Scott H. Biram is the “Dirty Ol’ One Man Band” of blues punk who has been releasing albums since 2000. In the past years he’s been rampaging around like he’s being possessed by an (un)holy spirit and has no intentions of quitting. On The Bad Testament the Texan folk troubadour continuous to examine his own tortured soul. Continue reading
Under Stars is the fourth album by Amy Macdonald, and the first in five long years. Let’s see how it stacks up and whether the wait was worth it. Continue reading
So what’s still to say about Neil Young? He co-founded Buffalo Springfield, hooked up with Crosby, Stills & Nash, released dozens of studio albums and almost single handedly laid the foundations of the grunge rock sound. At the age of 70, Young is one of the few musicians of old that is still going strong. Last saturday Don Grungio visited The Netherlands as part of his European tour with Promise of the Real and naturally, we traveled to Amsterdam to see the good man at work.
One of England’s most tormented singers returns yet again after leaving us with a heart-breaking myocardial infarction in 2013. I mean this in a figurative way of course because in real life Matt Elliott is healthy as a horse. How else could The Calm Before be his seventeenth (!) album to date. Now let’s hear what this veteran of agony brings us this time, shall we? Continue reading
Kyle Field, frontman of Little Wings, is what you might call a postmodern balladeer of rural and urban landscapes. California’s wonderful natural surroundings, youth culture and the big city congestions issues were a source of inspiration for his hymns. Only somewhere during the course of time he expanded his horizon and started residing in landscapes of half truths. Luckily this was just the right place to bring together his fragile poetry and wobbly folk pop. Continue reading
The voice and guitar of Dire Straits, the label on the record proudly states, and you have to wonder if Mark Knopfler will ever truly get out from under that gargantuan shadow he himself cast all those years ago. My guess is he won’t, although I applause the man for trying. Tracker is his eight solo album, and it’s not bad. Not bad at all.
If you leave out the May Day editions, tonight its the eighth time Le Guess Who? will kick off in Utrecht (NL) again. The festival always offers a mixture of unknown and renowned indie acts during the last weeks of November and this year there is no exception on that. Personally, I’m always looking forward to Le Guess Who? because it brings a bunch of interesting artists to my doorstep. Luckily the festival organizers can’t complain about the attention from the Dutch media they’re getting these days and Sounds from the Darkside can’t be left behind on that, so during the coming days we will keep you posted about the festival’s proceedings.
