ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 1 MAY 2026

Pigeon                Outtanational  Across the album, Pigeon build party music without limits, drawing lines between afro-disco, krautrock, punk-funk and post-punk, with a DIY spirit and an exploratory edge. Tori Amos          In Time of Dragons       Amos states, “”In Times of Dragons is a metaphorical story about the fight for Democracy over Tyranny, reflecting the current abhorrent […]
Travelling down the M62 in 90 odd degree heat stuck in traffic as everyone has decided to play Manchester today from Olivia Dean, Yungblud to The Scratch. Going a bit earlier to make a day of it, walk the streets and try that Dave’s Hot chicken that everyone is raving about. The sun’s shining, the […]

LIVE REVIEW – THE SCRATCH: MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2 – 25/04/2026

ALBUM REVIEW – RINGO STARR: LONG LONG ROAD

Due to an incredibly stressful and procrastination heavy week, I originally handed this in using AI! Lol, soz. Alas, my “experiment” has already given me the shivers since sending to the editor, so here’s my actual typed review; as I sit here watching Aussie Rules Football, gasping for a ciggy and desperate for some Turkish delight. […]
Britpop is something that is ingrained in not just music history, but British cultural history in general. When you think of that word, I’m sure you don’t just think of Jarvis Cocker mooning the crowd at a Michael Jackson performance, or the Gallagher brothers giving it large at the BRITS. You probably think about lads […]

ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: ALL YOU GOOD PEOPLE – BRITPOP AND BEYOND 1995-1999

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 24 APRIL 2026

Angelo De Augustine   Angel in Plainclothes  Sufjan Stevens collaborator whose latest is full of heartfelt elegies, powerful melodies, and captivating songcraft – but its scope is far broader, his use of dynamics more intriguing and panoptic. He created it using a vast array of largely antique musical instruments, including such oddities as a Marxophone, a […]
With her seventh solo album, Jesca Hoop finally takes the leap to the producer’s chair. It is a move inspired by the independence of her hero, Joni Mitchell, who has played a prominent role in Hoop’s recent creative processes as last year she toured with Lail Arad and This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables to […]

ALBUM REVIEW – JESCA HOOP: LONG WAVE HOME

LIVE REVIEW – DEATHCRASH + GLASSHOUSE RED SPIDER MITE: YES PINK ROOM – 15/04/2026

If there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s my memory; be it an important date or an aside about what you had for tea on Tuesday two weeks ago, I can generally be relied upon to recall things I’m informed about without much effort. So, you rightly ask, why was it that I nearly […]
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 […]

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

ALBUM REVIEW – SYSTEM 7: FLOWER OF LIFE

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 […]
As I stand in the relatively small space of Gorilla in Manchester tonight, the thumping bass and house beat of ‘L.Y.A.T.T’ blasts through the room, the whole crowd lost in a trance of colourful lights and bright visuals on a screen behind Art School Girlfriend. But that comes later. At the start of the show, […]

LIVE REVIEW – ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND: MANCHESTER GORILLA – 16/04/2026