drops on this debut record from Flutes & Low, something...
I Will Be Alright – Monique Grimme (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I probably said as much when I put pen to paper for Monique Grimme's previous single, "Honey Gold," but having established herself with a signature,...
Put It Behind Me – Kevin Driscoll (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you are one of those people who likes to say things like “it’s good man, but I struggle with his voice,” when you...
Songs In The Key Of Blue – The Swamp Stomp String...
If you are, like me, tired of everyone and their uncle rebranding their music as Americana, or worse, British Americana to keep up with...
The Misadventures of Theodore Thump – Shedric (reviewed by Dave...
I’ve encountered young Shedric both as a solo bluesy-acoustic performer and as part of the eight-legged rhythm and groove force of nature that is THUD, and it is...
Always – RISE (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Big music doesn’t have to resort to brash and bombastic tricks to make its presence felt. You can go that route, if you like,...
Scars – Jonny Black (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Anything that gives out serious “Into My Arms” vibes is obviously a song worth spending a bit of time getting to know. I’m not...
There Will Be Bread – Sharkeologist (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
How the wonderfully named Sharkeologist manage to mine so many sonic seems…or even scenes, weave together so many threads and still come out with something that...
I didn’t ask to be a bird – j dylan paul...
Art is a powerful thing. And it is in the modern world, with all its darkness and growing authoritarianism, the entrenchment of ideas, marginalisation,...
Wash – Gordy Walsh (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“‘Wash’ is a plea to people who want to rediscover what makes them happy and unique.” Amen to that, brother! It does seem that as...
Weight Will Unwind – Findlay Birch (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
It isn’t hard to imagine some of the music you might find in the more regularly played end of Finlay Birch’s record collection. Listen to...
Waste Paper Bins / Business Picked Up – BeaVoys (reviewed by...
We live in a time when more and more musicians are turning their attention to making music that has something to say about the...
Take It Away – Shaky (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If there is one thing that defines this second single garnered from Shaky’s second album, it is that he brilliantly hits that sweet spot equidistant...
