We all have our Christmas traditions, whether it’s belting out a heavenly chorus of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” at Midnight Mass or collapsing face-down in shortbread and lager while nurturing simmering resentments about the family on Boxing Day. Not… Read More ›
In April 2018 we learned that revenues for streaming services surpassed income from CDs and vinyl (and, for that matter, cassettes) for the first time. So it feels rather quaint to have “Albums of the Year”, yet, like filling our… Read More ›
Beatles fans received an early Christmas present last night as the two surviving Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, played together onstage for the first time since Ringo’s 2015 inauguration into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame, for the… Read More ›
The Vinyl Revival may have seen an increase in record shop numbers, but record buyers can ill-afford to take their local record shops for granted… In case you have been distracted by other, less important political issues such as Brexit… Read More ›
A mile and a half from the Kentish coast and five miles from Southend in Essex lies the wreck of SS Richard Montgomery, an American Liberty ship built during World War II. The ship ran adrift onto sandbanks while carrying… Read More ›
“We recorded a couple of demos, but most of the time we got wasted, you know…” Primal Scream lead singer Bobby Gillespie on the initial recording sessions of “Give Out But Don’t Give Up” To understand just how hard drinking… Read More ›
In which we discover why a naked picture of Adam Clayton nearly became the cover art of U2’s Achtung Baby…
It says much about the popularity of Pink Floyd that remaining solo members can tour to packed houses around the world decades after their commercial peak. While Roger Waters and David Gilmour have played Floyd’s best known songs from The… Read More ›
In a world where Spotify algorithms are finding ever more devious ways to enter our consciousness it seems almost old-fashioned having an actual human recommend you some music. U2’s ill-fated attempt to load their new album automatically on the world’s… Read More ›
This week The Arctic Monkeys sold out four consecutive nights at the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena. They now move out of town to sold out shows in Birmingham, Sheffield, Dublin and Newcastle. Such is the clamour for all things Arctic… Read More ›
If pithy song titles and smart lyrics were all the five-piece Bristol punk band IDLES had, they would still be a very good band indeed. You have to love an album with a song title as good as “Never Fight… Read More ›
These are troubling times. Russian bots influencing elections on both sides of the Atlantic. An American president surrounded by criminals. And an unprecedented polarisation of the political spectrum. And what’s trending on Twitter? Pete Doherty eating breakfast in a greasy… Read More ›
For the kids who Snapchat photos of themselves with a dog’s nose and ears superimposed, or who Instagram their every (doubtless avocado-based) meal, blogging about music may feel about as unfashionable as, well, Facebook. * Although very much the best… Read More ›
Ah, it’s mid summer. A time of hazy, sunny evenings. As the organisers of Wimbledon erect their “Sale! Punnet of Strawberry’s: only £50” signs (complete with grocer’s comma) it’s the time of year that allows me to drag out the… Read More ›
Although we might all have a stab at naming Elton John’s best albums, in these times of Spotify, there sometimes needs to be a reason why a particular record should be bought on vinyl. Happily in Elton’s case there are… Read More ›
