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Du Blonde: Homecoming

April 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Du Blonde’s Homecoming

Du Blonde’s Homecoming

Album review: Beth Jeans Houghton returns, now under her label, continuing her more recent stripped back formula of great songwriting wrapped in fuzzbox guitar glam rock, this time with guests including Shirley Manson, Ezra Furman, and of Andy Bell of Ride

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In albums, indie, rock, pop Tags albums, new releases, Du Blonde, Beth Jeans Houghton, Shirley Manson, Andy Bell, Ezra Furman, Daemon T.V.
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Tune-Yards: Sketchy.

March 27, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Sketchy: Tune-Yards

Sketchy: Tune-Yards

Album review: Rhythmically complex, and restlessly clever, the latest release by California’s Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner wrestles with a variety of issues from gentrification to gender privilege and climate disaster

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In albums, electronica, experimental, indie Tags Songs, albums, new releases, tUnE-yArDs, Merrill Garbus, 4AD
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Black Honey: Written and Directed

March 21, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Nicely worn: Black Honey’s album

Nicely worn: Black Honey’s album

Album review: Refreshing, energetic, upbeat big-chorus fuzzbox indie-pop by the four-piece from Brighton with echoes of big-sound styles ranging from Primal Scream to Girls Aloud to Garbage to Sigue Sigue Sputnik

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In albums, indie, pop, post-punk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Black Honey, Foxfive Records
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Sunburned Hand Of The Man: Pick A Day To Die

March 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Sunburned Hand Of The Man’s latest album

Sunburned Hand Of The Man’s latest album

Album review: An eclectic and fascinating album of newly edited tracks by the prolific Boston Massachusetts collective, covering everything from gentle acoustic to thrash metal, indie, psych, electronica, krautrock and everything in between

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In albums, electronica, experimental, indie, jazz, psychedelia, prog-rock, rock Tags albums, new releases, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Boston
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The Anchoress: The Art of Losing

March 12, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Catherine Anne Davis aka The Anchoress

Catherine Anne Davis aka The Anchoress

Album review: This emotional release by Welsh singer-songwriter Catherine Anne Davis, her first since 2016’s Confessions Of A Romance Novelist, brings piano-based songs with echoes of Tori Amos mixed with soaring guitar indie pop intensity

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In indie, pop Tags albums, new releases, The Anchoress, Catherine Anne Davis, Snapper Music, KScope
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Arab Strap: As Days Get Dark

March 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
As Days Get Dark, Arab Strap’s seventh album, and their first for 16 years

As Days Get Dark, Arab Strap’s seventh album, and their first for 16 years

Album review: Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton’s first album together since 2005 is as brilliant as ever – a mischievous, brooding, blackly humorous, whisperingly sinister and sweary exploration of love, sex, addiction, exploitation and death wrapped in beautiful, poetic music

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In albums, indie, poetry, pop Tags albums, new releases, Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat, Malcolm Middleton, Rock Action Records
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Julien Baker: Little Oblivions

March 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Julien Baker: ‘There’s no glory in love, only the gore of our hearts’

Julien Baker: ‘There’s no glory in love, only the gore of our hearts’

Album review: The Tennessee indie artist’s third LP is an impassioned, raw emotion narrative of life falling apart in lockdown, her at times fractured voice and powerful instrumentation capturing a self-excoriating autobiography, stormy chaotic emotions, observations and experiences

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In albums, indie Tags Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Boygenius, Matador Records
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Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: Carnage

February 28, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: symbiotic

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis: symbiotic

Album review: "A brutal but very beautiful record nested in a communal catastrophe” is how Nick Cave describes this Covid-19 lockdown-inspired release with his longtime Bad Seed collaborator, and so it is

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In albums, indie, post-punk, rock, soundtracks, electronica, experimental Tags albums, new releases, Nick Cave, Warren Elllis, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Covid-19, lockdown, grief
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The Hold Steady: Open Door Policy

February 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton
The Hold Steady have an Open Door Policy

The Hold Steady have an Open Door Policy

Album review: Brooklyn’s natural lovechild band of Bruce Springsteen and Randy Newman return with their eighth studio album, full of polished, clever lyrics and energy, and if not quite up to 2008’s Stay Positive, deliver everything a fan would hope for

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In indie, rock Tags The Hold Steady, Craig Finn, Positive Jams
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Cassandra Jenkins: An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

February 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Casandra Jenkins’s second album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

Casandra Jenkins’s second album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

