Words In The Earth

In the modern age, garage rock is one of those genre tags which manages to be somewhat intangible yet also quite specific at the same time; you know the kind of sounds to expect, yet it's also quite hard to pinpoint exactly what defines those sounds as garage rock. Sure there's fuzzy punk rock guitars, relentlessly loud drums and booming rock'n'roll vocals, but then you could say that about any number of genres. The nature of garage rock is more in it's historical outlook, and the utilisation of influences from a bygone era. That doesn't mean garage rock should be a genre reserved specifically for a niche subculture though, because while there is a rich fandom around the style, the best garage rock bands are those who can, musically at least, transcend some of the clichés inherent in those vintage tropes. This is where we find Philadelphia natives The Judex, a four piece whose intense form of garage rock blends in elements from blues, soul, rockabilly and punk. ...

Creating a track that harkens back to a previous era can be a difficult task to get right. If you're too earnest and overly sincere about your themes then it can come across as an artist taking themselves too seriously without a sense of fun, and particularly in hip-hop that is rarely a good thing. If you go too far the other way though the theme can come across as fickle, and the artist as disingenuous and, worst of all, inauthentic. The trick is to get the balance of entertainment and authenticity spot on and that involves a strong sense of self-awareness; it's something which Killa Vanilla has definitely got right with his latest single Nostalgia. Hailing from Naples, Florida, Killa Vanilla is an artist who espouses a positive, characterful and fun vibe in his music. Across a number of singles released so far he has started to gain prominence beyond just his local scene, and with his big personality and propensity for a catchy hook it's easy to see why. Nostalgia sees hi...

Despite the cultural significance it has for those of us in the UK, I've never actually dived too deeply into chillout music before. The style was pioneered at the great London nightclub Heaven, and dance music institution Ministry Of Sound have been upholding the chillout genre for the best part of two decades now. When house music was at it's peak of commercial popularity in the UK, chillout was there alongside as it's relaxing, spaced-out partner. Whilst I can't profess to being an expert in chillout, I am familiar enough with the style and it's roots in ambient house, as well as it's relationship to downtempo and trip-hop, to find Take A Deep Breath, the debut album from A Better Life, an incredibly intriguing and creative project. My experience with these sounds is often as a constituent part to some exploration of native music, jazz-fusion or spoken word, but A Better Life take quite a pure approach to chillout. The UK collective are led by songwriter and ...

I've always been of the opinion that character is the most important thing in music. Without a display of the creator's character and personality then we're simply left with the inhuman ideal of music as 'organised sound', something which we now have AIs making for us . What I mean by character is that intangible element which can separate artists from one another, even if on a musical basis they sound invariably close. These subtle nuances and incidental changes are what make music truly unique, and Placekeeper is an artist standing as a perfect example of this fact. Placekeeper are an indie rock band from Denver, Colorado fronted by singer, guitarist and songwriter Ganesh Chandran. Ghosts is their latest single, but the song itself actually dates back several years. Originally written in 2012, the song addresses themes of self-confidence and self-doubt, feelings that were brought to the fore again recently and inspired Ganesh to revisit the song and bring it to li...

There are times when a piece of music starts and you can almost instantly tell that the artist behind it is entirely comfortable in their own creative mind, and this is certainly the feeling I get from Elektragaaz and their latest single Cabin Fever. A global collective, with many members based in New York City, they are led by anonymous composer and producer Poppo Redband whose musical visions meld together numerous genres and styles with complete ease, creating a sound which feels simultaneously familiar and utterly original. Cabin Fever is taken from the EP The Synaesthetic Picture Show Now Playing Part 1, a record which you can tell just from it's title is going to be highly ambitious musically. The track is something of a headrush with so much to take in as it meshes together seemingly disparate elements from electro-pop, funk, prog rock, neo-classical, and salsa with a certain enigmatic quality. There's no vocals, which means the listener's focus can be drawn entirely...

Like most kids growing up with a keen interest in music, I went through my phase of adoring The Beatles, and although my phase didn't go on long enough for me to fully explore the depths of their music, it did implant me with a lifelong appreciation for them. For me personally though it wasn't their musical experimentation and forward-thinking production styles that gripped me as it did for so many, but simply the quality and veracity of their song-writing, and as such I always preferred The Beatles more overtly pop output. Most of this can be found in their early singles and albums, but there are also a good number of tracks from their later output that hit the mark. One of my favourite Beatles tracks, and one that is not often at the forefront of cover albums, is Penny Lane, a highly celebrated non-album single from the Sergeant Pepper era that is a perfect summation of the Lennon-McCartney song-writing dynamic. Hearing a tribute album that puts the track front and centre was...

