It’s been a funny time in music and entertainment recently, with hysteria around political pronouncements at major events by bands that we’d expect to do so (and thus providing a distraction from the horrors of Gaza in particular), as well as the anti-Trans bullshit that is still being peddled, and a general feeling that it […]
Another roundup of the best new music recently released or announced, with another glut of new releases in the past couple of weeks in particular. There have also been a number of notable deaths in music this week alone: first Sly Stone, the legendary funk/soul band pioneer, then Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys… and […]
This week’s wrap of new and upcoming music, and it’s another Bandcamp Friday… This post is a roundup of (relevant to this site) new and upcoming music, a nod to upcoming events and livestreams both from this website and others, and also a catchup of what I’ve posted recently. Thanks to everyone who sends me […]
The final part of /Countdown 2023 sees me looking at the best gigs of the year. Some statistics for my gig-going in 2023. I went to 38 shows (each festival is counted by number of days – so Infest is three days, so counts for three shows), and saw 125 live sets. I saw 122 […]
Cold Waves XI was my fifth trip to Chicago, and over the course of the weekend, it was suggested to me more than once that I’m becoming an honorary Chicagoan, such is the frequency that I’ve made it over across the past decade.
Into 2022 and the cold, grey January, and on the first Friday of 2022, it is time for my traditional round-up of what we know about (relevant) new music coming your way in 2022. What do I mean by relevant? Broadly, that means music I might cover here, which to be honest, these days, covers […]
Perhaps not for the first time, this week I’m wondering how exactly I’ve left it this long to cover a subject. It is very much one of those things that I should have covered some time ago, but apparently I never got ’round to it. So, as usual, I asked my friends, and was perhaps […]
Continuing the process of wrapping up the last decade before it disappears too far into the rearview mirror, this is the fifth part of the best tracks of the 2010s. This has been an interesting, and memory-laden trip doing this list. I’ve dredged up a few memories, reconnected with a few songs I’d not heard […]
Another week, and in particular one week closer to Whitby (which we head up to next Thursday). I’m undecided if there will be a post next Friday or not, it all depends on how good my data service is (or whether our cottage has WiFi) – connections remain rather sketchy in the North Yorkshire town. […]
Post-Cold Waves V, it’s been a time for getting things done and catching up.
For the third year running – although it was a bit touch-and-go this year with the wedding and everything else, and my wife chose not to come along this time – the last weekend of September meant a trip 3,960 miles to the west of London. To the city of Chicago, to catch up with […]
Back, then, with part six of my 1996 roundup. As a reminder, I’m marking twenty years of writing about music (my writing long pre-dates this website going live) across this year with a monthly look at ten releases from 1996, where possible in chronological order.
Once again, recently, I’ve been struggling with insomnia, something that judging on some mornings on social networks that quite a few of my friends suffer from too. I go through phases like this – like many, I’m sure, connected to stress or work, or both – and indeed during much of my student days I […]
May already? Time for my usual roundup of ten great tracks you should hear from the past month. Playlists: Spotify YouTube Track of the Month Skindred Warning Union Black Benji Webbe has been around on the metal scene now for a good many years. First as the vocalist of ragga/(heavy) metallers Dub War, and then […]
Start of the month, so another quick roundup:
So, before I rush headlong into my top ten tracks of 2009 (albums next week, gigs the week after), a quick mention of a few acts that have wowed me, bored me, surprised me or otherwise this year. Some of these may be in the other lists, others won’t be.
Following on from the rundown of my top 100 tracks of the decade, it’s now time for my top fifty albums of the decade, which starts today and will be concluded next week (I wanted this done by Whitby and the end of the month).
The penultimate part of my 2000s tracks rundown. Next week will be the usual rundown of the month’s best tracks, and then I’ll be starting at some point after that with a rundown of the 90s in a similar style – after all, this autumn marks twenty years since I first got into/was exposed to […]
This month’s ten tracks I think you should hear.
This week, it's time to turn inward a little – and look at songs written about the music industry. Needless to say, this kind of song is almost always written in a negative light (I can't think of any positive examples – if you can, I'd love to hear from you), and here are ten […]
