When the morning sun hurts too much after bouts of menopausal insomnia, and it’s hard to crawl out of bed, there’s one tune that will give me that much-needed shot of vitamin D. It’s got a bounce like Tigger, but scratches with its sharp talons. It’s from the era of Britpop but was deemed “shoegazing”.Continue reading “Music As Vitamin D”
Tag Archives: Indie
Film Review: Since Yesterday- The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands
Carla J Easton and Blair Young’s film focuses on the best girl bands from Scotland, asking why they’re lesser known than their male counterparts, and why this is still happening in today’s music industry. Easton herself, ex- Teen Canteen and now a solo artist, narrates the film. It’s a heartfelt look at more obscure artistsContinue reading “Film Review: Since Yesterday- The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands”
Album Review: Anna B Savage -You & I Are Earth
A new Anna B Savage album is always something worth investing time in. Her voice is so disarmingly beautiful that everything else melts away. This is not background music. It’s intimate and raw, and you lean in to listen, as though she’s sharing precious secrets with you alone. This time, Savage is, as with BjorkContinue reading “Album Review: Anna B Savage -You & I Are Earth”
Favourite Cover Versions: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against the Pricks
Photo: Alamy This 1986 album, entirely comprising cover versions, shows Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds playing with the duality of their sound. There’s the bombast of their take on The Velvet Underground’s ‘All Tomorrow ‘s Parties’ running counter to Jimmy Webb’s legendary ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ with a softer, but noContinue reading “Favourite Cover Versions: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Kicking Against the Pricks”
Lost In Music: Cocteau Twins – Pearly Dewdrops Drops
This song is older than some of my band T shirts, but as with Cocteau Twins at their sweetest, it always feels like a warm room on a frosty day. It’s perfection: they pretty much invented dream pop, after all, with the music box twinkling, and ethereal beauty. But, as ever, you can make upContinue reading “Lost In Music: Cocteau Twins – Pearly Dewdrops Drops”
The Peel Sessions: Radial Spangle
Radial Spangle never got their dues. The band, who originally formed as a trio, from Oklahoma, made music that was forever pitched somewhere between the dreamy distraction of shoegazing and waywardnes of neo-psychedelia. Such was the early nineties, and they were, after all, friends with Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips. The session they recorded forContinue reading “The Peel Sessions: Radial Spangle”
Album Review: Jasmine.4.t- You Are The Morning
It’s not even out until January, but I’m calling it already: this thing of beauty will be one of 2025’s finest. Based in Manchester, Jasmine Cruickshank, who writes and records as Jasmine.4.t , makes music that disarms through its intimacy and hopeful, wistful intensity. Produced by Boygenius, it shares sonic DNA with early Perfume Genius,Continue reading “Album Review: Jasmine.4.t- You Are The Morning”
The Inexorable Rise Of Waitrose Indie
Alternative music with the crusts cut off, Waitrose Indie is really having its moment in 2024. The reasons for this are many and complicated: firstly, the music industry is a tough one to crack, so if you attended a posh school or had musician parents, you already had access to insiders who could provide businessContinue reading “The Inexorable Rise Of Waitrose Indie”
Album Review: Soap & Skin- TORSO
Anya Plaschg, the Austrian artist who records as Soap & Skin, has been doing her own thing since the mid-noughties, but this new album pays tribute to her diverse influences over the years. There’s a pretty faithful cover of Bowie’s dark, dense ‘Girl Loves Me’, and a sweet cover of Sufjan Steven’ ‘Mystery of Love’,Continue reading “Album Review: Soap & Skin- TORSO”
Lost In Music:The Very Things – The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes
Happy Samhain, kitty cats and sewer rats. Here’s one from the crypt to chill your blod (sic). The Very Things were a band very much beloved by the late great DJ John Peel. This is their timeless classic, like ‘The Monster Mash’ on LSD. Enjoy, but don’t have nightmares…
Hit The North 