The Daily Growl

Today’s Seven Songs comes from someone you probably haven’t heard of, but I think you should. Line and a Dot - who is more ordinarily Sarah from Northampton - was first pitched to me by a small indie label called Things to Make and Do as new female folk artist along the lines of Elliot [...]

Sparrow and the Workshop are one these bands who you might find hard to pinpoint exactly what you like about them, but you like them anyway. They remind me of The National, not because they sound anything like them, but just because they’re great without doing anything obviously radical or different. The more obvious comparisons [...]

The first time I saw The Miserable Rich, one of the stand-out songs from their set was the cover of Hot Chip’s Over and Over. Usually the best cover versions are those which totally re-interpret a song and somehow keep the spirit of the original intact, and their version certainly did that. Look it up [...]

Although having a David Sitek-produced album will make people sit up and take notice of you, I’d like to think that there’s more to Holly Miranda’s music than studio trickery from a renowned producer. I’m also sure that the folks at XL looked further than the TV on the Radio man when they signed her [...]

Just when you thought she couldn’t get much more stripped down, Nancy Elizabeth does exactly that. Her 2007 album Battle and Victory was a beautiful, minimal affair, but one garnished with a host of exotic instrumentation. For the follow-up, Wrought Iron, the Wigan-raised, Manchester-based singer songwriter has cut away all possible fat and created a [...]

I used to wonder why The Pipettes weren’t huge. So much about them - three attractive girls, polka dot dress ‘uniforms’, sparkling pop songs, synchronised dancing - shouted Saturday night TV entertainment rather than sweaty indie dives. So I can only assume it was the lack of a major label advertising budget that prevented them [...]

So here he is again, for the second time this week, our man Rob Jones with his amazing one-man band he calls The Voluntary Butler Scheme. Yesterday I introduced him to my global colleagues on the Music Alliance Pact, and now it’s the turn of Rob himself to give us his seven songs. I should [...]

What sort of music were Kill It Kid listening to when they were growing up? Actually, it’s not too hard to answer that, though I don’t know how many of today’s teenagers are steeped in delta blues, country, old folk music and classic American rock. But how else could a band so young arrive sounding [...]

Today we have a double dose of The Leisure Society to celebrate the re-release of their The Sleeper album on new label Full Time Hobby. I was a little equivocal when it was first released on Wilkommen records earlier in the year, but since then it has become a firm favourite, winning me over by [...]

You may not know much about Strike The Colours, but they’re a band with rich pedigree. Primarily, it’s the project of Jenny Reeve, who’s known for her work with Arab Strap and Malcolm Middleton, but joining her are pals who divide their time between playing with an impressive host of bands and artists, such as [...]