Oliver Arditi

Blog archive

  • Galapagos Now! – The Beards Of London (garage/ roots rock)

    Galapagos Now! – The Beards Of London (garage/ roots rock)

    Lyrics slam meanings across one another in collisions of imagery that are sometimes poetic and profound, but always imbued with acid sarcasm and sour humour. Galapagos Now! are not all about the words however: the arrangements of their songs take on the shapes of their meanings, borrowing vocabulary from garage rock, jazz, folk and other… Read more

  • Monday Musings: Technique and Creativity

    Monday Musings: Technique and Creativity

    There are some really skilled musicians around with very little to say: there are also some players with a very rudimentary technique who are able to stretch it into work of huge creative ambition. There are many more whose artistic strategies are too dependent on their technical aptitude to permit them to range very widely,… Read more

  • Saturday Summary 016

    Saturday Summary 016

    I’m not detecting any special, industry shaking trends this week (which doesn’t mean they’re not there, I’m usually the last to know!) However, I have found a fair few interesting links I’d like to share with you. Read more

  • Heavy Ethics – Rhubarb (jazz/ fusion/ prog)

    Heavy Ethics – Rhubarb (jazz/ fusion/ prog)

    It says prog up there at the top, and that’s both a nod to the band’s self-identifications, and because this music is decidedly progressive, although, to be honest, if you’re looking for something that sounds like archetypal prog-rock this will probably sound like jazz to you. It has dissonances aplenty, and frequently hazy tonality, although… Read more

  • Tiny Dragons – You Need To Relax (funk/ rock)

    Tiny Dragons – You Need To Relax (funk/ rock)

    I’m just going to make a list. Imaginative arrangements, sonically creative production, intelligent songwriting, tight, propulsive playing, and a powerful, expressive, cleverly phrased vocal delivery. Rocking out and bringing the funk in equal measure, Tiny Dragons use a vocabulary that is very long established (an equivalent would be Jimi Hendrix borrowing the phraseology of early… Read more

  • Ports Of Call – Fractals (shoegaze/ dreampop)

    Ports Of Call – Fractals (shoegaze/ dreampop)

    Bass and drums provide Fractals with a spare and sturdy scaffold, from which they hang their shimmering banners of translucent, liquid sound. There are vocals, with audible lyrics, but for me they function similarly to the guitars, as a textural element: reverb returns are often separated in the mix from their sources, vocal or instrumental,… Read more