LIVE REVIEW – MANDY, INDIANA & SLAP RASH – THE WHITE HOTEL SALFORD 27/10/23

For my first visit to The White Hotel in Salford, it is fitting that both acts I witnessed are themselves Manchester bands – though not at all in the Madchester sense of the phrase. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of 90s nostalgia, mind you, but the descriptor comes nowhere close to encapsulating […]
With an extra hour available this weekend, there is more time for catching up on this week’s releases. Mint Field           Aprender a Sur Excellent Mexico City band creating an enticing blend of avant dream pop and shoegaze with some touches of trip hop that explore the nostalgia and melancholy of daily life with complex rhythms, […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 27 OCTOBER 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – LEO ROBINSON: THE TEMPLE

Leo Robinson’s ‘The Temple’ has been garnering understandable comparisons to Richard Dawson. While Dawson is an almost unique presence in the music scene, there are elements to Robinson’s work that justify the link. They both take elements of folk music, especially the mythology, and turn it into a whole that merges the past with contemporary […]
A Little Touch of Schleicher in the Night’ is packed with songs that instantly grab the attention and never let go. Often it will be via memorable, if not downright odd, opening lines as exemplified by the record’s first track, ‘Montagnard People’ which begins with Katie von Schleicher singing “when you’re mourning the past, you’ll […]

ALBUM REVIEW – KATIE VON SCHLEICHER: A LITTLE TOUCH OF SCHLEICHER IN THE NIGHT

LIVE REVIEW: SQUID – NEW CENTURY HALL 18/10/23

Is there anything more delightful than a singing drummer (or is it a drummer who sings? One to debate)? There’s something magnificent about them, sitting there behind their kit, boshing away whilst also finding the wherewithal to bash out a tune too. How do they do it? How are they not completely breathless all the […]
Our roundup of another busy week of new releases including several outstanding albums. Pip Blom              Bobbie With her third album, the ever-impressive Blom moves in a synth-led direction inspired by Micachu and the Shapes. The album includes duets with Alex Kapranos and Personal Trainer’s Willem Smit that work especially well. Emma Anderson              Pearlies Co-founder of […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 20 OCTOBER 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – LEON KEITA: LEON KEITA

The best music can banish even the weariest mood. That has certainly been true for this album from Leon Keita, the latest release from Analog Africa, a German-based label that over the past 16 years has been devoted to excavating some of the finest music from the African continent made during the period from the […]
As 14 October marks National Album Day, it would be rude not to listen to a new album this weekend. Here Silent Radio issues its guide to this week’s releases. The Drums          Jonny    Heartbreaking, playful, raucous, and serene all in turn, it confronts the deep-rooted childhood trauma founding member Jonny Pierce experienced growing up in […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 13 OCTOBER 2023

ALBUM REVIEW – HOLLY HUMBERSTONE: PAINT MY BEDROOM BLACK

Critically acclaimed superstar Holly Humberstone is back with her delightful debut album entitled Paint My Bedroom Black. Feeding us with 13 tracks worth of memories, heartbreak and the inner workings of her life you can’t help but find yourself hooked from the very beginning. If I was to have an album soundtrack a film about […]
Mike Skinner, a musician and producer, legend (responsible for my parents’ marriage) established the British music project The Streets. The group is noted for its peculiar blend of UK garage, hip-hop, and electronic music, with lyrics that frequently explore everyday hidden truths like drug life, romance, and honesty. Rather than talking about limos and fancy […]

ALBUM REVIEW – THE STREETS: THE DARKER THE SHADOW THE BRIGHTER THE LIGHT