
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…

Gruff Rhys has a new single out called ‘Celestial Candyfloss’ and of course, we’re always happy to hear his voice. However, seeing as the rest of the Super Furry Animals also have new music out as Das Koolies, it’s making us unhappy that all of them aren’t teaming up for a new SFA LP. We’re…

Let’s get the gags out of the way first, regarding the news that Toploader played the Conservative Party conference this week. Were they doing a set of their greatest hit? Arf. It’s true though, that Toploader played at a party for awful, braying Tories. Various Tories and right-whingers shared clips of the group and had…

‘Spunky!’ is the name of the LP and Grrrl Gang are the band, and you’re going to be hearing a lot of them in the coming months. Every so often, a group appears and it just feels like everyone’s rooting for them – this is the latest band that feel like that. The debut album…

Do you like ambient music? Fun gadgets? Technology that springs joy rather than necessity? You need to know about the FM3 Buddha Machine. Pre-smartphone dependency, these gorgeous devices played slow, simple music that’s like a futuristic music box. Soothing, calming music from a box designed to only do just that. Brian Eno, David Byrne and…
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