rescuing musical virtue in distress.
Often, the term “Americana” is used to describe an amalgam of sounds which when fashioned together result in songs which echo with the quintessential vibe of the United States. Forest Sun takes this a stage further and his latest album, his tenth to date, is a series of songs, each inspired by and infused with... Continue Reading →
In a world were easy labels and generic pigeon-holes still seem important to many people, the terms “Outsider Americana” and “Chicagoana,” not my terms but the artist’s own musical shorthand, are both perfectly apt for what this veteran singer-songwriter does.... Read the full review at The Big Takeover
Blues seems to have become so slick and unconnected from its roots theses days that when something raw, something delivered with such passion, comes along, it seems to almost be from a different world…or a different genre at least. Blues never was about guys in Armani suits playing to stadium crowds for bucket loads of... Continue Reading →
As Cody Lee struts his way towards the “new normal” he reflects on the past and speculates about exactly what the future holds but does so in a wonderfully vague and non-committal sort of way. This is after all an anthem, a funky groover which is more about slogans and sing-alongs than providing any real... Continue Reading →
The neat trick that Harry Stafford seems to pull off is that whilst he sounds slightly like a few other artists, the artists that he sounds like sound like nobody else. Not even him! I’m not even sure that’s possible but its the only way that I can describe it. I could list the most... Continue Reading →
If you are not enchanted by Ingraham’s gorgeous, crystalline voice right from the start then head straight for the Accident and Emergency department of your local hospital, there is something seriously wrong with your heart. And with most of the music going on behind her being tastefully stripped back and delicately woven around, you have... Continue Reading →
Some things you never tire of. Aviator shades, good manners, great cheese, Zooey Deschanel and groovesome bluesy, rock and roll. Okay, Blind Side might not exactly be running with current fad or fashion but that’s the point isn’t it? Some things don’t have to worry about which way the Zeit is Geisting, some things just... Continue Reading →
Many people have tried to sell the blues to me and I don’t seem to get it. Admittedly it's a broad genre and it is probably just that I haven’t heard the right artist, though I have had everything from Robert Johnson’s voodoo acoustic tones to Joe flippin’ Bonna-flippin’ Massa (repeatedly) thrown at me and... Continue Reading →
I love an album to open with some oomph, to be unashamed of giving the listener a kick in the pants and forcing them to sit up and take notice, some of my favourite albums have belting opening tracks and New York’s Annie Keating does this on her new ‘mini album’ Can’t Stand Still with... Continue Reading →
Anyone who Eddie Spaghetti describes in such enthusiastic tones as “raw, real and passionate…and boy, do we need Mr Todd and his Rankoutsiders, now more than ever,” is someone I will automatically take notice of. But as album reviews go I should probably write a bit more to convince those who, unlike me, probably don’t... Continue Reading →
As someone who spends their time scribbling about grassroots, underground and left field music, I tend to have a fairly good feel for the music that lands in my review pile, even before hearing a single note. A combination of the artwork, the title, the label or PR company who sent it or just the... Continue Reading →
As much as I love intricate, sweeping and clever music, sometimes you can’t beat a low slung guitar, a basic proto-punk-blues beat and some stripped back lyrics. And it doesn’t get more stripped backed than Leathers. Four songs, two guys and pretty much one groove. All four songs found on this eponymous ep seem variations... Continue Reading →
Multi-Award-winning American Blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Samantha Fish returns for a nationwide UK tour in May 2019. Tickets will go on sale on Friday 2nd November via http://www.alttickets.com/samantha-fish-tickets. The tour coincides with Samantha’s new studio album to be released in early 2019 which is the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2017 albums Belle of the... Continue Reading →
Blues has always been a good vehicle for delivering a message of pain and heartache. It’s also been a good vehicle for spawning new ways of doing things, it being the birth place of so many subsequent genres - rock ’n’ roll, rock, punk and everything that followed are all based on its methods. Armed... Continue Reading →
Is there such a thing as holistic music? Is all music holistic? Is it something that the creator decides or is it up to the listener to designate it as such? Is it just another meaningless journalistic handle used by broken down scribblers looking for a neat way to get into a review? Okay, I’m... Continue Reading →
