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.
Power Ballads – James Howard (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Despite the title, thankfully, this new single from James Howard is miles away from the conclusions you might be drawing from the title alone. (Books and...
From Where We’re From – Royal Blush (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you can’t find a sonic reference to your favourite rock and roll style doing its thing and working its way through this new,...
Liminalland – Pray Silence (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love the idea of liminal spaces. Everything from music made on those fringes to the idea of actual places that seem to exist...
Latest single ‘So Keen’ from Indie punk band Poets Corner is...
Following a great bunch of reviews & a host of radio plays for previous single She’s Got You Now, Hull’s authentic indie outfit Poets Corner are back with...
Pack It Up – The Venus Children (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Sitting somewhere between the sass of indie and the classiness of soul, blending such extremes as guitar intensity and a more understated, bass-driven serenity,...
Members of Sunshine Blind and The Wake join forces for gun-slinging...
Sometimes the most interesting musical collaborations are the ones that sound less like a carefully assembled project and more like a group of friends...
Almost – Frank Joshua (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you have the impression of Frank Joshua as a maker of dreamscape, ambient-infused indie music, often with more than a hint of wistfulness and perhaps...
What a Little Moonlight Can Do – Tom Minor (reviewed by...
Tom Minor’s songs might often seem like they come from a similar place to Chas ‘n’ Dave’s cheeky-chappery, but that would be to miss the...
Beginning to Break – Dusty Edinger (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If I say that Dusty Edinger trades in sounds that are both familiar and fresh, new music woven from styles with a proven track...
Mortal Eyes – SCooby Trillion (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
You can't say that SCooby Trillion isn't eclectic. If my first encounter saw him delve into the ancient and diverse sounds of Africa and...
Summer in Galt – Sky Is Alright (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As the opener and lead single from Sky Is Alright’s first album in five years, FINITE, ‘Summer In Galt’ is a great reminder of what we...
Satellite Heart – Mark Emsley (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Rock music often casts itself as the rebellious outsider, the mysterious stranger from the wrong side of the tracks; bands that make such music...
Bourbon – Los Tres Mortales (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If you ever wondered what the incidental music would sound like as you watched The Man With No Name ride through a blasted post-apocalyptic scrubland into...
Dark Cells – Lost Velvet (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
While modern bands present their music to the listener in the form of a song, there is, or at least there should be, much...
Take It or Leave It – Alysha (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
“Old goths never die..” that’s what we used to say back in the day. And it is true; the echo of their music can still...
Album Premiere: Plantano Macho – Leathers (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I love the fact that Leathers have fallen into a (seemingly at least) fairly simple (though not simplistic) sound and managed to get so much mileage...
Memory Serves – Cave Shine (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
As the sonic threads of ‘Nightblooming’ gather and grow, brood and bind, you can’t help but await that shimmering sonic explosion, that glorious sonic...
Canadian Folk Artist Irish Millie Releases New Album ‘Can You See...
There is something particularly powerful about music made from the things that make us feel different. For Canadian singer, songwriter and fiddler Irish Millie,...
Evergreen – Steve Stinson (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
His latest single, ‘Evergreen,’ moves Steve Stinson one step closer to his debut album, which drops next month, and, as all pre-album singles should, makes you...
Salvation – Michelle Kash (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Everyone is looking for the future of pop music, to be the first to the punch, to set the tone, to lead the pack....
Now or Never – Oskar Brandt (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Pop doesn’t have to be obvious. In fact, when it moves along more sophisticated lines, it is always much more interesting. But of course,...
Single Premiere: you.Love – Co.LeGa (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
If the previous single, 'Digitally Modified', had an element of early eighties synth pioneering in its hypnotic and slightly mechanical ways, the new one,...
I Can See Clearly Now – Rusty Reid (reviewed by Dave...
Although the best-known version of ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ is by Jimmy Cliff, its appearance on Rusty Reid’s tribute to the songwriters of Texas, Lone Stardust,...
One Wish – Bella Shields (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
At the age of fifteen, I was riding my bike around the estate, pretending to smoke, listening to ‘Vienna’ by Ultravox on repeat and building dens...
Dogstar1 – I Give My Friends Flowers (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Jacob Klein, the man behind the glorious moniker I Give My Friends Flowers, might have honed his musical skills through formal training and a career in...
The Giver and the Thief – Robbie Gennett (reviewed by Dave...
Robbie Gennet doesn’t like to make things easy on himself. Most artists would be happy to drop an album a year, but The Giver and the...
Annunciation – Mary Strand (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
I still marvel at Mary Strand’s ability to make music that reminds me of every great pop-rock band in my record collection; play her body...
African Breezy – SCooby Trillion (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
African Breezy, the new EP from SCooby Trillion, is a reminder that all music moves with the times. That even the most ancient and...
pieces of me – Kate Loraine (reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Music is cyclical; the signature sounds from the past always seem to find their way into modern music. It’s just the way of the...
The Wires Out – Throes NYC (Reviewed by Dave Franklin)
Shifting the dial on what modern music can be is rarely an act of revolution; such movements don’t really have any lasting effect. For...
