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black midi: Cavalcade

May 30, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Black Midi’s Cavalcade album cover looks as it sounds

Black Midi’s Cavalcade album cover looks as it sounds

Album review: The British quartet’s second album after 2019’s Schlagenheim continues their boundary-pushing direction of frenetic, eclectic mix of the avant garde – jazz, funk, prog in a skilled delirium of wonderful compositions

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In albums, experimental, jazz, prog-rock, post-punk, psychedelia Tags albums, new releases, black midi, Rough Trade
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Squid: Bright Green Field

May 8, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Squid’s full debut LP Bright Green Field

Squid’s full debut LP Bright Green Field

Album review: A bold, expansive, experimental and exciting full debut by the postpunk Brighton five-piece, with songs full of musical adventure and dynamic changes, combining krautrock, prog and even a dash of jazz

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In albums, experimental, indie, post-punk, prog-rock Tags albums, new releases, Squid, Dan Carey, Warp Records
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Field Music: Flat White Moon

April 26, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Flat White Moon

Flat White Moon

Album review: The eighth LP from Sunderland brothers Peter and David Brewis brings together a wealth influences and accessibility, cleverly marrying pop, funk and postpunk with echoes of the Beatles, XTC and Todd Rundgren

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In albums, funk, indie, pop, post-punk, rock Tags albums, new releases, Field Music, The Beatles, Todd Rundgren, XTC, Memphis Industries
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor: G_d’s Pee AT STATE'S END!

April 5, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: G_d’s Pee AT STATE'S END!,

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: G_d’s Pee AT STATE'S END!,

Album review: The Montreal post-rockers return with their seventh and among their best to date, expressing the all the doom and the defiance of recent times, using field recordings, atmospheric orchestration, drone sounds, swingtime crescendos, and rich layers towers of distorted clarion sound

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In albums, post-punk, experimental Tags Godspeed You! Black Emperor, albums, new releases, instrumentals, post-rock
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Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg

April 3, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Dry Cleaning

Dry Cleaning

Album review: Dry by name, extra dry by delivery, the post-punk south London band’s debut LP, laced with the spoken word vocals by Florence Shaw, is darkly hilarious fusion of stark guitar and stream-of-consciousness sardonicism

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In albums, post-punk, spoken word Tags albums, new releases, 4AD
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Xiu Xiu: OH NO

March 31, 2021 Peter Kimpton
OH NO …

OH NO …

Album review: This 12th album by the Californian experimental electro-pop, postpunk band led by Jaime Stewart may be the most unusual of year, an oddball set of diverse duets with many guests that sometimes has the melodramatic quality of later Scott Walker

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In albums, experimental, electronica, post-punk, pop Tags albums, new releases, Xiu Xiu, Sharon Van Etten, Liars, Susanne Sachsee, Greg Saunier, Shearwater, Twin Shadow, Owen Pallett, Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo, Jaime Stewart, Chelsea Wolfe, Alice Bag
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For Those I Love: For Those I Love

March 27, 2021 Peter Kimpton
David Balfe

David Balfe

Album review: Moving, passionate, angry, grief-stricken and tender, this mix of beats, samples and striking spoken word lyrics by the Dublin performer and producer David Balfe is a powerful tribute to a lost friend

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In electronica, dance music, experimental, hip hop, poetry, post-punk Tags albums, new releases, For Those I Love, David Balfe, spoken word, dance, Dublin
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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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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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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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Mush: Lines Redacted

February 13, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Mush’s second album Lines Redacted

Mush’s second album Lines Redacted

Album review: The second album by the Leeds-based band extends their distinctive, sonically idiosyncratic style of excellent angular art-rock with mind-bendingly alternative guitar riffs and scales, sharp lyrics and the oddly likeable nasal delivery of songwriter Dan Hyndman

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In albums, post-punk, pop, rock Tags Mush, Memphis Industries
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TV Priest: Uppers

February 7, 2021 Peter Kimpton
TV Priest: caustically funny, thunderously angry

TV Priest: caustically funny, thunderously angry

Album review: Thunderously angry, caustically witty, burnished with ripping guitar and bass riffs, frenetic rhythm and the imposing vocals of British Charles Bronson-lookalike Charlie Drinkwater, this post-punk band’s debut echoes IDLES and The Fall

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In post-punk, punk Tags albums, new releases, TV Priest
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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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Pom Poko: Cheater – album review

January 17, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Pom Poko

Pom Poko

Album review: The postpunk Indie quartet from Norway return with their second LP after 2019’s Birthday with more wonderfully energetic work in this short, sharp selection of 10 three-minute songs

