ALBUM REVIEW: THE GENTLE MEN – EVOLUTION OF TEARS

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 […]
– 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 […]
The 1975

LIVE: THE 1975 – 20/01/2023

ALBUM REVIEW – JOCKSTRAP: I LOVE YOU JENNIFER B

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 […]
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 […]

ALBUM REVIEW – NURIA GRAHAM: CYCLAMEN

ALBUM REVIEW – CYMANDE: CYMANDE

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 […]
As a former fanzine editor, I was naturally drawn to this book. Enthusiasm and the willingness to share that excitement without any expectation of financial reward are endearing qualities. Because of personal experience, my first thought when fanzines are mentioned is of publications about music. However, what makes Hogg and Ironside’s study especially enjoyable is […]

BOOK REVIEW – WE PEAKED AT PAPER: AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH ZINES BY GAVIN HOGG AND HAMISH IRONSIDE

ALBUM REVIEW – ROZI PLAIN: PRIZE

‘Blink’, the closing track on Rozi Plain’s fifth album ‘Prize’, with its “Blink if you love” refrain, feels like the perfect metaphor for her musical approach, a series of quiet but meaningful gestures. Her latest record contains elements that could be expected from her songs, an appealing indie, folk, jazz, minimalism hybrid with a voice […]
There have probably been as many box sets and reissues of The Fall’s material, as there have been members in the band, it was once stated that you couldn’t walk more than a few yards in Manchester without bumping into a former member of The Fall. Yet this beautifully packaged new collection presents an enticingly […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE FALL – THE 1970s, 12 CD BOXSET

ALBUM REVIEW – LITTLE SIMZ: NO THANK YOU

In Autumn 2022, ‘Sometimes I May Be Introvert’ deservedly received the Mercury Music Prize, the culmination of a year of awards combined with record sales that finally reflected critics’ response to Little Simz. The release as a single of that album’s ‘How Did You Get Here’ felt like her basking in anticipated success while celebrating […]
Whenever music, as distinct from lyrics, conjures a sense of place, it is invariably of wide, open spaces rather than the interiors of an office or over-crowded home. Scottish composer Andrew Wasylyk’s latest album, ‘Hearing the Water Before Seeing the Falls’, from its title onwards fits this template but does so with immense beauty, showing […]

ALBUM REVIEW – ANDREW WASYLYK: HEARING THE WATER BEFORE SEEING THE FALLS