Words In The Earth

Most of the time when I am writing a review I give the music a spin first before I read too much about the artist behind it. I try and listen to it out of context and enjoy the music without prejudice. With Lorenzo Gabanizza though, I ended up doing the reverse, and in a way I'm glad that I did because Lorenzo's story is so deep and his musical history so varied that it actually left me with little idea of what to expect from his latest single Someone Waiting At Their Door. A tribute to the victims of the September 11 th terrorist attacks and their families, the only thing I really expected from this was a poignant and emotive song; and this is precisely what I got, portrayed as in a sincere and subtly detailed piece of soft Country. Whilst more often than not there is a Country music twist to Lorenzo's style, his musical background has covered a plethora of genres: from his early days of passionately leading Queen tribute bands, to working with legendary folk singer-song...

Hip-hop is such a vast genre that despite the creativity it naturally facilitates it can be difficult, if not impossible, to find an idea that no-one has done before; and often in the process of searching for something totally new the focus can become solely on the concept rather that the quality of the music itself. Hip-hop is also, for the most part, a uniquely personal genre. When rappers drop their lines they are often giving a singular insight into their personality and character, which is why the most intriguing and long-term successful rappers tend to be the ones who have the most personality exuded in their music. Lil Xan might have had some hits from his initial exposure because he was doing something different that was at the extreme end of 'mumble-rap'; but no-one is arguing that his music depicts an exciting personality, quite the opposite in fact , and I don't think many people are expecting him to have much long-term success. Meanwhile, a rapper like Playboi ...

Swedish artist Son of Stone bills himself as a musician dedicated to bringing back the sound of grunge. On his previous two albums that is certainly the case, but the sound he purveys on his latest showcase of songs isn't the one that came directly out of Seattle and Olympia in the early 90s. It's more akin to the sound that came in the late 90s and early 2000s, after this first wave of artists, a style that would be termed 'alternative rock'. It's the sound of those bands who were really into Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains and took the tonality of these artists down a more straight-up rock direction. I'm talking about the likes of Foo Fighters, Matchbox Twenty and The Offspring. Some of these bands originated from heavy metal backgrounds, some originated from the skate punk scene, and some came from indie rock. In many respects Son of Stone pulls all this together, but there is no subtlety, no nuance and no intricate detai...

When I reviewed Christopher Dallman's recent single Lightspeed , I was mightily impressed at how well Christopher was pulling off the bold new direction he had taken, moving from his acoustic indie-folk beginnings to a sound made up of purely electronic instrumentation. To do this over one single is impressive, but across an entire album takes some skill. I'm glad to say that Christopher has achieved this. In Digital Blue he has made a fantastic album that stands on it's own as a collection of startlingly beautiful songs that showcase Christopher's talents better than ever before. What is most remarkable about Digital Blue is that, by itself, it doesn't sound like a reinvention. Without knowing about Christopher's previous output, you wouldn't think that this was an artist taking steps into a new musical world; and in a way, that is because it isn't. For those who remember Futurama, and those who know it well enough to have repeatedly watched every seri...

In a relatively short time Eneko Artola has gone from an unknown figure with a passion for music to one of the most notable new producers in house and music today. His background is fascinating, and his rise is one that seems to be nowhere near it's peak yet. His music combines the kind of soulful, vocal-led house music popularised a few years ago by the likes of Duke Dumont, Disclosure and Swedish House Mafia, and through the latter half of the 2010s has developed into the Electro-Chill and Tropical House scenes. Eneko puts a distinctive French twist into his sound though, reminiscent of some of the French House artists like Cassius or Justice, and it's a sound which has helped him gain some remarkable traction in such a short time. Based in London, the 20 year old originally hails from the French area of the Basque Country; but his travels have taken him beyond Europe, spending time in Canada and China before coming to the UK. In the first part of this interview we talked abo...

As I have previously spoken about , I was brought up in my early years listening to the blues through my Dad. My Mum however, was a huge northern soul and motown fan, and some of my earliest memories of car journeys to and from school are sound-tracked by the likes of Move On Up, Keep On Runnin' and Heard It Through The Grapevine, songs that to this day I still adore. In my teenage years I went on a discovery into punk and hardcore. Inevitably the garage rock and proto-punk bands such as MC5, The Stooges and The Sonics came to be of keen interest, particularly the latter who I think are one the most ground-breaking yet underrated bands of their era. Shortly after moving to London some years ago, I accidentally ended up at a garage rock night at The Fiddler's Elbow in Camden, and it reignited my interest in the genre. I still listen to some of these bands on occasion; there is something quite compelling about the raw creativity of these groups that never fails to tickle by eardr...

  There isn't a whole lot of information about Oh Well online, but what I can determine is that this is not a comeback of the late 80s German Eurodance group who produced that terrible Fleetwood Mac cover everyone had forgotten about. This Oh Well is actually a one-man project from Chicago who produces a heady and progressive mix of EDM beats, orchestral instrumentation and indie-pop vocals. His Insomnia EP released last year was a strange but intriguing mixture which reminded me of the turn of the century sound-clash style that came from the The Avalances and Mint Royale among others. With his new single Lost Time Traveller he continues in this vein whilst going even further to define his sound. Lost Time Traveller, rather appropriately, manages to be simultaneously modern and vintage in sound. It mashes together a strutting string section with 90s big-beat vibes and a late-period dubstep rhythm (by which I mean the likes of Skrillex and Rusko rather than Skream or Kode-9). It...