What’s better than one live Otoboke Beaver album? Two live ones. The Japanese “knock out or pound cake” band are one of the world’s most exciting live acts, with fans like Dave Grohl and Jack White, and now their massive whirlwind of sound has been captured in show form. And they’re both, unsurprisingly, excellent inContinue reading “Album Reviews: Otoboke Beaver- Live At Taku Taku/Live At Fandango”
Category Archives: 2025
Album Review: Anna Secret Poet- I Saw This And Thought Of You
Friend of Hit The North and all -round legend Anna Secret Poet is back with arguably her most epic album to date. There’s some introspection wrapped in a piledriving anthem (‘Aimless’) a soupcon of cheeky country grunge with ricocheting guitars (‘ Old Unfaithful ‘) and the typical eccentricity we’ve come to associate with her songContinue reading “Album Review: Anna Secret Poet- I Saw This And Thought Of You”
The Wit Of Ozzy
Ozzy Osbourne, who has passed away at seventy six, refuted his ‘national treasure ‘ status- he was far too rebellious for that. The Brummie rock legend was most recently known for his warped reality show The Osbournes but he’ll first and foremost always be the game changing frontman of Black Sabbath, heavy metal band andContinue reading “The Wit Of Ozzy”
Album Review: Debby Friday- The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life
All the best pop bangers have a yearning undercurrent: think Madonna’s ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl ‘, Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’, St Etienne and ‘He’s On The Phone’. This is also true with R & B- any number of artists, from The Supremes to Solange, mine dark corners of the dancefloor toContinue reading “Album Review: Debby Friday- The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life”
Accessing The Fringe
Navigating the Edinburgh Fringe can be a Sisyphean task at the best of times, as the population of Edinburgh doubles and almost every available space transforms into a venue or site specific performance space. So it can be an altogether different kind of nightmare for disabled people, in terms of accessibility. Old buildings generally haveContinue reading “Accessing The Fringe”
Album Review: Allo Darlin’ -Bright Nights
Photo: Jorgen Nordby There’s something sweetly disarming about the new Allo Darlin’ album. It’s the way the organ comes in halfway through the bittersweet country grunge of ‘Tricky Questions’ like a warm embrace. These songs aren’t large or all-consuming, nothing elbows its way in: they take up little space. But they’re slices of life, vignettesContinue reading “Album Review: Allo Darlin’ -Bright Nights”
The Rise- But Not Quite Fall- Of The People’s Pervert
A still from the film Pulp: A Film About Life,Death And Supermarkets Once again, Pulp find themselves positioned as the indie outsiders. While their recent reunion and album garnered much enthusiasm (despite being a little disappointing) it’s Oasis who yet again get the headlines, playing to thousands. I wonder how Jarvis, Candida, Nick and MarkContinue reading “The Rise- But Not Quite Fall- Of The People’s Pervert”
Album Review: Rival Consoles- Landscape From Memory
What a beauty. The gorgeous, endlessly inventive new album, from Rival Consoles, aka Ryan Lee West, invokes a kind of synaesthesia: you can almost hear colours. It’s textured, layer upon layer, like a kind of complex tromp l’oeil painting in sound. Tracks like ‘Catherine’, ‘Known Shapes’ and the stunning, shimmering ‘Soft Gradient Beckons’ appear likeContinue reading “Album Review: Rival Consoles- Landscape From Memory”
Peace, Love and Keir Starmer
Glastonbury 2025 has finished for another year, but vapour trails of outrage remain in the air. Sir Keir Starmer, our UK prime minister, is currently embroiled in a row about the broadcast of Bob Vylan, the punk duo and their chants of ” Death to the IDF”. Politically incendiary playlists? Not on his watch. AsContinue reading “Peace, Love and Keir Starmer”
Glasto Queen: Self Esteem at Glastonbury Festival, BBC
It ‘s official now: Self Esteem performed one of the best ever sets at Glastonbury, televised by the BBC. Rebecca Lucy Taylor is now a bona fide pop star, from the moment she sashayed onto the stage with her anti- Handmaids to the euphoric finale with everyone in a conga line, kitted out in SheffieldContinue reading “Glasto Queen: Self Esteem at Glastonbury Festival, BBC”
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