INTERVIEW – GETTING TO KNOW TOM B: LETTING GO OF CONTROL WITH THE REMIX OF ‘LAVENDER WATER’

When I first heard the demo that Tom b sent to me, I whacked the volume up to 100 on my headphones and began to pace around my flat. I had no idea what to expect. What I heard was a cacophony of electronic sounds and samples, beautifully interwoven into this musical tapestry that Tom […]
Gnonnas Pedro and His Dadjes Band sometimes became known as ‘The Band That Speaks All African Languages’ for their ability to sing in Fon, Mina, Yoruba, French, English and Spanish. Combined with their masterful blend of Agbadja, Cuban fon, jerk, highlife, and other African rhythms, it gives the sixteen tracks on the latest release from […]

ALBUM REVIEW – GNONNAS PEDRO & HIS DADJES BAND: ROI DE ‘LAGBADJA MODERNE 1974-1983

ALBUM REVIEW – HEARTWORMS: GLUTTON FOR PUNISHMENT

Two years after her melting EP A comforting notion, Heartworms (the solo project of Jojo Orme) releases Glutton For Punishment, under the production of Dan Carey and his Speedy Wunderground label (Black Country, New Road, Tiña, Lazarus Kane among many others). So many times I listened to the record, that the promotional album I was […]
Alestorm are currently one of the busiest bands on the road. It has not even been a year since they last toured the UK, and so despite this, when they were announced as the headliners for the returning Pagan Fest tour, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. I have been following the lads on tour vlogs […]

LIVE REVIEW: PAGAN FEST – VICTORIA WAREHOUSE – 18/01/2025

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 24 JANUARY 2025

A bonanza of a week, high in both quality and quantity of new releases. Here is the Silent Radio guide. Samba Toure                 Baarakelaw    A vivid mix of traditional northern Malian Songhoy music, blues-rock tracks with psychedelic overtones, ballads and love songs. In addition to the music, it is noteworthy for its theme – all […]
From its earliest days, pop music’s number one topic has been love. Now in an era where politics and social interactions seem ever more divisive and views are screamed with greater vehemence into echo chambers, the need to take solace in love songs is understandable. The fifth album from Chris Duncan, ‘It’s Only A Love […]

ALBUM REVIEW – C DUNCAN: IT’S ONLY A LOVE SONG

ALBUM REVIEW – WARDRUNA: BIRNA

Norway is a country steeped in music, and musical history.  Wardruna, is a legacy collective of Norwegian musicians who in the past have had some of the nation’s biggest alternative artists contribute to their one-of-a-kind pagan and aboriginal sound. Each member of this collective brings their own expertise and sound to the table, this time […]
On her previous album, ‘in/FLUX’, Anna B Savage cut a bracingly solitary figure. The title track saw her proclaiming with a Garbo-esque flourish, “I want to be alone / I’m happy on my own” while even the more soothing closing song, ‘The Orange’ had her maintaining in measured tones, “don’t want kids or a partner […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ANNA B SAVAGE: YOU & I ARE EARTH

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 17 JANUARY 2025

A few more releases to graze upon this week. Here is our guide: The Weather Station               Humanhood  Written during one of the most difficult periods of Lindeman’s life and rendered with a rock band with improvisational chops just as she began to recover by reckoning with a complicated truth: Sometimes, life simply tries to dismantle […]
In the four years since Tunng’s last album, ‘Dead Club’, Mike Lindsay has had an inspired period. In addition to his collaboration with Laura Marling as LUMP and an album from his supergroup Supershapes, his production paw-prints have been all over some of the finest albums of the 2020s: Anna B Savage’s ‘in/FLUX’, William Doyle’s […]

ALBUM REVIEW – TUNNG: LOVE YOU ALL OVER AGAIN