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

Last year, I ended up writing multiple ‘releases of the year’ lists because I kept forgetting great things and having to add more posts to include them. I feel like keeping it (relatively) concise this year but will probably end up doing the same again….

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…

Play For Today – current playlist 27 October 2016

  Naturally some crossover with last week’s since my attention span isn’t all that horribly tragic… 1. Kristin Hersh – Wyatt At The Coyote Palace (Omnibus Books, 2016) Review here! 2. ThrOes – This Viper Womb (Aesthetic Death, 2016) 2. Black Angel Drifter – Black Angel Drifter (Bastard Recordings, 2016)…

Weekly update: the charm of the EP

  This Friday’s weekly musings have a specific subject: the ‘Extended Play’ (EP): Just when the album as a physical format seemed to be dying out, the (somewhat overstated) vinyl renaissance came along, reiterating the obvious; that songs are great, but sometimes a collection of…

Play For Today – current playlist

  It’s been a while, so without further ado or elucidation, here’s some of what’s on the turntable (and equivalents) at present: Kristin Hersh by Billy O’Connell 1. Kristin Hersh – Wyatt At The Coyote Palace (Omnibus Books, 2016) 2. Jingo de Lunch – Perpetuum Mobile…

Not JUST a genius: the Eternal Fire of Jimi Hendrix

  Towards the end of his all-too-short life, the great Jimi Hendrix ‘enjoyed’ two parallel careers; as the innovative, genre-defying guitar god of Electric Ladyland and Band of Gypsies – and, somewhat less prestigiously, as the obviously talented but non-extrovert guitarist on a range of cash-in albums….

No hierarchy In the world of sounds: Kib Elektra interview

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Abi Bailey has an impressive list of credits to her name; as a session musician she has worked with Emilíana Torrini, Sylver Tongue, Brian Eno & Karl Hyde, among many others, but her work as a solo artist is even more impressive. Her…

Tea-table Books 1: Dust & Grooves by Eilon Paz

  Tea-table* books is an occasional series devoted to the best books for casually enjoying while relaxing with a hot beverage. Usually large format and illustrated (yes, just like ‘coffee table books’), the best tea-table books are of course just as good when read from cover-to-cover, but…

The First Monthly Report: January 2016

  Along with some tragic deaths, abysmal weather and so forth, 2016 began with lots of good stuff, some of it inevitably acquired at christmas, like for instance… FREZNO by Tony Stamolis (Process Books, 2008) Frezno is great partly because photographer Tony Stamolis’ hometown Fresno is, or appears…

Play for Today: 21st January 2016

  It’s fair to say the past week or so of my listening (and writing) has been derailed somewhat by the passing of David Bowie. There’s been (and is) so much online about the mawkishness/validity of feeling bereaved over the death of Bowie/famous people in…