rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Music is certainly serious business but sometimes we can get so lost in arguing about our favourite bands, trying to emulate the stars of the day, getting precious and defensive about the songs which matter most to us that we forget its primary role. Music. Is. Entertainment. It’s as simple as that and thankfully for... Continue Reading →
They're a funky bunch and no mistake. There is a sweet spot which sits equidistance from infectious punky funk, old-school, low slung rock ’n’ roll and soulful, bluesy grooviness. Some bands get glimpses of it, are perhaps lucky enough to wander close to it before losing their way, never to return. Some mange to find... Continue Reading →
When you listen to We’re Still Here, you are listening to a song which both reminds us of a golden age of harmony groups but also one which resounds with modern mainstream tastes. Great vocal harmonies never go out of fashion and it is to this strength that Felton Pilate has always played. Long time... Continue Reading →
Raw-edged, metal-infused guitars quickly turn into slick soul licks, funky bass lines take over the lions share of the groove-work, falsetto verses become gang vocal sing-alongs and the whole thing takes on a Prince-like vibe perhaps taking Bootsy himself along for the ride. And that’s a cool sound to be able to conjure up but... Continue Reading →
Pretty much everything that you need to know about this track and the man behind it is found in the title. Get The Funk is full of funkiness and Billy Ray rocks! It's as simple as that. The track is a wonderfully groovesome blend of 70’s funk vibes andd R&B sass which wanders dangerously close... Continue Reading →
It is safe to say that Chainsaw is like little that you have heard before. The various elements that it is built from may be vaguely familiar but the way those differing and disparate sonics are drawn together in one place is an experience like few you will have had in music. A fact that... Continue Reading →
Even before you take their music for a spin, there is so much to love about Short-Haired Domestic. The band name. The wilfully verbose and eloquent song titles. The straight-to-the-point artwork. The fact that they are a husband and wife team. The fact that one of them was an integral part of both the Talk... Continue Reading →
With a CV like the one that Lettuce boasts, you could be excused for thinking that their music is just going to be about technical virtuosity and funky tricks and gimmicks but actually there is a very personal voice at the heart and forefront of this band. Of course they draw on a vast library... Continue Reading →
Blending tasteful, not to mention soulful, touches of jazz with driving, funk-infused grooves, seamless changes of pace, violins playing the part usually reserved for the guitar and mellifluous melodicism, Breeze is a gorgeous and unique song. One which goes out of its way to remind us that jazz isn’t a dirty word, that funk can... Continue Reading →
Described as a 1-Track e.p, As Is is actually an array of five tracks which are merged together by incidental music and spoken word parts and which moves between, merges and melds all manner of musical styles from rap to funk, from hip-hop to R&B and perhaps inventing a few of its own genres along... Continue Reading →
Innovation isn't about not following any of the rules, it is about knowing enough about the rules to understand which ones are actually important, which ones can be bent out of shape and which can be discarded all together. Ironically anarchy, especially musical anarchy, is a more organised place than it would have you believe!... Continue Reading →
Africali make music which is the equivalent of cutting a sonic gemstone. Hold it up and it throws out all manner of different colours and patterns depending on how the light catches it. The same can be said of Daughters of The Sun. Turn it one way and pick up on Afro-rock rhythms and heady,... Continue Reading →
A Song in Latin . . . - Short-Haired Domestic (reviewed by Dave Franklin) There are a few names which when spotted in blurb or bio, print or press, you are immediately compelled to explore the reason for their mention. We all have our own iconic beacons of creativity to admire, and on my own... Continue Reading →
Although it is quite a cool album title, in my opinion the only thing old school about Slang is his work rate. We find ourselves in an age when album releases, especially from bigger name artists seem to be getting further and further apart. Slang’s work ethic is more akin to that of a few decades... Continue Reading →
In a world where bands are trying to build the future by creating whole new genres to inhabit, mixing sonic potions like mad scientists in midnight laboratories, who think that the past is the past, what’s done is done and that anyone looking backwards instead of forward is some sort of dinosaur, there is one... Continue Reading →