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In pop, post-punk, punk, indie Tags Songs, albums, new releases, Pom Poko, Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, Martin Miguel Almagro Tonne, Bella Union, Deerhoof, indie
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Shame: Drunk Tank Pink – album review

January 16, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Shame. Back for a second trip

Shame. Back for a second trip

Album review: The south London band return with a strong and developed sound from 2018’s Songs Of Praise, with a greater range of postpunk styles in their armoury, and also echoing other bands such as IDLES, Squid and Art Brut

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In albums, indie, post-punk, punk Tags albums, new releases, Shame, Dead Oceans
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Sleaford Mods: Spare Ribs – album review

January 15, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Stark but vital: Spare Ribs, the latest LP by  Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn

Stark but vital: Spare Ribs, the latest LP by Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn

Album review: Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with their latest album recorded last July in lockdown, and as ever its filled with topical hard-hitting humour and brilliant bass and beats backing tracks by Fearn

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In indie, post-punk, hip hop Tags albums, Sleaford Mods, Jason Williamson, Andrew Fearn, new releases
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Lice – Wasteland: What Ails Our People Is Clear – album review

January 14, 2021 Peter Kimpton
Anything can happen. Lice from Bristol, creating new frequencies

Anything can happen. Lice from Bristol, creating new frequencies

Album review: Experimental, clattering, clanging, sawing, banging, challenging but very rewarding, this is a very alternative, ambitious but brilliant full debut album from the Bristol postpunk band

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In albums, indie, post-punk Tags albums, new releases, Lice, Settled Law Records, black midi, IDLES, Goat Girl, Katy J Pearson, Holly Hole
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DRINK OF THE WEEK

pint of guinness


SNACK OF THE WEEK

Bacon and egg ice cream (Heston Blumenthal style)


New Albums …

Featured
Book of Churches.jpeg
Mar 19, 2026
Book of Churches: Book of Churches
Mar 19, 2026

New album: Beautiful, tender, melancholic and poetic, a walking-pace acoustic folk and Americana debut solo release by the singer-songwriter Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, co-lead singer with the Nottingham alternative indie band Divorce

Mar 19, 2026
A Pound of Feathers by The Black Crowes.jpeg
Mar 18, 2026
The Black Crowes: A Pound of Feathers
Mar 18, 2026

New album: Following 2024’s resurgent release Happiness Bastards, Atlanta, Georgia brothers Chris and Rich Robinson return with their 10th album in four up-and-down decades, with a belting release packed with Stones/ Keith Richards-style riffs, and a full-blooded, full-throttle classic and catchy rock

Mar 18, 2026
 Paris In The Spring by Alexis Taylor.jpeg
Mar 18, 2026
Alexis Taylor: Paris In The Spring
Mar 18, 2026

New album: The clarity and high range of the distinctive Hot Chip lead singer returns with his seventh solo LP, packed with personal, candid, philosphofical and sometimes melancholy lyrics allided with bright, melodic leftfield electro-pop, a dash of country, elegant disco-house, and Vangelis-inspired soundscapes, and a title echoing a psychological test where things are not as they seem

Mar 18, 2026
Madeleine by Diagonale des Yeux.jpeg
Mar 18, 2026
Diagonale Des Yeux: Madeleine
Mar 18, 2026

New album: Wonderfully weird, wonky, woozy, avant-garde, absurdist oddness by the French duo of Laurène Exposito and Théo Delaunay, with their lo-fi, ramshackle, DIY postpunk and retro-electronica, sharing sung and spoken vocals across French, German, English and Spanish

Mar 18, 2026
Yebba - Jean.jpeg
Mar 18, 2026
Yebba: Jean
Mar 18, 2026

New album: Following 2021’s Dawn, a second LP by the American singer and songwriter from West Memphis, Arkansas, aka Abigail Smith, moves towards an eclectic mix of gentler, more understated pop, folk, gospel, R&B, and soul, is named after her late grandmother, and has candid, personal themes of mourning and spiritual healing

Mar 18, 2026
The Sophs - Goldstar.jpeg
Mar 17, 2026
The Sophs: Goldstar
Mar 17, 2026

New album: A fairytale story of a debut for the Los Angeles six-piece fronted by Ethan Ramon, who cold-emailed demos to Rough Trade Records before even playing a live gig and were signed – that instinctive leap of faith rewarded by this stylish, bold, mercurial, confident, darkly humorous, eclectic debut leaping between rock, indie, pop, hoedown country, delta blues and beyond

Mar 17, 2026
Kim Gordon - Play Me album.jpeg
Mar 13, 2026
Kim Gordon: Play Me
Mar 13, 2026

