Single Review: “Star In A Reasonable Priced Car” – Rubberband Girl

This is the new single from Rubberband Girl and… it’s a cracker. It’s like a cleaned up “Hand In My Pocket” with a banjo in there, and the drums are “properly” recorded, not as gritty. The title reminds me of a segment of Top Gear which *shock horror* I’ve never seen but was having a …

Single Review:-“Every House Gets Dark When The Sun Goes Down” – Project Blackbird

This is the second single from the upcoming Project Blackbird album, and it reinforces what I’ve always known about this band.  They produce damn fine songs.  This starts off with an electric piano bathed in warm chorus, over which trumpet player Jon Read plays a really simple melody over this chord progression – G Maj …

Single Review: “Angel” – Sinead Campbell

Wow. This is the 70s throwback I didn’t know I needed today. This has everything – a glockenspiel, electric piano, flute, guitar run through a wah and drums and bass with a pocket deeper than Elon Musk. But let’s salute Sinead’s vocals here – she goes from playful to straight down the line jazz and …

Single Review: “Forever” – Deco

A nice slice of funky synth pop here! The most prominent part is the synth bass, I’m going to guess that’s straight off a moog. Whatever it is, it sounds so good! Add to that the big drums especially that harsh white noise clap with a touch of reverb… all in all this has a …

Single Review: “Bread” – Anya Nami

This is the Eurovision song that we never knew we needed.  This is a song literally about bread.  I am not kidding. Guess what? I love it. This starts off with a thumping kick, dropping into a pop dance beat, and there’s an accordion, I’m assuming this is a nod to the European roots of …

Single Review: “Japanese Knotweed” – Karolina Wilgus

This new single from Karolina Wilgus is genius. From the way the vocals are arranged over a hypnotising hip hop jazz beat this brings a lot of different things to keep you interested. For one thing, the vocals in the intro have an operatic quality, nicely layered so you can separate the alto, tenor and …

Mr. Bennett's Mind - Photo by Alexa Drew.jpg

Album Review: “Mr. Bennett’s Mind” – Daniel Bennett Group. Words: Sammy Stein

‘Mr Bennett’s Mind’ (Manhattan Daylight Media, 2024) is the 10th studio release from the Daniel Bennett Group. Having reviewed several of their releases, this is a musical progression in the fullest of senses. The album was recorded at the iconic Big Orange Sheep Studio in Brooklyn, New York, and produced by Grammy-nominated producer MP Kuo. …

Blog interview: Amir Ekbatani

Hello Amir how are you? Feeling good and grateful, thanks! Congratulations on the release of “Tell Me You Love Me” how does it feel?It’s nice to send this out into the world. I’ve spent a lot of time with it and I’m happy to see where it goes. So far people have seemed to really …

Single Review: “All Black Everything” – Amy Gadiaga

Amy Gadiaga brought beauty and grace to this track… it starts off with a piano part that’s like a call to action for a jam session, and boy does the whole thing bring its a game from Amy’s bass line and the drums staying in pocket… Her vocals here are the star, with layered harmonies …