Arty indie band Django Django showcased their new album Marble Skies at Rough Trade East. Their distinctive sound is still there – the deep echo effects, the whoops, the harmonies – sun-dappled and wistful, adding an intensity and beauty to their songs. And there’s always that compulsive beat underpinning their material, almost forcing you to head…
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Sea Change festival in Totnes has established quite a name for itself in its two years of its existence. Started by Drift Record shop, its knowledgeable owners have enticed a raft of stellar names both emerging and established, to play at a host of quirky venues around the town. There’s the restored Totnes Cinema, two…
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2017 has been more than a ‘best albums’ type of year. Not that there has been a dearth of great new releases, with Jane Weaver and The BJM amongst several faves, but this has been a diverse year with single releases and emerging artists. There’s a noticeable Northern flavour to the list too. Best new artists:…
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The Daylight Music sessions at Union Chapel in Islington are gentle, pay-what-you-like lunchtime concerts with tea and cake. There are around 30 sessions per year. This Saturday was the turn of artists on the Lost Map record label run from the remote Hebridean island of Eigg by Johnny Lynch, who performs as Pictish Trail. Lynch and…
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Gill Landry and Ian Felice at The Borderline. The Borderline used to be an endearingly scruffy little venue, not out of place amongst the shabby streets around Soho. As development began in earnest, the basement venue became increasingly fragile looking so its smart overhaul in March this year is very welcome, especially the cosy seating…
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Things have been a bit quiet at Gourmet Gigs while I’ve been visiting southern Spain. But as chance would have it, we were invited to a local music festival called Deltirón in the breezy, friendly coastal city of Cádiz. I swapped a lifetime of damp festivals on home turf for one with palm trees, enviably…
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There is barely a moment, whether it be a fashion movement or a colourful cake, that doesn’t find itself Instagrammed to death these days. How different were those post-war decades as British society dusted itself down and embraced a changing world – buildings, furniture, tribes, fashion, music, food and holidays, so much was temptingly on…
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I posted this in 2017 but its message sadly rings truer than ever. “This is a place for music lovers. If you want to talk to your friends when the bands are on, please use the other bar.” The above sign is plastered prominently on the venue door at The Trades in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, one of…
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This year was the 15th anniversary of Green Man, the bucolic festival set in the Brecon Beacons. It is – since the demise of Big Chill – my favourite festival venue, with its lush mountainous setting and main stage framed dramatically by the Black Mountains. For those short of stature (like myself), you’ll always have…
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Review of Leftfield ‘Leftism’ at Bluedot festival, by Nicholas Mai “Come on Tom, let’s go and see some proper music”. And so the uncertain eight-year(ish) old boy dutifully follows his father into the tent where Leftfield are warming up the crowd nicely as the first of the big name opening Friday acts at this year’s Bluedot…
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