In 2015, with the alignment of three musical constellations that are Steve White (The Style Council, Paul Weller, The Who) Matt Deighton (Mother Earth, Brian Auger, Chris Difford, Paul Weller, Bill Fay) and Damon Minchella (Ocean Colour Scene, Richard Ashcroft),…
If there is one avatar that has managed to lodge itself in our collective consciousness in the post-war decades, it is that of the lone troubadour, a guitar slung across his midriff, his neck craned, leaning into the microphone, alone…
A generation of Northern Irish singer-songwriters is coming of age if Gareth Dunlop‘s debut album, ‘No.79’, is anything to go by. An East Belfast man, he today stands alongside contemporaries Joshua Burnside, Duke Special and Pat Dam Smyth and walks…
This is a band making a very welcome return to the fray with The Wild River, a 10-track album (recorded in Andalusia) that’s a sweet blend of pop, soul, funk and rock. The Blow Monkeys, a band that made its…
The Los Angelina’s gaze is what catches the attention when passing by the poster. It’s the sultry, somewhat narcotised glint in Sade Sanchez’s eye that turns the head and makes you listen to this record – LA Witch eponymously titled debut;…
The throat growl of a more feminised voice begins this curious and affecting album, coming as something of a relief considering the techno punk of opener ‘Headless Children’ rides the same groove of one John William Weller on ‘Around The…
“All I wanted to do was climb trees and read books when I was younger, so I didn’t expect any of this to happen,” says Jenny Rossander, a.k.a Lydmor. “I am happy with it. But the little, unpopular girl that’s…
Life goes on and our national pastime of consumerism has resumed, sort of. On seeing goods stacked high we, as Brits, traditionally like to reach for our wallets the way Shane did for his pistol. This reflex we like to…
‘Mancunian spoken word’ is, by now, a genre unto itself – the world view espoused by those from England’s north west one of bipolarity: that is, the acknowledgement that life can sometimes be a tragedy but that it’s best to…
It’s the risk-taking for which Kevin Rowland is known. For that and the breadth of his artistic expression which has seen him spearhead Dexys Midnight Runners (or today better known as Dexys) – one of the most charismatic and inspiring…