Although there sometimes remains an outsider view that metal is still a pretty stagnant and unsophisticated genre, there are actually a wealth of artists in the underground who are pushing the genre forward both musically and culturally. Lindsay O is a brilliant example of the dynamism of modern metal. The LA based vocalist and instrumentalist has been at the front of a number of boundary pushing projects within the broad scope of death metal, and has lent her talents to several different styles and sounds. Whether it's the dissonant tech-death of Coma Cluster Void, the slam death of Eyes Of Perdition, or the industrial experiments of Catenation, her combination of roaring low growls, epic high screams, compelling cleans and charismatic spoken words make everything she puts her voice to exciting. With her new project NATALIA, Lindsay O has taken something of a different turn. Placing her focus into electronic sounds, NATALIA still has much of the intensity and energy of Lindsay O...

You think you've heard every background story a musician could possibly have, and then a new story appears to surprise and delight you. Chris St. John is a former judge who has spent twenty six years in the legal profession, but has now decided to follow his passion for music. Over the course of those years he has composed a number of excellent songs that tell some of the stories, joys and hardships of his personal life with exquisite beauty. He has brought these together on his gorgeous debut album I'm Dreaming, released earlier this year. I'd Send You My Heart is the stunning closing track to the album that combines all the melancholy of his song-writing style into a simple but perfectly formed ballad. Telling the story of a lost loved one, the track approaches a theme that is familiar and relatable with a deeply personal touch. While the references to texting and the nature based metaphors feel tangible, they also clearly portray a very specific meaning to Chris St. John...

There's something about boogie-woogie in it's modern form that is incredibly joyous. The melting pot of blues, rock n roll and r'n'b that defines the style is infectious but, certainly for those of us in the UK at least, it's rarely heard outside of Jools Holland's TV show jams. And when you do hear it, it's rarely done as well as Marshall Oakman's At The Boiling Point, an instantly catchy and remarkably well composed track that hits every mark a great modern boogie-woogie track should. Marshall Oakman may not be a familiar name, but over his extensive career the New York based musician has forged an impressive path not only as a talented songwriter but also a tremendous performer, with a strong reputation across the Eastern US. For his latest single he has enlisted the help of fellow New Yorkers Kasim Sulton on bass, Liberty DeVitto on drums and Paul Pesco on guitar, all of whom come with fantastic experience and provide skilful playing on the track. At...

People often mistake punk rock's intensity and fervour for simplicity or pureility, but there is a whole wealth of artists who have proved over the years that the intangible qualities of punk rock can be used to create sophisticated and intricate music. Whether it's the post-punk experientialism of Public Image Ltd or Talking Heads, the post-hardcore emotiveness of Fugazi or Thursday, or the singer-songwriter intimacy of Patti Smith or Laura Jane Grace, there are artists who stand firmly as torchbearers for punk. Those latter two names can also be joined now by Vicki F, an acoustic singer-songwriter whose folk and americana indebted songs are infused with the essence of punk rock. Perfect Here, the title track from her latest EP of the same name, is a gloriously melancholic ode to a relationship, showing off not just Vicki F's terrific voice but also her brilliant song-writing skills. Vicki F has a history in punk rock that dates back to the genre's earliest days. Her b...

After a quick glance at the promo photos of New York singer-songwriter BetylJoos, you'd be forgiven for expecting her music to be some kind of raucous power metal full of flashy guitar leads and operatic vocals. The surprise comes, and it's certainly a pleasant one, when you press play and discover that BetylJoos is actually producing wonderfully restrained pieces of song-writing which combine some elements of the metal aesthetic with a very modern compositional maturity. While the sound itself has a few rough edges, this can be forgiven because the songs themselves are so immediately catchy. Across the three tracks on her new Self Titled EP, two of which are new and one of which is remastered from a previous release, BetylJoos shows off her innate skill for crafting a catchy hook within her own musical vision. The first track Empty opens with some spiralling, psychedelic guitars that feed into an intricate piano line, while BetylJoos's strong but moving vocals deliver some...