
End of year round-ups can be a pretty predictable affair, with publications counting on fandoms of massive stars boosting their signal, be it an inflated spot on the chart, or a provocatively low spot designed to agitate. Of course, some massive releases are worthy of lofty positions, but we prefer to give spots to the…

On Monday, we’ll be announcing our LPs of 2023. We figured that this will leave it late enough that no-one will surprise us with a complete masterpiece and ruin everything. We’ve tried to go for albums that are away from the grain, but honestly, it’s what we were listening to the most, so we’re not…

We are prepping ourselves to do our End Of Year lists, but it’s more of an emotional readying because they take ages to do. What doesn’t help is that everyone has started releasing Christmas songs to really give us a deadline. Thankfully, the one we’re sharing from Anastasia Coope is a little freaky gem. While…

Just the other day, everyone was sharing their Spotify Wrapped graphics and having a giggle and all that, but things were about to get tremendously serious at Spotify HQ. This week, the streaming behemoth announced that they’d be sacking 17% of their staff. That’s around 1,500 people losing their pay just before Christmas. Pretty brutal.…

Kiss are no longer real people, and will be forever young as some imaginary thing. See, they’ve announced the ‘end of its physical existence’ because now, they’ll be digital avatars. They’ve copied ABBA obviously, because pop walks so rock can run. Anyway, it all feels a bit weird and this whole scenario is like when…

Kenya Grace apparently had a viral smash, but virality is something that passes us by so we’ll just have to accept what’s been said regarding all that. What we do know, however, is that Kenya’s new single ‘Paris’ is a slice of future pop that we like a whole bunch. Writing, producing and performing her…

Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band are bringing back the jangle, with Ciao Ciao Bambino! Recorded in West Kirby with Bill Ryder-Jones (him again!), Head says: “’Ciao Ciao Bambino’ came to me one night when I was thinking about the first words I ever heard. It was a song called ‘Ciao Ciao Bambino’ that my…

Aphex Twin and Warp Records were teasing stuff, and eagle-eyed fans spotted pretty quickly that it was something to do with ‘Selected Ambient Works Vol II’, and as it’s the 30th anniversary imminent, it was obvious there was a new version of it coming out. That’s still good news though, for electronic music heads! This…

In British English, the word ‘duff’ is pretty common parlance. In dictionary jargon, it’s something like ‘adjective INFORMAL: BRITISH 1. of very poor quality’ – you know the score. Outside of Britain, the word may or may not be used – we’ve not checked, but we’re going to assume that at least in the States,…

Compton’s very own, Channel Tres, is back with another slice of sophisticated party house, and in addition to that, there’s going to be a debut LP too, released on a major label because he’s talented like that. The album is called ‘Head Rush’ and you’ll be able to get it on June 28th on RCA,…

Or: Longevity doesn’t automatically get you the big gigs. Without looking at inflation, it does seem that arena shows are disproportionately expensive these days. There’s been a spike in ticket prices in the post pandemic period that leaves a number of fans thinking that they’re priced out of shows. Now, anyone with any cop-on will…
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