Words In The Earth

Singer/Songwriter David Tetz has been around for a good few years under different guises. As front-man of Winston And The Telescreen he purveyed a particularly spiky brand of Indie rock, while as sole member of David T8tz And His Lovely Friends he turned his hand to a stripped back sound more evocative of the indie-folk of M.Ward or Will Oldham. Now as NineFingers he has found his best sound yet, with a production style that is superbly balanced: raw where it needs to be, and expansive in just the right places. A number of the songs here have appeared on the David T8tz And His Lovely Friends album Pack Thy Secrets Deep, but in each case they have been reworked and improved, particularly in the vocal department. David has enriched his baritone voice into something that now sits somewhere between Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Vaughn Monroe. It's pretty common for artists to describe their music as 'honest' and 'emotionally raw' these days, but rarely have I heard so...

I absolutely loved The Stone MGs previous release , the three track EP Good Times, and I was eager to hear more music from them as soon as possible. Their brilliant clash of Motown Soul and Garage Punk was a complete breath of fresh air at time when truly great new rock'n'roll is tricky to find. Their songs were so well crafted too that it was hard to believe this was a new band taking their first steps. With Love And Let Die, their brand new single, The Stone MGs have written their catchiest song yet, and it shows just how much these guys have to give to music. “Uh!” And it begins, singer Rodney James belts out a powerful grunt and the tune kicks off. Instantly we're met with a funky punk'n'roll concoction with a plethora of layered instrumentation. The guitar is spiky, the bass is percussive and the drums are tight and groovy. It's a tune that may appear simple on the surface, but in actuality it's quite intricately detailed and as such it probably sits ...

I've written about Swedish musician Dan Wande before, reviewing his previous EP Way Back and compiling an interview with him that gave an intriguing insight into his musical history, his inspirations and his creative process. With the Way Back EP Dan came to establish the sound that he would move forth with, a decidedly vintage yet timeless rock sound sound that sits perfectly on the line between hard rock and heavy metal. With his latest three track EP Dragon Force, Dan has continued in this vein, but it is clear that he has an increased focus and confidence in his music that makes this his best collection of songs yet. The opening title-track begins with a classic epic heavy metal introduction, kicking off the EP in grand style before the song takes us off into it's journey through riffs. Dan has used the same collection of musicians as on Way Back, and once again the performances are fantastic; precise and technical without being soulless and sterile. Lyrically this is a c...