Album review: The New York singer-songwriter’s second album is short, but serenely superb – with a soft sheen sound produced by Josh Kaufman, it’s perfectly composed with intelligent lyrics, and profound insights beautifully voiced

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In albums, folk, jazz, indie Tags Cassandra Jenkins, Josh Kaufman, Ba Da Bing! Records, albums, new releases
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Rats on Rafts: Excerpts From Chapter 3: The Mind Runs a Net of Rabbit Paths

February 13, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Rats on Rafts

Rats on Rafts

Album review: This third album by the alternative post-punk band from Rotterdam is a conceptual journey into the id punctuated with rhythmic kabuki modal mood swings, thunderstorms, digital beeps, traffic noise echoing The Fall and Snapped Ankles

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In indie, post-punk, psychedelia Tags Rats on Rafts, Fire Records, Netherlands, The Fall, Snapped Ankles
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Black Country, New Road: For The First Time

February 8, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Black Country, New Road.jpg

Album review: Floating somewhere between semi-acoustic prog-rock, jazz, folk, modern classical and spoken word, the seven-piece experimental London band have long been lauded as the next great thing from the Windmill, Brixton

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In albums, experimental, folk, indie, prog-rock Tags Black Country New Road, albums, new releases
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The Besnard Lakes: The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings

February 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Stormy power: the cover of The Besnard Lakes new album

Stormy power: the cover of The Besnard Lakes new album

Album review: Elemental, stormy, epic in its scope, the new indie-prog LP from Montreal with soaring guitar textures, falsetto, and strong falling bass lines has echoes of Mogwai and Sigur Rós, and is perfect to take on a winter walk or for a profound fireside evening

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In albums, indie, prog-rock, psychedelia Tags albums, The Besnard Lakes, Mogwai, Sigur Rós, Canada
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The Weather Station: Ignorance – album review

February 6, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Tamara Lindeman of The Weather Station

Tamara Lindeman of The Weather Station

Album review: This majestic LP of superb musical maturity.by the Canadian singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman has an undercurrent climate change theme, with deft piano, drums, strings, sax, guitar and a sound sometimes reminiscent of mid-80s Talk Talk

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In albums, folk, jazz, indie, pop Tags The Weather Station, Tamara Lindeman, Fat Possum
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Anna B Savage: A Common Turn – album review

February 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Ann B Savage: nothing common about this turn

Ann B Savage: nothing common about this turn

Album review: The London singer-songwriter’s cleverly titled, superb debut is bird-themed, exquisitely beautiful and intimate. It exposes her rich, deep, velvety voice, one that gently warbles snd smoothly soars from a nest of various mostly acoustic strings. Utterly gorgeous

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In albums, experimental, folk, indie Tags Anna B Savage, William Doyle, albums, new releases, Anna Calvi, Jeff Buckley, Anohni, Aldous Harding
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Albertine Sarges: The Sticky Fingers – album review

February 2, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Albertine Sarges.jpg

Album review: Liberating, refreshing, eccentric, with a playfully light touch and flourishes of flute and feminist theory garnish this solo debut by the singer who works with Holly Herndon singer and is half of Italian synth new wave duo Itaca

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In albums, indie, pop, post-punk, experimental, electronica Tags Songs, Albertine Sarges, Moshi Moshi, Itaca, Holly Herndon
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Goat Girl: On All Fours – album review

February 1, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Mask

Mask

Album review: The south London quartet’s second album has is double-edged woozily beguiling in music and caustic in lyrics, a mixture of shoegaze, postpunk, and electronica with a distinctive sound produced by the groundbreaking Dan Carey

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In albums, electronica, indie, post-punk, pop Tags Songs, albums, Goat Girl, Dan Carey, Rough Trade
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Palberta: Palberta5000 – album review

January 27, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Palberta’s Lily, Ani and Nina

Palberta’s Lily, Ani and Nina

Album review: A new album of abstract indie charm by the New York trio, at times chugging and spluttering in DIY arrhythmic style like some battered old Citroën 2CV, it also has a sweet sounding shambolic quality that grows on you

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In post-punk, indie Tags Palberta, albums, new releases, Wharf Cat Records
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Kiwi Jr.: Cooler Returns – new album

January 25, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Kiwi Jr.’s second album Cooler Returns, out on Sub Pop

Kiwi Jr.’s second album Cooler Returns, out on Sub Pop

New album: Clever, wry, satirical, topical, inventive upbeat indie by the Toronto quartet with their second album following Soccer Money, who have echoes of Pavement and The Modern Lovers, but with added vim and vigour, keyboards and harmonica

