I’m trying to decide whether this is a punk protest song or not. It’s definitely punk, the attitude is there. But the lyrics are definitely interesting, it’s the reality of immigrants coming to the UK, and their stories, it’s loud, it’s aggressive. But do you oboe what? It’s getting the message across. For me the …
Single Review: “Sidecar” – Prima Hera
I have heard this song so many times now, I think it’s part of my soundtrack of 2023. It’s such a simple song, Prima Hera’s vocals are gorgeous on this. She has a touch of reverb on her vocals, and she’s able to harmonise comfortably going from a major to minor harmony with the other …
Single Review: “I Still Love Him” – Blossom Calderone
There are so many things that I like about this song, first of all it’s in 3/4 time. That will always be welcome around here. Secondly, the pizzicato strings, you don’t usually hear that in music nowadays unless it’s arpeggiated a la Rodney Jerkins 90s productions, so it’s good to hear that. Thirdly, Blossom’s voice …
Album Review: “Letters To George” – John Hollenbeck. Words: Sammy Stein
https://johnhollenbeck.bandcamp.com/album/letters-to-george John Hollenbeck is a genre-fluid composer/percussionist, renowned in both the jazz and new-music worlds. He gained widespread recognition as the driving force behind the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet, and the ambitious John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, groups with roots in jazz, world music, and contemporary composition. He has earned six GRAMMY nominations and has worked …
Blog interview: Dave Britto, Arrows
Hello Dave how are you? Hello Del, I’m good and thank you for speaking to me. Congratulations on the release of “Another Avenue”, how does it feel? Thanks! It’s great, there’s always that feeling of nervousness and excitement that comes with every release. I’ve been holding on to this song for a very long time, …
Single Review: “Can’t Touch” – The Great Leslie
The boys are back in town and they’ve got a cracker of a track proclaiming that they’re planning to make more noise in 2023. “Can’t Touch” is a mixture of different patterns, first of all it starts off with a guitar riff that chugs off at 16ths, the drums come in at 0:06, all toms …
Single Review: “Penny Lane” – The Beatles
“Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes…” You know you sang along with that. I certainly did. This song is part of English history and on this particular day in 1967, the Beatles did a last minute remix of it along with “Strawberry Fields Forever” the double a side single that they …
Single Review: “Few And Far Between” – Calum Baird
The thing I like about Calum’s voice is that it’s… Honest. What do I mean about that? Well first of all, you can hear his Scottish accent coming through real true, there are no heirs and graces there. He’s a folk singer telling a story in his songs, and you have to have a believable …
Single Review: “Sugar Pie” – Dakota Jones
Drums! Bass! Guitar! Hammond! Horns!Loooooooord the Hammond!!!!! And the star of this song that voice. This is so soulful, I can just imagine Dakota Jones rocking up to Jimmy Fallon’s looking at The Roots, uses the Force to connect with Questlove and then him counting this off like his Afrocomb is on fire and then …
Single Review: “Only Just Begun” – Marseille
Marseille are a problem. These guys write infectious tunes that just make you want to sing along to, and “Only Just Begun” is no exception. This is a song that’s all too easily relatable being the one that the person you have your eye on knows that you want to be there for them. I …