
If you’ve been reading the music press this week, there was some alarm or peevish glee (depending on where you were doing your reading) that vinyl sales had dropped. A Billboard piece stated that vinyl sales dropped by 33%, which is not insignificant. That’s selling 34.9 million units, down to 23.3 million in 2024. Are…

At the country music awards, they didn’t nominate Beyonce for anything despite her all-conquering country LP and while many shrugged, many were irritated by the whole thing. The irritation came from all sides, but more importantly, so did the shrugs – apart from something for the shelf in the spare toilet or a sticker to…

There’s something about golden era rap that just loves a fancy action figure, to place on your shelves next to your collected essays from hip hop journalism, tchotchkes, rap comics and high-end record middles and the like. It’s very wholesome, honestly. Well, Doom’s ‘Mm… Food’ is getting a reissue for its anniversary on November 15th,…

Once upon a time, music retreated away from the bombast of Britpop and US rap-rock, and all over the place, more introspective bedroom producers were making tricky electronic music and singer-songwriters gravitated toward the acid-folk of the ’70s, focusing more on cottage industries and community. Tunng managed to straddle both worlds, with critics dubbing their…

Look, most bands put a song out to let you know new things are coming, but not 2nd Grade. The power poppers from Philadelphia have chucked THREE whole songs at our ears and mercifully, they’re all really fun and filled with skuzzy pop hooks and jangly guitars. The revival of power pop is very welcome…

Today is John Lennon’s birthday – he would have been 84 – and to celebrate this, we’ve been treated to something rather surprising. While a lot of repackaged music from musicians can feel a little exploitative at times, churning out old stuff without much new going on, that’s not the case with this latest Lennon…

The excellent GULP are having a party for the 8th instalment of their broadsheet counter-culture magazine, which features all the wonderful words, tidbits, diatribes and cool design we’ve come to expect from them now. The issue drops on Friday 11th October and you can get down in person at The New Cross in Manchester’s Northern…

The 90’s penchant for a shuffly breakbeat is back amongst the hip performers. Rochelle Jordan and Kelela have been all over it, and now it’s the turn of Vagabon and their new single ‘Do Your Worst’. Vagabon’s Laetitia Tamko says: “I was nestled in the German countryside when Teo Halm, who co-produced this with me,…

We warned you that there may be a summer of UKG imminent, so we should probably expect Drake to randomly appear with a half-written track that’s irritatingly catchy to cement the deal. However, until then, the coolest and best member of One Direction AND VERY MUCH HIS OWN MAN BLAH BLAH BLAH, Zayn Malik is…

Remember in the ’90s, there was something of a boom of ace alt-country rock? Well, say it quietly, but it might be making something of a comeback and the new one from the superbly named Illuminati Hotties is proof of that. They have a new out called single ‘Truck’ which is a nice chugger and…

It’s a bit silly assuming bands are good just because they come from a certain place, but certain countries definitely make us prick our ears up more quickly than others. One such country is Wales, despite being responsible for a fair amount of mid-table indie. No such problems with Islet who have a new song…
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