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In albums, indie, pop, post-punk Tags Kiwi Jnr., Sub Pop
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Buck Meek: Two Saviors – album review

January 24, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Buck Meek

Buck Meek

Album review: Perfect for a relaxed Sunday evening listen, this laid back second LP by the guitarist from Big Thief is also wry, melancholic, cathartic, naked candlelight confessions of heartbreak, resiliency, charm and enchantment

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In albums, country, folk, indie Tags Buck Meek, Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker, Keeled Scales, albums, new releases
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

spring blossom cocktail


SNACK OF THE WEEK

cherry blossom easter egg


New Albums …

Featured
Snail Mail - Ricochet.jpeg
Apr 7, 2026
Snail Mail: Ricochet
Apr 7, 2026

New album: American indie singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan returns with a third LP, awash with natural tendency for shoegaze-y melancholy, but also with a warm embrace of jangly and acoustic guitars in this introspective release about time, fading friendships, mortality, the afterlife, and the quiet terror of watching the things you love slip away

Apr 7, 2026
Dark Sky Reservation by LYR.jpeg
Apr 6, 2026
LYR: Dark Sky Reservation
Apr 6, 2026

New album: Filled with beautiful stillness and vivid, intricate images, gentle wit, lilting profundity and contemplative moments, this gorgeously illuminating third experimental LP by the trio of UK poet laureate Simon Armitage and musicians Richard Walters and Patrick J Pearson begins on the constellatory contradiction that the furthest points of light in our skies can only be seen in the dark

Apr 6, 2026
Birding by deary.jpeg
Apr 5, 2026
deary: Birding
Apr 5, 2026

New album: A shimmering, sparkling, ethereal dream-pop and shoegaze debut by the London trio with an ornithological theme in the context of human impact, and significant echoes in flight of their key influences Cocteau Twins, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and Slowdive

Apr 5, 2026
Vol.II by Angine de Poitrine.jpeg
Apr 4, 2026
Angine de Poitrine: Vol. II
Apr 4, 2026

New album: A weirdly wonky hot sensation on social media, the mysterious Quebec duo are instantly recognisable by their oddball, masked polka dot disguises, but this second release of mostly instrumental prog-rock bendy loops and riffs between guitar and drums remain just as mesmeric in their musical skill and complexity

Apr 4, 2026
Thundercat - Distracted.jpeg
Apr 4, 2026
Thundercat: Distracted
Apr 4, 2026

New album: Rich, deep, squelchy grooves and high falsetto in the distinctively funky-jazz-soul-afrofuturistic-cosmic-rock return of the outstanding Los Angeles bass player with his first LP for six years, and an impressive array of collaborators, including Mac Miller, Tame Impala, Flying Lotus, A$AP Rocky, and The Lemon Twigs

Apr 4, 2026
Memorials - All Clouds Bring Not Rain.jpeg
Apr 1, 2026
MEMORIALS: All Clouds Bring Not Rain
Apr 1, 2026

New album: Innovative, eclectic fusion of psychedelia, folk, dub, krautrock, 60s soul, garage rock, prog, pop, electronica and 70s spiritual jazz by the Canterbury experimental duo of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms

Apr 1, 2026
 Against the Dying of the Light by José González  2.jpeg
Apr 1, 2026
José González: Against The Dying Of The Light
Apr 1, 2026

New album: A gentle, reflective, meditative, but quietly defiant fifth LP by the Swedish-Argentine indie-folk guitarist and singer-songwriter, following his last, Local Valley, broadening his perspective in an urgent call to preserve the light of humanity as technology advances in ironically darkening world

Apr 1, 2026
Raye - This Music May Contain Hope.jpg
Apr 1, 2026
RAYE: This Music May Contain Hope
Apr 1, 2026

New album: A highly entertaining, exuberantly stylish, cross-genre 17-track, 73-minute odyssey by the London popstar, with a huge musical show of a second LP, spanning swing-era jazz to soul, R&B, house music, pop, dance, gospel, classical and the full kitchen sink, with orchestral band, family members, Hans Zimmer, and even Al Green

Apr 1, 2026
Pitou P2.jpeg
Mar 30, 2026
Pitou: P2
Mar 30, 2026

New album: Brilliantly quirky, original second LP of experimental folk pop by the Amsterdam artist, who has the free spirited musical adventurousness reminiscent of Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus and Fiona Apple in this clever, playful, stop-start work with oodles of vocal loops and layering, electronica and unusual field recordings across themes of freedom and restlessness