Here’s a question for you. If a truck carrying a back catalogue of 50’s rock’n’roll and blues records heading west at 60 miles per hour collided with a truck carrying 60’s garage rock and later punk records heading east travelling at 45 miles per hour, what noise would be forthcoming at the point of impact?... Continue Reading →
Well, you can’t say that this isn’t a funky piece of work. Bluesy rock and roll, bursting at the seams with infectious grooves, ear-worm riffs, classic rock and roll swagger and a simple message. The message is that the world is an adventure waiting for you to sign up and see where it takes you.... Continue Reading →
Driving music is no new concept, songs that act as the soundtrack to a road trip, music to seek adventure to, four wheeled party tunes, we are all familiar with how that works. And whilst this great little bluesy-country-rock piece from Terry Derosier falls into that category, its actually a bit more than that. Actually,... Continue Reading →
I’m going to break out one of my go-to and possibly made up words now. Ready? Groovesome! I’m not sure if you will find it in the dictionary but it is exactly the right word for Izzy The Cat’s blend of funky and infectious blues. Instrumentals they may be but his songs are proof positive that... Continue Reading →
Books and covers…I never learn. Then again you have to hold the band responsible to some degree. If they offer up a cover of themselves dressed like a crazed Mariachi band from The Three Amigos, conclusions are going to be jumped to. Thankfully what lies within is miles away from the image conjured by the... Continue Reading →
That will teach me to jump to conclusions, to judge books by their covers…or at least songs by their titles. Anytime I see slang words such as “Da” in a title I immediately brace myself for impact by another modern rapper going through the testosterone fulled motions of self-aggrandisement and playing up to stereotypes. Boy... Continue Reading →
The Judex is less a band, more a collection of contradictions, a whirling mass of opposites that somehow have managed to attract and believe me when I say that they are like few rock bands that have crossed your path, if they had, you would have remembered. The titles of the tracks alone tell you... Continue Reading →
Country music has a habit of taking itself a bit seriously, all those over-earnest, brooding acoustic guitar slingers singing of unrequited love, darker times and driving off into the sunset. And that’s fine, there is obviously a market for such a style. Rock music is often troubled with testosterone fuelled cliche, though which is less... Continue Reading →
Even if I didn’t rate the music you have to love a band with a name like The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer, doubly so once you find out that their current album is called Apocalipstick! Thankfully I do rate their music. A lot. They make exactly the sort of vintage music for the modern... Continue Reading →
If the fashion of the moment seems to be pop and indie bands appropriating retro and roots goodness to add cool and credibility to their sound, True Strays have always made music for more honest reasons. Yes, there are a host of indie bands folking up and rock bands bluesing out at the moment in... Continue Reading →
As soon as Old Man’s Shoes emanates from the speakers you quickly realise that you are in a very different musical world from the vast majority of music made these days. I guess it is an age thing, once you have put behind you the vacuous trappings of cool and fashion that younger musicians seem... Continue Reading →
Pop music with a rock and roll spine? Rock music with plenty of funky grooves? Sassy contemporary soul with a bluesy bite? Well, how about we accept that Tears is all of that and more and we just call it music. And that is the art really, to not worry about where the generic boundaries... Continue Reading →
There is some music which, going on titles alone, begs more questions than answers. A band called, for example, Splat! could turn out to be almost anything musically. Similarly Doctor Bongo’s Electric Herring leaves you similarly bemused at what might lie within, though you can be fairly sure that drugs were involved in its construction.... Continue Reading →
At a time when music is recorded as disconnected musical fragments which are then meticuluously put together to a perfect set of rules, it is great to come across musicians who are brave enough to return to basics, stick a microphone in a room and capture things just as they happen, the players and tube... Continue Reading →
Aren’t you meant to mellow with age? Aren’t you meant to hand the musical baton on to the next generation, calm down and grow old gracefully? Well, when the younger generation seem largely content to write songs devoid of bite or opinion and the world seems to grow even more chaotic, ill-balanced and self-serving day... Continue Reading →