ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING – SCOTTISH INDEPENDENT POP 1985-1999

Ask a music fan to choose a band that personified the Scottish independent scene and it is likely that there would be lots of different answers. Perhaps it would be the feedback drenched pop of The Jesus and Mary Chain or the trad rockisms of Primal Scream. Alternatively, it could be Belle and Sebastian’s literate […]
Electronic pioneers System 7 (Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) return with a new album, Flower of Life. The duo lean more into the house side of their music on this record, with a fresh and positive sound. Hillage has been involved in multiple genres over the decades, recording with Soft Machine and joining Gong in […]

ALBUM REVIEW – SYSTEM 7: FLOWER OF LIFE

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 17 APRIL 2026

Penny Arcade                 Double Exposure          The album harks somewhere between the restless experimentation of Syd Barrett and the uninhibited analogue innovations of Tim Presley as White Fence, doing so with great panache. Teen Suicide    Nude descending staircase headless              With artists such as Pixies, Melvins and Radiohead as touchstones, ‘Nude descending staircase headless’ is an aggressive, […]
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 […]
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 […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 10 APRIL 2026

ALBUM REVIEW – HOLLY HUMBERSTONE: CRUEL WORLD

‘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 […]
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