Mar 30, 2026
Robyn - Sexistential.jpeg
Mar 29, 2026
Robyn: Sexistential
Mar 29, 2026

New album: After a break of seven years, the hugely influential 46-year-old Swedish pop star returns with a new burst of alternative, electro-pop bangers, in this ninth LP, now subverting themes of romantic love in another context since having gone through having IVF and becoming a single parent

Mar 29, 2026
IT'S THE LONG GOODBYE by The Twilight Sad.jpeg
Mar 29, 2026
The Twilight Sad: It's The Long Goodbye
Mar 29, 2026

New album: The Glasgow indie rockers fronted by vocalist James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane return with a tempestuous, highly emotional and moving sixth LP, their first for seven years, with musical input from The Cure’s Robert Smith, fuelled by the illness and passing of Graham’s mother and his subsequent mental health struggles

Mar 29, 2026
Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit.jpeg
Mar 28, 2026
Courtney Barnett: Creature of Habit
Mar 28, 2026

New album: The Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist returns after a five-year gap to bring more of her witty, indie-country-rock, but with a bittersweet flavour, and an emotionally resonant record that explores change and the central question: how to get out of your own way so you can truly feel your life

Mar 28, 2026
Ego Ella May - Good Intentions.jpeg
Mar 26, 2026
Ego Ella May: Good Intentions
Mar 26, 2026

New album: Beautifully crafted but effortlessly performed, a wonderful release of delicious, classy, smooth and smoky soul, jazz and RnB by the London singer-songwriter who has vocal and stylistic qualities reminiscent of Erykah Badu and Sade

Mar 26, 2026
 Time of Fallow by Ellie O’Neill.jpeg
Mar 25, 2026
Ellie O'Neill: Time of Fallow
Mar 25, 2026

New album: A gorgeous, delicate debut folk LP by the Dublin-based singer-songwriter from County Meath with an exquisite voice, not unlike that of Joni Mitchell, that hovers and rises with expressive control, with themes of memory, grief, desire, and self-reckoning

Mar 25, 2026

new songs …

Featured
Liz Lawrence 2.jpeg
Apr 7, 2026
Song of the Day: Liz Lawrence - Black Ulysses
Apr 7, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautifully moving, melodic and poignant acoustic indie-pop single by the acclaimed British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, from the upcoming album fifth album Vespers, out on 5 June via Chrysalis Records

Apr 7, 2026
Angelo De Augustine - Angel in Plainclothes.jpeg
Apr 6, 2026
Song of the Day: Angelo De Augustine - Empty Shell
Apr 6, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, delicate, tender, elegiac indie folk with chamber strings, by the California singer-songwriter, and friend and associate of Sufjan Stevens, who is an inspiration, heralding his upcoming fifth album Angel in Plainclothes, out on 24 April via Asthmatic Kitty Records

Apr 6, 2026
u2 easter lily.jpg
Apr 5, 2026
Song of the Day: U2 - Easter Parade
Apr 5, 2026

Song of the Day: After February’s politically themed protest EP Days of Ash, another surprise single and EP, Easter Lily, by the veteran Irish rock band, seasonally themed and reflecting the band’s beliefs, with a classic sound harking back to the past, guitar and synths, and a number described as a devotional song, a celebration of new life, rebirth and resurrection

Apr 5, 2026
Bedouine.jpeg
Apr 4, 2026
Song of the Day: Bedouine - Long Way To Fall
Apr 4, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautiful, tender, poignant return by the Syrian-American singer-songwriter Azniv Korkejian, with a strings and piano-based indie-folk number heralding her fourth album Neon Summer Skin, out on 5 June via Bedouine Music/ Thirty Tigers

Apr 4, 2026
Jack White - G.O.D and the Broken Ribs.jpeg
Apr 3, 2026
Song of the Day: Jack White - G.O.D. AND THE BROKEN RIBS / Derecho Demonico
Apr 3, 2026

Song of the Day: The acclaimed rock guitarist-singer-singer of White Stripes fame returns with this punchy, scorching catchy organ-backed, biblical-modern-fable-apocalypse-themed number alongside another, the Led Zeppelin-esque Derecho Demonico, out on his label Third Man Records

Apr 3, 2026
Julia Cumming.jpeg
Apr 2, 2026
Song of the Day: Julia Cumming - Please Let Me Remember This
Apr 2, 2026

Song of the Day: Lush, classic, piano-pop by the New York–born multi-instrumentalist and Sunflower Bean singer and bassist, influenced by Burt Bacharach, Carole King, and heralding her debut solo album, Julia, out on 24 April via Partisan Records

