
It’s 2001 and the USA, UK and pals are carpet bombing the Middle East. January, George Dubya Bush is sworn in thanks to some hanging chads, Apple launches iTunes and, later that year, 9/11 would change everything forever. While US democracy looked shaky, while war saw people taking to the streets in protest, people set…

When Mr Bongo say they’ve got a record in and describe it as “a heavy Boogie-Funk gem from 1984”, your ears should really prick up. That track is ‘Take A Chance’ by Marshall Titus (re-issued by Peoples Potential Unlimited), and it slaps. If you’re into super hot, sleazy ’80s disco that’s got a whiff of the…

It’s tough out here in these music criticism streets. If you have staff that need paying, you need to get the clicks in so the ad revenue, revenues. Is writing reviews about up-and-coming artists who might be future superstars going to cut it? Well, you have to wait ’til they become famous, and then link…

With the internet, rolling news and 360 deals demanding so much of our attention currently, it seems there’s been a reevaluation of ambient music, new age, and pastoral jazz. Keeping that in mind, the lovely people over at Light In The Attic have reissued an absolute gem in Pete Jolly’s legendary ‘Seasons’ LP. This falls…

Iron Maiden are funny aren’t they? They’re real ale metal. It’s all little England flirting with Satan rock ‘n’ roll. There’s a place for it, obviously, but did you know just how much lead singer Bruce Dickinson cares about asthma? Now, for the uninitiated, Brucie Baby is the kind of rock ‘n’ roller that a…

Warpaint are ace. They’re psychedelic and groovy and don’t make any bad records. To celebrate 20 years together, they’ve put out a new song called ‘Common Blue’ which is as wonderful as ever. This is classic Warpaint, if you’re wondering and being a bit of a drag. Sidenote: Warpaint have the best drummer on the planet…

There’s been a lot of chatter around Luke Combs’ hit cover of ‘Fast Car’, a lot of furrowed brows and people wafting their forks pensively at dinner parties, about whether a country singer should be doing a song by a woman of colour, a woman people assume is gay (look, she might be, but she’s…

In the corporate world, there’s this terrible pair of words that people use – “proactive” versus “reactive”. There’s something in it though, because we all know that there’s two types of people in the world. The first is someone who creates a parameter for a fun Spotify playlist. Maybe they come up with a scenario…

Beth Gibbons is one of the good ones. Never needlessly hurried, she’s made incredible music with Portishead, and of course, she’s done other work like the folkie numbers with Rustin Man and Paul Webb. Well, she is back again with her debut solo LP ‘Lives Outgrown’. “As usual it reflects what’s been going on with…

Lana Del Rey has a new LP coming out called ‘Lasso’, which means she’s going country, and honestly, it’s a move that feels right doesn’t it? Long an admirer of the aesthetic of faded glamour, big hair and broken women, Hollywood and rhinestones, Lana’s version of country music is likely to be that good kinda…
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