“You seem like a rowdy northern crowd if that isn’t too much of a stereotype.” From the roars of the boisterous crowd, they relish Ezra Furman’s description. Record shop in store shows can be strange events. Audiences tend to be more restrained as they are often clutching CDs or vinyl, precious cargo compared to the […]
I miss Britpop. I wasn’t there – about eight years too late – but I miss it. Its optimism, rugged energy and ability to weave between storytelling and subtle social commentary all still translates today. Perhaps now though we reflect on it with the bittersweet notion of nostalgia, longing to return to a time where […]
What can I say? Flying cars, floating boxing gloves, and a heartfelt finale—I fear I have become a massive Bryan Adams fan. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting this performance to be very similar to Frankie Valli’s from 2023. You know, the almost ventriloquist act with overly enthusiastic backing singers doing most […]
A dozen jackets hang suspended on a stage shrouded in dry ice while eerie music drones. It could be a modern gallery’s art exhibition. If anyone entering Aviva Studios prior to curtain call did not realise in advance, ‘Hamlet Hail to the Thief’ is by no means a standard Shakespearean production. Instead, it is […]
Your Silent Radio correspondent for the tenth Manchester Punk Festival didn’t have a press pass and came home with more bruises than notes. My interactions with bands were limited to thanking them for their performances (and occasionally “bumping into them” in the pit or physically supporting them while they crowd-surfed!). I’ll just have to do […]
‘I can’t really describe how it felt watching someone you’ve known your entire life perform in front of thousands of people.’ Dial tone memories and party girl anthems stand proudly in place of a support act – because the only appropriate opener for a tour that is the musical equivalent of reading your diary out […]
Orla Gartland could have been playing to a sold-out venue (and she was), or to a room of about a dozen people. Fact of the matter is, regardless of where, when, or to whom this Irish singer/songwriter performs, she will always put on one hell of a show, just as she did at the Albert […]
Smoke machines. The neon ‘The Darkness’ logo above the stage. Stage lights that will blind you temporarily. The dramatic entrance accompanied by ‘Rock and Roll Party Cowboy’ can only send shivers and excitement into the onlookers as The Darkness show the audience how a rock n roll entrance is made. The intro to ‘Growing on […]
Having just moved from Manchester to London in 1995, excited but terrified at the same time, embarking on an new adventure working in for an independent record label, little did I know then that one band, more than any other would come to define my time in the capital. ‘Pure Phase’ released in March 1995, […]
Unlike comedian Louis CK (CK for “Székely”), Anthony Szmierek has the chutzpah to stick with his given name, and also the confidence to almost single-handedly bring back the faded-in perm and banging ‘tache combo. It shouldn’t really work, but boy does it. Just like an English teacher from Hyde mixing spoken word delivery with phat […]
GIG GUIDE
Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.
See this month's guide
FEATURE - ECUADORIAN MUSIC - PART 1
ALBUM REVIEW - AMINE: 13 MONTHS OF SUNSHINE
ALBUM REVIEW – LAVINIA BLACKWALL: THE MAKING
ALBUM REVIEW - RIVERS OF NIHIL: RIVERS OF NIHIL
ALBUM REVIEW: STEREOLAB- INSTANT HOLOGRAMS ON METAL FILM
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 23 MAY 2025
SINGLE REVIEW - THE KOWLOONS: I DON'T CARE
LIVE REVIEW – EZRA FURMAN: LIVERPOOL ROUGH TRADE – 21/05/2025
INTERVIEW - AMMAR 808
ALBUM REVIEW – AMMAR 808: CLUB TOUNSI