Apr 2, 2026
Jessie Ware - Automatic.jpeg
Apr 1, 2026
Song of the Day: Jessie Ware - Automatic
Apr 1, 2026

Song of the Day: Infectiously catchy, funk-soul-disco pop by the charismatic singer-songwriter featuring a deep-voiced spoken intro by actor Colman Domingo, and the latest single heralding upcoming sixth album, Superbloom, out on 17 April via Interscope

Apr 1, 2026
mount palomar feeding frenzy.jpg
Mar 31, 2026
Song of the Day: Mount Palomar ft. Enola Gay - Feeding Frenzy
Mar 31, 2026

Song of the Day: Pulsating, dark, hard-hitting dance and hip-hop by the Northern Irish music producer, DJ and live electronic hardware artist Neil Kerr, joined by the Belfast indie-noise-punk quartet, on this title track of a new four-track EP, out on Ursa Minor

Mar 31, 2026
Jungle - Carry On.jpeg
Mar 30, 2026
Song of the Day: Jungle - Carry On
Mar 30, 2026

Song of the Day: Swoonful, beautiful, but also bittersweet and vulnerable, old-fashioned soul-pop by the British band featuring the vocals of Lydia Kitto in a number co-penned with producer Joshua Lloyd Watson, heralding the upcoming album, Sunshine, out on 14 August via Caiola Records / AWAL Recordings

Mar 30, 2026
The Ocelots - Revisions.jpeg
Mar 29, 2026
Song of the Day: The Ocelots - Motor Hotel
Mar 29, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, reflective, uplifting alternative folk with banjo, guitar, flute and more by the Wexford Irish twin brothers Brandon and Ashley Watson, from their new five-track EP, Revisions, a mix of new and re-worked, re-recorded numbers

Mar 29, 2026
Lee Scratch Perry and Mouse on Mars.jpeg
Mar 28, 2026
Song of the Day: Lee "Scratch" Perry & Mouse On Mars - Rockcurry
Mar 28, 2026

Song of the Day: A stylish, eclectic, cross-genre single from the late, great, legendary Jamaican producer and performer’s ongoing legacy, heralding his last official album - the project in Berlin with electronic pioneers Mouse on Mars (aka Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma) and the LP - Spatial, No Problem on on 5 June via Domino Records

Mar 28, 2026
Soulwax - Perfect We Are Not.jpeg
Mar 27, 2026
Song of the Day: Soulwax - Perfect We Are Not
Mar 27, 2026

Song of the Day: Following last October’s album All Systems Are Lying, Belgium’s Dewaele brothers David and Stephen return with a vibrant electro-pop dance standalone single with droll lyrics, from their recent Abbey Road After Hours project which included a live event at the iconic London studio

Mar 27, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
Veena player.jpg
Mar 27, 2026
Word of the week: veena
Mar 27, 2026

Word of the week: This ornate, curvaceous, south Indian classical instrument, the saraswati veena, is a special bowl lute with a rich, resonant tone, has 24 copper frets with four playing strings and three drone strings, and is used for Carnatic music

Mar 27, 2026
Snail on a wall.jpeg
Mar 12, 2026
Word of the week: wallfish
Mar 12, 2026

Word of the week: It sounds like the singing finned picture ornament Big Mouth Billy Bass that became popular in the late 1990s, but this is a much older noun, derived in Somerset, England, pertains to the climbing gastropod that can slowly climb up any surface

Mar 12, 2026
Swordfish.jpg
Feb 25, 2026
Word of the week: xiphias
Feb 25, 2026

Word of the week: Get the point? This is the scientific name for the swordfish, in full Xiphias gladius (from the Greek and Latin for sword), that extraordinary sea creature with the long, pointy bill. But what of it in song?

Feb 25, 2026
Korean musicians in 1971.jpeg
Feb 12, 2026
Word of the week: yanggeum
Feb 12, 2026

Word of the week: A form or hammered dulcimer, this traditional Korean instrument, with a flat and trapezoidal shape, has seven sets of four metal strings hit by thin bamboo stick

Feb 12, 2026
Zumbador dorado - mango bumblebee Puerto Rico.jpeg
Jan 22, 2026
Word of the week: zumbador
Jan 22, 2026

Word of the week: A wonderfully evocative noun from the Spanish for word buzz, and meaning both a South American hummingbird, a door buzzer, and symbolic of resurrection of the soul in ancient Mexican culture, while also serving as the logo for a tequila brand

Jan 22, 2026

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