It must be October. The Hartnoll brothers are going full pagan techno on our arses, and I’m loving it. This arcane-school banger with witchy mutterings from the actor Maxine Peake throbs with pagan poetry, as Bjork once called it. Hand me the candles and berries. We all come from the goddess.
Tag Archives: 2026
Album Review: Anna Secret Poet- Pillow Princess
It’s always a good day when there’s a new release from the mighty Anna Secret Poet. ‘Pillow Princess ‘ is her latest album, and as ever, there’s some great songwriting, along with new genres, all delivered with humour, pathos and experimentation. The opener, ‘Everything That Was No Longer Is’ is a melancholic, piano- driven instrumentalContinue reading “Album Review: Anna Secret Poet- Pillow Princess”
Album Review: Current Joys- Rosebud
Current Joys, headed up by Nevada musician Nick Rattigan, are best when they crank up the distortion, but that’s not to say there’s no merit in their sweeter moments too. Rattigan has a way with a bubblegum melody line, which he smears in glitches and crackles. So ‘Rosebud’ is very much about the duality. TheContinue reading “Album Review: Current Joys- Rosebud”
EP Review: Strange Pink – Guest Room
How nineties are Strange Pink? They’re a young Brittany Murphy in a mall drinking Big Gulp in plaid before her role in ‘ Clueless’. They’re Kim and Thurston before the split but after the innovation. They’re a thousand college students railing against George Bush (Sr) Etc. There’s no doubting the Yorkshire trio’s love of theContinue reading “EP Review: Strange Pink – Guest Room”
Album Review: Death Valley Girls-Welcome To Earth
Picture credit: Sheva Kafai Portents of red moons,flowers and cosmic symbols? Must be the new album from Death Valley Girls. The gals who once convinced Iggy Pop to do an Andy Warhol and eat a burger in their ‘Disaster’ video, are back, with a few changes to their winning formula, but it’s still recognisably them.Continue reading “Album Review: Death Valley Girls-Welcome To Earth”
Bloc Party- Then and Now
Bloc Party’s debut ‘Silent Alarm’ is -bizarrely -twenty five years old this year. For me, it still holds up, because it has that sense of urgency. ‘Helicopter’ is a banger among bangers. And now, their new album, ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’ is out, and they are still worth listening to. They’ve weathered the storms,Continue reading “Bloc Party- Then and Now”
Boom! An Explosive Farewell to River City
Angus and bestie Boab (Scott Fletcher and Stephen Purdon) Top: Frank Gallagher as Lenny Murdoch. Bawbags, burrrds, dysfunctional families and gangsters: few TV soaps cut to the heart of Glasgow humanity like ‘River City’. But alas, it is no more, and last night’s episode was the final, after twenty four crazy years. A few spoilersContinue reading “Boom! An Explosive Farewell to River City”
Album Review: Arab Strap- Half-Told Tales
This new album, the ninth from the inimitable Falkirk duo, sees Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton on fire. It’s not often that a band gets a new lease of life later into their career, but then, they’ve always been one to buck trends. Few speak to the creeping malaise as accurately as The Strap. FromContinue reading “Album Review: Arab Strap- Half-Told Tales”
Album Review: Josh da Costa- New Wave Graveyard
“Welcome to the US, 80s, 90s”, Mark E Smith once chanted. We’re firmly entrenched in both decades in Los Angeles singer-songwriter and musician Josh da Costa’s rather charming debut solo album. Easy breezy jangle like ‘Proving Me Right’ and ‘Cordelia’ shimmer like cinematic Cadillacs on hazy highways, and ‘Skygirl’ and ‘Hospital Clown’ bounce like 90sContinue reading “Album Review: Josh da Costa- New Wave Graveyard”
Our Bodies Are Not Trends
The recent trend for mega-skinny bodies is really concerning to me. When I was a teen and up until my early thirties, I was slender, and have never been particularly overweight, until the last six years when I’ve been disabled. So it was horrible to see that, yet again, the twig look was starting toContinue reading “Our Bodies Are Not Trends”
