LIVE REVIEW – BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: MANCHESTER ALBERT HALL – 11/04/2026

When linking the concept of nostalgia and music, my brain heads straight to one of those 80s music festival, where, tucked away off-the-beaten-track, thousands latch on to their youth by listening to Nik Kershaw perform his greatest hits (if you dare call them that). But as anniversary tours pledge to trapse through deep cuts and […]
When you think of ambient music, I can guess one of the first names you think of is Aphex Twin, followed by Boards Of Canada probably. Hora Lunga are even more strange and far out sounding than those two combined in this collection of ambient tunes. Think of white noise paired with strange, slowed down […]

ALBUM REVIEW – HORA LUNGA: NEW AGE MUSIC VOL. 2-3

ALBUM REVIEW – CHROMA: 25 FOREVER

From the post-industrial landscape of Pontypridd, South Wales, CHROMA emerged not just as a band, but as a voice – urgent, unfiltered, and impossible to ignore. The trio KT Hall, Liam Bevan, and Zac Mather, built their identity on tension: between melody and distortion, vulnerability and defiance, introspection and confrontation. Their sound feels lived-in, shaped […]
Calling himself ‘The Devil’s Prime Minister”, Antoine Dougbe had a fearsome reputation. The son of a Vodún priest, he was initiated into the religion which while it acknowledges the existence of a single creator is more concerned with minor deities (the Vodúns) who live in the spirit world. This includes figures known as kovitos, spirits […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ANTOINE DOUGBE & L’ORCHESTRA POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU: S/T

ALBUM REVIEW – POLICE DOG HOGAN: THE LIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS

Police Dog Hogan, the British band that is firmly rooted in bluegrass and Americana, are back with their seventh album, The Light At The Top Of The Stairs. The band are in touch with their elder selves on this LP, with even the title being a nod to the afterlife, the themes of mortality and […]
There’s something inherently strange about a Gorillaz gig, like you’re never just watching a band, you’re stepping into a fully formed world that’s been ticking over long before you arrived. On March 21st at the Co-op Live Arena, that world didn’t just open up, it swallowed the room whole. No radio-friendly warm-up, no predictable pre-show playlist. Instead, the […]

LIVE REVIEW – GORILLAZ: MANCHESTER CO-OP LIVE – 21/03/2026

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 10 APRIL 2026

My New Band Believe                My New Band Believe It is as epic and ritzy as Cameron Picton’s previous work in black midi but its sound is fleet-footed rather than scorching. The record is almost entirely acoustic, using the barest amount of reverb and electronic effects possible. Juni Habel         Evergreen In Your Mind             The album […]
‘So it starts’, Holly Humberstone’s second album titled Cruel World begins with a short musical instrumentation which encapsulates the dreamy feel of the album which is like waking up in a dark forest fading in and out of consciousness as a jumpy violin eases you back into real-life. To accompany these twinkling instruments in the […]

ALBUM REVIEW – HOLLY HUMBERSTONE: CRUEL WORLD

LIVE REVIEW – KRIS DREVER + ANNIE DRESSNER: LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOMS – 08/04/2026

At 10 pm on 8 April 2024, there was a knock on my front door. Opening it, I was astonished to see two paramedics on my doorstep and an ambulance at the end of the driveway. I was even more horrified to discover that it was not some clerical error and they were genuinely there […]
With their new album “The Bridges That We Burn” Ultrabomb have delivered a masterclass in how punk rock can call out political and social issues but still put a smile on the listeners face.  Formed in 2021 and now comprising Greg Norton (Hüsker Dü), Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion / Agent Orange / Adolescents) and Ryan Smith (Soul […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ULTRABOMB: THE BRIDGES THAT WE BURN