ALBUM REVIEW – HAWKWIND: PSYCHEDELIC SELECTION

Hawkwind, the space rock band that pioneered the very same genre. The London band has had many lineup changes throughout their time on Earth (and by the sounds of it, off Earth), and you may well know them for their biggest hit, ‘Silver Machine’, a great swirling and far out rock song that cannot be […]
Britpop is something that is ingrained in not just music history, but British cultural history in general. When you think of that word, I’m sure you don’t just think of Jarvis Cocker mooning the crowd at a Michael Jackson performance, or the Gallagher brothers giving it large at the BRITS. You probably think about lads […]

ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: ALL YOU GOOD PEOPLE – BRITPOP AND BEYOND 1995-1999

ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING – SCOTTISH INDEPENDENT POP 1985-1999

Ask a music fan to choose a band that personified the Scottish independent scene and it is likely that there would be lots of different answers. Perhaps it would be the feedback drenched pop of The Jesus and Mary Chain or the trad rockisms of Primal Scream. Alternatively, it could be Belle and Sebastian’s literate […]
Before the likes of the Stone Roses and Oasis dominated the Manchester music scene, there was a small forgettable gig held at Lesser Free Trade Hall. Which subsequently over the years everyone and their mothers have said to have attended. Held by none other than the Manchester punk band Buzzcocks, they are back with their […]

ALBUM REVIEW – BUZZCOCKS: ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

ALBUM REVIEW – THE FALL: LIVE AT THE WITCH TRIALS

2024 has a special date on the calendar, March 16th. It marks the 45th anniversary of one of post-punk’s seminal albums, The Fall’s uneasy and atmospheric debut ‘Live at The Witch Trials’.  In celebration of this monumental milestone, Cherry Red Records is releasing a fully remastered version of the band’s crucial debut on April 19th […]
Whether you’re a die-hard Fall fan or someone with only a vague interest in their music, you can’t help but admire the way this band rose from the ashes time and time again, with so many band line ups (around 66!) and numerous punch ups, they always managed to be The Fall. With each new […]

ALBUM REVIEW: THE FALL – REFORMATION POST TLC: FOUR CD BOX SET

ALBUM REVIEW: COMPILATION – OPTIMISM/REJECT (PUNK AND POST PUNK)

Whatever the history of punk, it’s impossible to deny the huge impact that this short-lived, intense burst of energy, ethos and political statement had on the music scene not just in the US and UK, but across the world. The striking substance-over-style aesthetic to the music, the boundary-pushing, taboo-breaking socially unacceptable behaviour, even the fashion […]
When the Silent Radio reviews editor offered me the chance to review a King Prawn release, I assumed it would be a best-of or a re-issue – I didn’t even realise they had re-formed in 2012 – but here I am, listening to a brand new album ‘The Fabulous New Sounds of…’, which does a […]

ALBUM REVIEW: KING PRAWN – THE FABULOUS NEW SOUNDS OF

ALBUM: VARIOUS ARTISTS – I’M A FREAK 2 BABY – A Further Journey Through The British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-73

With the ability to discover previously released tunes, in all genres, from the last forty odd years online where do you start? Thankfully compilations like this exist often covering the lesser known areas of a particular genre, and in this case the UK psychedelic and hard rock scene of the late 60s goes under the […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – New material from a pioneer of a scene can all but confirm the revival of a genre. Swervedriver were at the forefront of shoegaze in the early 90’s, along with other UK bands such as Ride and Slowdive. Their personal development took onboard American influences Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth, as […]

LIVE: SWERVEDRIVER – 16/05/2015