Psychedelic animal-based tomfoolery from the ever-reliable Haines, fiercely ploughing that lone furrow of his once more. Last time out he was imagining the intimate and private thoughts of 70s and 80s British wrestling stars; now...

The solo album as relaxing time out from the pressures of the day job received an explicit reading from The House of Love’s Guy Chadwick, with the release of Lazy, Soft & Slow.

Something of a curiosity this. Alan McGee, sitting on huge piles of cash at Creation Records HQ, seems to have been pretty open to solo projects from artists on his roster. While the solo efforts...

Drunken Santa video of the week.

Go sing, too loud

For a while between 2009’s Middle Cyclone and now the release of The Worse Things Get… life for Neko Case felt very much like being underwater: strangely isolated in a silent world, suffering from depression,...

Arctic Monkeys - AM

Compare the indecent haste with which Morrissey put himself back together again and released his solo debut Viva Hate (about 6 months) with the leisurely careering (or otherwise) of Johnny Marr. Via stints and albums...

Rachel Goswell was a bandmate of Neil Halstead’s in Slowdive and Mojave 3 before embarking on her own solo career with 2004’s Waves are Universal. Like Halstead,...

In which the former Slowdive and Mojave 3 man completes his mutation from shoegaze drone through country/folk, to full on Nick Drake acoustist. Blues they may run the game he sings, referencing a Jackson C....

No musical differences, no studio tantrums, no Yokos. Just a band that came to a natural end. Once were Gene, then were Gone.

You could easily mistake some New Pornographers material for Neko Case solo work, such is the central command of her vocals, not to mention the cross-over between the two of other performers. As a general...

Chills. It’s the voice that does it, and the “Stop it / stop it / stop it” call and response. It’s magical, and beautiful, and all vocal warblers and trillers should pay close attention: this...

Sometimes the creative itch has to be scratched. If you’re Neil Young hooking up with Crosby, Stills and Nash, Buffalo Springfield, or maybe just jamming with Crazy Horse, you might also feel the need for...

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You

Confession: I was going to finish this playlist with another Pulp song, Bar Italia, but as evocative as that song is, it’s messy and in the gutter. And if not in the gutter, then a...

Warp and Weft is Laura Veirs’ ninth studio album, and the second on her own Raven Marching Bands label. Her first self-released title was 2010’s July Flame; between that album and Warp and Weft she...

Aztec Camera plus Mick Jones, formerly of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite: an above average combination.

Take me back to dear old blighty...

Since her 1992 debut, Dry, PJ Harvey has variously been raw and angry, scratchy and angry, a lover scorned by Nick Cave on their duet Henry Lee (they also fell in love while recording the...