New album: Following 2024’s The Collective, the former Sonic Youth frontwoman’s fourth solo LP continues her extraordinary experimental, innovative journey, moving to more melodic beats and shorter tracks with a motorik krautrock-style driven coloured by strange sounds, intense emotions and sharply angled, dark, droll social commentary

Mar 13, 2026
ELIZA - The Darkening Green.jpeg
Mar 11, 2026
ELIZA: The Darkening Green
Mar 11, 2026

New album: The London artist Eliza Caird (formerly under the mainstream pop moniker Eliza Doolittle) returns with more of the cool, slow, sensual, gentle, sophisticated experimental soul-funk style evolving from her 2022 album A Sky Without Stars, here with particularly polished, silky, stripped back grooves and vocals

Mar 11, 2026
Irreparable Parables by Andrew Wasylyk.jpeg
Mar 11, 2026
Andrew Wasylyk: Irreparable Parables
Mar 11, 2026

New album: The Scottish multi-instrumentalist and composer returns with a new selection of soothing, meditative mix of experimental classical and jazz, but this time joined with six different singers represented by the birds on the album artwork

Mar 11, 2026
waterbaby - Memory Be A Blade.jpeg
Mar 10, 2026
waterbaby: Memory Be A Blade
Mar 10, 2026

New album: A delicate, experimental, understated soulful chamber pop debut by the pure-voiced Stockholm-born singer-songwriter (aka Kendra Egerbladh) in 25-minute, eight-track release of lo-fi, lyrically semi-improvised numbers about heartbreak and self-renewal in a world of gorgeous musical sensations

Mar 10, 2026
Joshua Idehen - I Know You're Hurting ....jpeg
Mar 10, 2026
Joshua Idehen: I know you're hurting, everyone is hurting, everyone is trying, you have got to try
Mar 10, 2026

New album: With a strikingly long title, a euphoric and honest full debut LP by the British-born Nigerian poet, spoken word artist and musician based in Sweden, working with his musical partner Ludvig Parment’s sonic layers, packed pacy dance and hip-hop grooves, clever sampling, slower reflections, and articulate expressions of positivity through the ups and downs of grief and hope

Mar 10, 2026
Atlanta by Gnarls Barkley.jpeg
Mar 10, 2026
Gnarls Barkley: Atlanta
Mar 10, 2026

New album: Finally, after an 18-year gap since their last collaboration in the heady days of the hit Crazy, with the St Elsewhere and The Odd Couple LPs a third and supposedly final album from fabulous singer CeeLo Green and producer and musician aka Brian Burton with a mix of soaring soul, hip-hop, pop and RnB with songs filled with vivid lyrical memories and strong, emotive melodies

Mar 10, 2026
War Child - Help(2).jpeg
Mar 9, 2026
Various: HELP(2) - War Child Records
Mar 9, 2026

New album: Not only a timely and topical milestone charity record following the first in 1995 to help bring aid and wide variety of support to children in war zones around he world, but an impressive double-LP array of stellar British and international talent and powerful, poignant 23 songs from Arctic Monkeys to Young Fathers

Mar 9, 2026
Bonnie Prince Billy - We Are Together Again.jpeg
Mar 9, 2026
Bonnie “Prince” Billy: We Are Together Again
Mar 9, 2026

New album: Just over a year after 2025’s The Purple Bird, but from parallel recording sessions and familiar co-musicians, the veteran Louisville-Kentucky singer-songwriter Will Oldham returns with another collection of exquisite, intimate, gently defiant lo-fi folk to troubled times, an ode to community with a beautiful array of acoustic instruments and his poignant, insightful lyrics and delivery

Mar 9, 2026

new songs …

Featured
MRCY and Yazmin Lacey - Better Days.jpeg
Mar 22, 2026
Song of the Day: MRCY - Better Days (featuring Yazmin Lacey)
Mar 22, 2026

Song of the Day: Fabulous, uplifting, classic soul by the British duo of producer Barney Lister and vocalist Kojo Degraft-Johnson, joined by the soaring voice of the London singer, out now on Dead Oceans

Mar 22, 2026
Eaves Wilder - Little Miss Sunshine.jpeg
Mar 21, 2026
Song of the Day: Eaves Wilder - Mountain Sized
Mar 21, 2026

Song of the Day: Stirring, dynamic indie-shoegaze by the breathy, sensual-voiced North London artist, expressing a fomenting anxiety morphing into a cathartic, explosive chorus to escape real-world restrictions, and after a series of singles and EPs, heralding her debut album Little Miss Sunshine, out on 17 April via Secretly Canadian

