ALBUM REVIEW – BIITA HOUDEI: THIS BED WAS MADE FOR ME

Biita (pronounced Bee-tah) means “unique” in the Farsi language. The name was gifted by her aunt to Lisa Houdei who has chosen to record her debut album under this moniker to feel closer to her Persian heritage. The idea of being unique is a grand claim and while Biita Houdei’s music is not completely unlike […]
The music of Dur-Dur Band captures the energy and optimism of 1980s Mogadishu. They were the prime exponents of a sound which blended Somali melodies with disco, funk, jazz, soul and reggae. As Dur-Dur translates as stream, all these elements could be compared to tributaries feeding into the smooth running of a larger river. It […]

ALBUM REVIEW – DUR-DUR BAND: DUR-DUR VOLUME 3 (1988) & 4 (1989)

ALBUM REVIEW – THE CHEAP THRILLS: KEEP CHEAP

It feels like bias will spill everywhere and lines overlapping writing about The Cheap Thrills and being a Scouser but, the music without a doubt backs it up and the impact in the Liverpool music scene can’t be understated. Hailing from Walton Vale, the fourpiece have always worn who they are like a badge of […]
Gigs are commonly places of communion, sweat, uncomfortable proximity to strangers, ringing ears and spilt beer. However, with Maya Ongaku’s most recent album Nothing Space Music representing their attempt to reconnect with silence and find beauty in the spaces between noise, it is hard to know how it would translate to a live setting. In […]

LIVE REVIEW – MAYA ONGAKU + HEDGEHOG: YES BASEMENT – 10/09/2026

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 11 SEPTEMBER 2026

Various               Nigeria 80         ‘Nigeria 70’ was one of the ultimate compilations, shining a light on a vibrant music scene. It still sounds fresh today. This new release moves forward, diving deep into the explosive sound world of 1980s Nigeria. With all tracks reissued here for the first time, ‘Nigeria 80’ spans highlife, juju, Afrobeat, reggae, […]
For Rodrigo y Gabriela, home is not necessarily a physical place, more a sense of having purpose and inner peace instead of seeking external approval. The seventh album from the Grammy award winning (for 2019’s ‘Mettavolution’) Mexico City-bred instrumental duo of Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero radiates that quality. However, place is also a key […]

ALBUM REVIEW – RODRIGO Y GABRIELA: OUR HOME

ALBUM REVIEW – FORMAL SPPEEDWEAR: PUNCH CARD

Enemies of spellcheck, Stoke-on-Trent’s Formal Sppeedwear, parade a dazzling debut decked out with a lorryload of ideas. It is easy to recognise influences (Devo, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Fashion-era Bowie, Steve Reich, Talking Heads) but they manage to create something fresh, energetic and coherent from that sonic jumble. Although these are all 20th Century influences, they […]
 Arab Strap         Half-Told Tales               Their ninth album comes almost thirty years to the day since their first single was released. The most prevailing theme across the record is time. “The album title sounds like a fairytale book, until you get to the end of the record and you realise that I’m talking about lives that have […]

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 4 SEPTEMBER 2026

EP REVIEW: THEORY OF A DEADMAN – FUNERAL SONGS: PART 1

For some, three years is a long wait, but for others, a release every three years is more realistic. This is a tradition that Theory Of A Deadman have had for the majority of their career, and with each release, the American rock band claim that the new music is always worth the wait. For […]
An encore is an extra performance given at the end of a concert or show, or a call by the audience for the performers to return. After a career spanning almost five decades, Pulp make their debut at the O2 to prove what exactly they would do for an encore. ‘Spike island’ begins, welcoming an […]

ALBUM REVIEW – PULP: LIVE