ALBUM REVIEW – VOLKSEMPFANGER: ATTACK OF SOUND

I am in awe of Ajay Saggar. In addition to his day (and night) job as production manager at the Paradiso, Amsterdam’s main venue, he has found time to bombard the listening public with an array of great albums during 2023. He started off greeting Spring with a double album from his solo project, Bhajan […]
Self-describing as being like getting punched in the face by a gorilla but then being cuddled afterwards, UNIVERSITY are definitely something like that. To be totally honest this EP is a little bit difficult to listen to but let’s just call that an artistic choice. Frantic and disorganised, ‘Title Track’ is an obvious attempt at […]

EP REVIEW – UNIVERSITY: TITLE TRACK

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 17 NOVEMBER 2023

Lots of new releases in Silent Radio’s latest roundup of the last really busy week before Christmas. Mock Media      Mock Media II   Debut album from Canadian supergroup comprised of Garnet Aronyk (of Crack Cloud), Bennett Smith (of N0V3L), Austin Boylan (of Pottery) and Evan Aesen (of Painted Fruits) whose punk-rock stylings serve as a framework […]
‘Cartwheel’ by Hotline TNT is an album of pure fuzz, existing and then dissolving back again into obscurity. To the untrained ear, this LP may sound little more than someone throwing all the instruments at a wall and expecting something to stick, when in actuality it’s a lot more nuanced than that. Each layer of […]

ALBUM REVIEW – HOTLINE TNT: CARTWHEEL

ALBUM REVIEW – SPEARMINT: THIS CANDLE IS FOR YOU

Over the course of 24 years, Spearmint have specialised in wonderfully crafted, melancholic songs with outstanding lyrics that tell emotional stories that deserve far more than their dedicated cult audience. Fronted by Shirley Lee, who can lay claim to a prominent place amongst the most famous male Shirleys in popular culture, coming a very distant […]
This could just be my best review ever. A part of me feels like I won’t ever get enjoyment like this. It’s interesting the hallucinogenic trance of ‘Snail Mail’s’ ‘Valentine Demos’. Lindsey Jordan’s vocals are quite hard to follow at moments, it’s without a doubt something that captures a listener with an eerie but spooky […]

EP REVIEW – SNAIL MAIL: VALENTINE DEMOS

ALBUM REVIEW – SATAN’S FALL: DESTINATION DESTRUCTION

So, “metal” is a bit of a catch-all term – which obviously is why we have “black metal”, “hair metal”, “cheese metal” etc. (although there’s just no reason why we have “nu-metal”!). In any case, it can be a bit of a pot luck to just shout up for any “metal” that comes across the […]
Hilary Woods’ Acts of Light is the third full-length release in the Irish artist’s catalogue of enveloping drones, following on from the discomforting forms that snaked through 2021’s Feral Hymns. Having already established a track record of skin-invading frequencies, Woods returns on Acts of Light with nine resonant confrontations of self. It’s an incredibly difficult […]

ALBUM REVIEW – HILARY WOODS: ACTS OF LIGHT

NEWS – LOUDER THAN WORDS FESTIVAL STARTS TODAY

The premier festival for books about music, Louder Than Words, kicks off today at the Innside Hotel in Manchester. Over the course of the weekend, there will be appearances from Will Sergeant, Trevor Horn, Ian Broudie, Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet), Don Powell (Slade), Nick Banks (Pulp) and Pauline Murray talking about their new books. Other […]
10 / 11 / 23 The Wonder Years – The Ritz Celebrating ten years of their acclaimed album ‘The Greatest Generation’ a pop punk emo slab that inspired a whole generation of artists. Dealing with themes such as politics, grief and working class struggles, they bring their feisty celebration to The Ritz. Mock Media – […]

PREVIEWS – PLAYING IN MANCHESTER THIS WEEK