Weekly Update: Complicated Comforts

For a variety of reasons, it is being a slightly stressful, sleepless time, so I’ve been looking at things that are, in a variety of perhaps complicated ways, comforting or soothing (to me). I suppose comforting because it can be a relief to have one’s…

Play For Today – Current Playlist 8th February 2017

  The world is not making me very happy at present (my thoughts on all that are covered to an extent here, so I won’t go on about it) – but I am still enjoying music at least, so here’s a selection of things that…

MEAM, Myself & I: Part One: the formative years

  Where does your taste in music come from? Why do you like some things but not others? It’s mysterious, but to try and find out, I thought I’d look at the issue from the (my) beginning. So what is the first music you remember…

Play For Today – Current Playlist, 12th January 2017

  Currently working on several more substantial articles, but in the meantime, here’s what I’ve been listening to in the last little while; which quite a lot of actually new music, as it turns out… Julia Kent – Asperities (The Leaf Label, 2015) – a…

Play For Today – Current Playlist 3rd January 2017

  A new year, a (slightly) new look, yet another playlist! This time, things I am listening to as the year begins, including (naturally) some things that I got for Christmas… Patti Smith – Radio Ethiopia (Arista, 1976) 2. IC Rex – Tulen jumalat (Saturnal, 2017) 3. Aidan Baker w….

Inevitably, the releases of the year, 2016 (grand finale!)

  Before the release of the year, here are some honourable mentions (that are not necessarily less good than the ones I wrote about, but which I didn’t get round to writing about. There will also be omissions that I will probably mention later, when…

Inevitably, the releases of the year, 2016 (Part Two)

  Here are some more of the things I thought were good this year Vaguely (or very) shoegaze-related releases of the year I didn’t like the term ‘shoegaze’ back in the early 90s and I don’t like it now. I dislike ‘dreampop’ even more. Neo-shoegaze…

Not the Releases of the Year 2016

  ‘Album of the year’ lists are fine for representing a specific time period in music, and interesting because of how personal and subjective they are  – an element which becomes eroded by time, as is easily seen from the consensus found in the majority of ‘great albums…

Play For Today – Playlist December 9th 2016

1. Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now (Sub Pop, Feb 2017)   Not listened to it many times yet, but the forthcoming album from singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop is sounding pretty good so far 2. David Bowie – Diamond Dogs (RCA, 1974) The death throes of Bowie’s glam…

Releases of the Year 2016! Preliminary note…

2016 – oh well; at least there was lots of good music released this year (and it’s still coming!) As usual, I probably won’t put my favourite releases of the year in any order (apart from the number one ‘release of the year’ itself. I know…