In Depth

Blog Sound of 2016

The Blog Sound of 2016 is a poll of UK based bloggers to determine the most popular and favourite emerging acts among those polled.

Turin Brakes Interview - Olly Knights talks about new album "Lost Property"

Back in June I left you in suspense with just a few choice questions that I had selected from an interview I had done with Olly Knights from Turin Brakes. Well, the time has come...

Inchoate Observations On The State Of Things

In case you didn't already notice it from the army of bulldozers clawing mercilessly at the cultural landscape, today's giddy feeding frenzy is pretty much the perfect storm as far as the great minds behind...

What Have The 1960s Ever Done For Me?

I'd always had this feeling that the 1970s had more influence on my musical soul, and that the '60s were not nearly as well represented in my music collection. On (lengthy) reflection, that might not...

New Turin Brakes Album - Interview with Olly Knights

Turin Brakes went back into the studio earlier this year - we spoke to Olly Knights to find out what they've been up to, what to expect from a new album, and what he's been...

Music and Memory

I’m not someone who necessarily looks that deeply into how music is produced or even conceived, although I possibly should bearing in mind that I was studying to be a sound engineer many moons ago....

Is the single a thing of the past?

'Is the single a thing of the past?  The choice of single was once extremely important to an artist: it was the hook to get people excited about what was to come so it had...

The Bluetones Reunion - Interview With Adam Devlin

Literally a few days after we published a piece on their final album A New Athens, the news came through that The Bluetones had reformed and would tour later this year to celebrate their 20th...

We're putting the band back together…

The Blues Brothers happens to be one of my all-time favourite films and I love the premise of Jake and Elwood putting the band back together again for one last show. They managed it in...

Why bands and bloggers need each other

See that Neil Hannon up there in the photo above this story? I've always liked him, but never more so than the day he was responsible, indirectly and directly, for the best day this site...

How Could They Be Wrong - a Playlist of Mercury Losers

Down the years the award panel has handed over-sized cheques to many worthy winners; the shortlist system working as it does means that many credible nominees have failed to land the prize. Or, to put...

Emergent Thrumming - a Playlist of Mercury Prize Winners

The Mercury Music Prize has been going since 1992, and no matter what the naysayers say (nayingly) it's not without merit, as this selection of tracks from winning albums can testify.

1992 - The Loved Albums

Having made my choice for 1992's Tracks of my Years playlist, I was hit by a flood of thoughts of what might have been. This was the year that my music collection truly started to...

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire

There's a bit about the song at the end, but today's post is really all about Radiohead, Prince, U2 and giving music away for free.

The best albums ever, maybe. Then again …

It’s the best ever, it’s the critics favourite, it’s the GOAT[1], it’s The Queen Is Dead, the 1986 album by The Smiths that was kept off the top spot in its week of...