Jan 25
Working Men’s Club: a band on the rise for 2019
It hasn’t taken Working Men’s Club long to start to make their mark, with a raft of gigs, signing with Melodic Records and a performance for IVW19
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Jan 24
Steve Mason: About the Light at Rough Trade
Steve Mason aired his new album About the Light at Rough Trade Steve Mason is back – with a beautiful and confident new album to start off 2019 on a positive note. About The Light dropped this week and he started promoting it with an appearance at Rough Trade East: I love these little gigs in…
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Jan 16
Sea Change 2019 line-up
Metronomy, The Comet is Coming, Stewart Lee and Bagpuss are all confirmed for Sea Change 2019. The Totnes-based event, founded by Totnes’s Drift Record Shop, has moved from its former end-of-summer position to May Bank Holiday. The Quietus presents Gazelle Twin, with full line-up to follow. Hannah Peel and Will Burns, and Dutch 4‑piece Pip…
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Nov 16
Independent Venue Week gathers pace
Having put on a few gigs myself at a local venue, a particularly atmospheric and beautiful space, which was subsequently sold off to be transformed into flats and a hotel, Independent Venue Week is a much-needed venture. Running from Monday 28th January to Sunday 3rd February 19, for IVW19 there are nearly 190 venues signed up…
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Nov 7
UP N GO Brazilian band play Nambucca
They call their music ‘pop soul funk’ – and the Brazilian outfit UP N GO play Nambucca in London. It’s their second performance as they played a last-minute set at Ronnie Scott’s jam session where the band got to show off their versatility with a set of covers to suit the jazz and blues evening…
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Mar 17
Turin Brakes live at the London Palladium: review
Turin Brakes know how to make the London Palladium feel as intimate as a rough-and-ready basement pub venue. They start by introducing songs from their brand new album. Over the next couple of hours or so, the band take us on a journey back and forth over the past 18 years, many members of the…
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Jan 28
Django Django Marble Skies at Rough Trade
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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Jan 24
Sea Change festival adds Dartington Hall as a venue
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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Dec 14
Albums, singles and artists of 2017: W H Lung; Rogue Emperor; The Orielles; Jane Weaver
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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Dec 11
Lost Map: Pictish Trail Daylight Music at Union Chapel
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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