London-based The Heliocentrics have long stirred a bewitching brew of funk, jazz, psych and library influences. Labelled by Pitchfork as “a live-band culmination of every obsessive hip-hop-era producer's drive to fall deeper into a rabbit hole of the previously unheard”, the band’s far-reaching influence meant a natural knock-on in being cited by hip-hop royalty: namely,... Continue Reading →
If you asked me to sum up the wonderfully titled Everything At All Times and All Things At Once in one word then I would have to say …funky. But then why would you? Okay, funky it is, but forget the type of funky that gets injected last minute into pop formats by besuited executives... Continue Reading →
Although vocally the song comes on like a slice of old school rap, as soon as all the musical elements kick in your realise that this is something else altogether. The bass is both funky as hell and overdriven to the point where it seems to be heading into the realms of a metalcore band, the... Continue Reading →
Well, that’s interesting. I love songs which are hard to pin down…either chronologically or generically and THNDR’s Think Twice is certainly one of those tricky beasts....are by far the most intriguing. A mix of gentle-funk, island vibes, pop-reggae infectiousness and underground dance grooves, it is a song that is as addictive as it is strange.... Continue Reading →
If a more life-affirming, celebration of the self has passed this way in recent years, I must have missed it. Not only is B Freed's latest release a real reminder that we need to love ourselves, do what makes us happy, live the life we chose, aspire to be the best version of us that... Continue Reading →
Funny how when we hear the term “world music” we automatically think of some niche music probably aligned with a specific tradition or culture, Mongolian throat singing, flamenco guitars, Japanese drum troupes and the like. But surely world music should just be something with universal appeal, that falls less into a generic furrow and more... Continue Reading →
Not all band names fit the music they make, not that they have too but it makes for a useful signpost for new listeners to be guided by. But if Phantom Phunk sounds to you like a band who perfectly blend the urgent groove of hip-hop with a more floating and spacious indie sound, nailed... Continue Reading →
Everyone knows that the bass is just part of the engine room of a band, the thing that you want to feel rather than hear, the low end groove maker that ties everything together but does so from a position at the back of the set up, essential but unacknowledged outside musician circles. Right? Right.... Continue Reading →
There is no shortage of bands who deserve the moniker “funky.” Equally, blues bands are in no short supply, slide players are still easy to find and infectious music is two-a-penny. And you can't throw a mandolin these days without it hitting a band revelling in descriptions such as roots or Americana. What is harder... Continue Reading →
The clever thing about this latest single from Mark James, this time joined by Tru Osborne, is the smart merging of past and present. As I mentioned before when Miles Away was under my reviewer’s pen, there is something of the classic, 70’s funk-soul about the way James' constructs songs, as well as something a bit... Continue Reading →
There is a wonderful sophistication running through this latest release from Mario Millner, something deftly crafted being delivered here, a mature sound that comes from the perfect mix of funky grooves, soulful vocals and blues-rock guitar work. In a world were we often hear about the necessary sacrifice of substance for style to get your... Continue Reading →
Often when I’m handed a new album to review, I take a sneaky look at the personnel on the album, but who are they isn’t as important as what they play. You can tell a lot by what instruments appear, if there is guitar, bass, drums and vocal, you know you’re on quite traditional ground, throw in... Continue Reading →
Not content with inventing his own musical genres by taking the common building blocks of familiar sounds and fashioning them into new sonic architecture, Garden City is Slang building a whole new world for those sounds to inhabit. It's a place where “a red river flows through the veins of an enchanted forest” and “through... Continue Reading →
A strange title for a strange album. And I mean that in the nicest possible of ways. Strange is good, strange is interesting, strange is the opposite of safe, strange is unpredictable. Strange is often great and there are certainly many great aspects to this album. The first great thing is its approach towards genres…Matthew... Continue Reading →
Since forming in 2015, London 4-piece band Indigo Face have made their mark on the live music circuit with their unique sound, drawing influence from the likes of pop, funk, EDM and synth pop. On 13th July, the group are set to launch their new single ‘The Seed’, which taps into the complexities of family... Continue Reading →