Mar 21, 2026
Jorja Smith.jpeg
Mar 20, 2026
Song of the Day: Jorja Smith - Price Of It All
Mar 20, 2026

Song of the Day: Sumptuous, soaring, classic soul/R&B/pop by the British smooth-voiced singer-songwriter from Walsall, West Midlands, in this number from the soundtrack for new TV series, Bait, starring Riz Ahmed, and released on FAMM

Mar 20, 2026
Liza Lo - Birdsong.jpeg
Mar 19, 2026
Song of the Day: Liza Lo - Birdsong
Mar 19, 2026

Song of the Day: Following her acclaimed debut album Familiar, a beautiful, warm, intimate, tender folk number featuring guitar, fiddle and double bass by the Amsterdam-born, London-based producer and singer-songwriter, Liza Lo Hoek, out on Gearbox Records

Mar 19, 2026
Rostam.jpeg
Mar 18, 2026
Song of the Day: Rostam - Like A Spark
Mar 18, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautiful new acoustic folk-pop single with echoes of early 70s Van Morrison by the US musician, producer and former member of Vampire Weekend, heralding his upcoming third solo album American Stories out on 15 May via Matsor Projects

Mar 18, 2026
Kacey Musgraves - Dry Spell.jpeg
Mar 17, 2026
Song of the Day: Kacey Musgraves - Dry Spell
Mar 17, 2026

Song of the Day: A catchy, witty, innuendo-filled new number about being and single and lonely, with some stylistic echoes of Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, heralding the acclaimed Grammy-winning Texas country singer-songwriter’s upcoming seventh album, Middle of Nowhere, out 1 May on Lost Highway

Mar 17, 2026
Jaakko Eino Kalevi 2.jpg
Mar 16, 2026
Song of the Day: Jaakko Eino Kalevi - Black Diamond
Mar 16, 2026

Song of the Day: A splendidly rousing eight-minute retro-style electro-pop baroque melodrama by the Finnish artist with the deep, rich voice, one that stylistically and in his own fashion, draws a pentagram between Goblin, Rondo Veneziano, Cerrone, Doris Norton and Lindstrom, out on Domino Records

Mar 16, 2026
Hannah Lew album.jpeg
Mar 15, 2026
Song of the Day: Hannah Lew - Sunday
Mar 15, 2026

Song of the Day: An appropriate day to highlight this classy latest single of shimmering 80s-style synth-pop with echoes of OMD, with themes about pain, love and grief from the upcoming debut album by the Richmond, California artist, out on 10 April via Night School Records

Mar 15, 2026
Mei Semones.jpeg
Mar 14, 2026
Song of the Day: Mei Semones - Tooth Fairy (featuring John Roseboro)
Mar 14, 2026

Song of the Day: A charming cross-genre fusion of bossa nova, jazz, folk and chamber pop sung in English and Japanese by the Brooklyn-based American musician with a tale of losing a tooth on the subway and friendship, from the upcoming album Kurage, out 10 April on Bayonet Records

Mar 14, 2026
Robyn - Blow My Mind.jpeg
Mar 13, 2026
Song of the Day: Robyn - Blow My Mind
Mar 13, 2026

Song of the Day: Quirky, sensual electro-pop with a dash of Kraftwerk by the acclaimed Swedish singer, songwriter and producer Robin Miriam Carlsson, in this latest from the upcoming album Sexistential out on 27 March via Konichiwa / Young Records

Mar 13, 2026
Lava La Rue 2 new.jpeg
Mar 12, 2026
Song of the Day: Lava La Rue - Scratches
Mar 12, 2026

Song of the Day: The latest single by the London singer-songwriter is punchy, powerful psychedelic rock number with tearing riffs and lyrics about damage from troubled relationship, abuse and self-harm, from the forthcoming EP Do You Know Everything?, out on BMG

Mar 12, 2026
Alewya - City of Symbols.jpeg
Mar 11, 2026
Song of the Day: Alewya - City of Symbols (featuring eejebee)
Mar 11, 2026

Song of the Day: A stylish fusion of electronica, soul, hip hop and Ethiopian rhythmic influences centring on themes of heritage, family by London singer, songwriter, producer and multidisciplinary artist, with drums from eejebee and guitar from Vraell, heralding from the forthcoming new debut Zero out 22 June via LDN Records / Because Music

Mar 11, 2026

Word of the week

Featured
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
Hamlet ad - Gregor Fisher.jpg
Jan 8, 2026
Word of the week: aspectabund
Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: This rare adjective describes a highly expressive face or countenance, where emotions and reactions are readily shown through the eyes or mouth

Jan 8, 2026

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