“What you gonna do when the party’s over?” It’s a question that will ring true for many people of a certain age. All of a sudden, the hangover lasts longer than a concert by The Cure. Joints ache instead of being smoked. The headache is more pounding than that rare 1998 Chemical Brothers B-side you […]Read More
As far as the classic years in hip hop history go, there is one year which immediately stands out: 1996. It’s a year that is often seen as being the golden era for the genre, providing some of the most loved and critically acclaimed albums to date. Hip hop dominated the mainstream with Fugees, The […]Read More
When a girl drinks beer, enjoys sport or is vaguely kooky, it’s not uncommon to hear those dreaded words from their male love interests: “you’re not like other girls.” This is not a compliment. It’s offensive. The male-dominated film industry is full of outdated attitudes that, in their efforts to creative unique love interests, actually […]Read More
Paul Nixon, one of the unsigned world’s most promising songwriters, returns with a majestic hymn and a voice that could stop traffic. There are moments in life where you’re hit with a sudden loss for words. When the Berlin Wall finally fell, for example. The day England made it to the semi-finals of the World […]Read More
The re-released album is a simple enough business venture. A successful album is expanded upon, remixed, and redistributed to the masses and their outstretched ears, which translates to a stream-fuelled commercial win. Interest in a record is reignited, often months after original release, adding a sense of longevity to an album cycle. The ‘deluxe’ album […]Read More
Let’s face it, these days most people turn their sheds into, well, something other than a shed. Whether it’s a cool outdoor bar or even a sauna, it’s fair to say most millennials don’t use their outhouse to store Flymo parts and weedkiller anymore. Not many, though, use it as a place to craft rich, […]Read More
Admit it–you’ve been dreaming about being back at The Bunkhouse* with your arms slung around some mates, proudly stumbling home with sore throats and beer drenched Doc Martins. Finally, the end of this house-bound madness is in sight, so why not brush up on the lyrics of the best tunes in town? I give you […]Read More
Morning class, settle down please. I assume you’ve done the assigned reading, or assigned watching I should say: episodes 1-3 of It’s A Sin. I definitely see plenty of red-rimmed eyes. Alicia, did you watch it? We’re going to continue with our topic of gay anthems and today’s lesson also includes a dissection. No Dean, […]Read More
When Pete Townshend – guitarist and co-founder of The Who – gazed out upon a field of rubbish in 1969, it’s hard to imagine how even he could’ve foreseen just how ubiquitous the song it inspired would become. According to Townshend, it was the sight of the deserted, litter-strewn landscape at the end of The […]Read More
Historically, both the LGBTQ+ community and ‘the composer’ have been painted as ‘the outsider’ by many. But LGBTQ+ composers have been present throughout musical history, from the Baroque period, through the height of the Classical age, onwards into nineteenth-century impressionism and modernism, and now within today’s contemporary world of classical music. Whether or not they […]Read More
Despite how bad 2020 may have been, there’s been a consistent output of great new music. The newly-released debut single ‘Aengus’ Fool’ by folk/rock band Sleep Walking Animals is no exception to this trend. For the past year, the five-piece Manchester/London-based band have released behind-the-scenes footage from the recording process for their album in the legendary Abbey […]Read More
The tallest man on earth is standing in front of you, requiring you to duck and weave more than Tyson Fury to get a glimpse of the act on stage. You’ve got a stranger’s ponytail in your mouth and your shirt is soaked through with a liquid that you hope is beer, but that has […]Read More
Even though 2021 is currently not going to plan, one band you can rely on for consistently feel-good hits is Swedish five-piece Coral the Color. While everyone else seemed to have ended 2020 on a bit of a downer—especially here in the UK thanks to lockdown 3.0—Coral the Color’s spirit remained as enthusiastic as ever. Their latest […]Read More
Anyone watching Liverpool’s recent 7-2 drubbing minus the irksome canned crowd noise would’ve heard the unforgettable opening salvo of ‘Paranoid’ across the Villa Park PA no fewer than seven times that evening; a reminder of enduring ties between four of Birmingham’s favourite sons and their beloved Villa, playing just a stone’s throw from where Ozzy […]Read More
Amid the news that Glastonbury has been cancelled yet again, co-organiser Emily Eavis has announced plans to still work on Glastonbury-related projects throughout the year—including potential livestreamed events. Eavis told The Guardian that several artists had been in touch to still offer to perform at the farm and that a show could be built to […]Read More
