ALBUM REVIEW – THE GOLDEN DREGS: ON GRACE AND DIGNITY

High or low, voices that hit extremes are exhilarating. There is a thrill to vocals that soar stratospherically, such as Billy McKenzie or Roy Orbison, but there is a contrasting engagement with singing that appears to emerge from the soles of hobnail boots. One of my earliest musical memories was making ludicrous attempts at singing […]
Writers, me included, have been tripping up over our words trying to describe Mogwai’s sound for decades. We can go on endlessly about their ability to create huge sounding records, matched with a delicate side to their craft that’s just as spellbinding, yet at the end of the day, they’re four down to earth blokes […]

INTERVIEW: MOGWAI – STUART BRAITHWAITE SPEAKS TO US AHEAD OF TWO MANCHESTER GIGS, REISSUES OF THE FIRST TWO ALBUMS AND DISCUSSES HIS RECENTLY RELEASED AUTOBIOGRAPHY, PLUS THAT AMAZING NUMBER ONE ALBUM “I THINK I WAS PUTTING THE BINS OUT WHEN WE FOUND OUT”

ALBUM REVIEW – ROBERT FORSTER: THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME

As a fickle music fan easily transferring affection to the latest exciting new performer, it is easy to miss out on the joys of eagerly following an artist through their (at the risk of sounding like a ‘Strictly’ contestant) journey. Since hearing ‘Part Company’ in 1984, The Go-Betweens and subsequently Robert Forster’s solo career have […]
‘Mercy’ is the first new album in over ten years from the Welsh legend and former Velvet Underground member, however those expecting an album of rock n roll tunes, should know by now that Cale likes to look forwards, not backwards, living by his own musical expectations and no one else’s. It’s one of the […]

ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN CALE – MERCY

ALBUM REVIEW: DEALING WITH DAMAGE – USE THE DAYLIGHT

A hardcore band who sample 13th Floor Elevators, creating soundscapes which recall Loaded era Primal Scream, Dealing With Damage are redefining what you thought a hardcore band could sound like. Formed of members from hardcore, punk and indie bands Done Lying Down, Sink, K Line and Jerry Built, Dealing With Damage’s second album is packed […]
Here is one I missed, and maybe you did too?  Metal for a long time in my humble opinion has been slept upon for too long. People must have lost their sanity. Mainstream music right now is indie rock or the highway. Politely I’m fed up. Its irritating that there is no escape from this […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE GENTLE MEN – EVOLUTION OF TEARS

The 1975

LIVE: THE 1975 – 20/01/2023

– Arena, Manchester – There’s no two ways about it: this is the most thrilling arena show I’ve ever seen. It’s quite a grand statement to make, but what Matty Healy et al have constructed (and constructed is definitely the word) for the mega-tour in support of their latest album Being Funny in a Foreign […]
Preeminent exponents of the “thank goodness they don’t sound like their name” genre, Jockstrap somehow conjure a unique, distinctive sound out of a careening mishmash of genres, surprising the listener with their mischievous, often discomforting approach. They first came to attention with 2020’s ‘The City’ which set out as a fragile ballad before transforming into […]

ALBUM REVIEW – JOCKSTRAP: I LOVE YOU JENNIFER B

ALBUM REVIEW – NURIA GRAHAM: CYCLAMEN

The new album from Irish/Catalan singer Nuria Graham, ‘Cyclamen’, is rich in imaginary fables, premonitions and a heightened awareness of nature together with beguiling musical arrangements that mark a huge progression from her earlier releases.   ‘Procida’ bookends the album. The opening snippet begins with the intriguing line, “back in Prussia”, a harp plucked and plenty […]
Patience is a virtue that Cymande have been forced to learn. Largely ignored in their homeland between the release of their self-titled debut in 1972 and splitting three years later after two further albums, they were embraced in the US. In the intervening years, the London band’s fusion of influences from their Guyanese and Jamaican […]

ALBUM REVIEW – CYMANDE: CYMANDE