The Slinky Vagabond: David Bowie 1947-2016

I was listening to David Bowie on the way to work today; I would have been doing that anyway. The fact that his death was reported on the news this morning did make the listening horribly poignant though. And even more, it made me notice just…

Play for Today: 9th January 2016

  Today’s playlist is mainly stuff that has been playing since Christmastime, so it’s probably longer than it will usually be: Brian Eno – Before and After Science (1977) Eno’s last collection of somewhat alien-sounding ‘songs’, definitely good, but compared to his first few it’s a bit all over the…

PLAY FOR TODAY

An irregular series, being in the nature of a kind of playlist, ‘now playing’ or similar item, with or without further comment, perhaps to be interpreted as recommendatory, but of course entirely subjective in nature…

Copy? Compliment? Coincidence? Incestuous album covers!

Firstly; if you’re looking at this because of the word ‘incestuous’, shame on you! Anyway, for a variety of reasons, lots of album covers seem to pay tribute to/copy/look like lots of other ones, which is what this is all about. In the early days of…

Inevitably, the releases of the year 2015 (grand finale!)

  Kristian Harting – Summer of Crush (Exile on Mainstream) Danish singer-songwriter Kristian Harting’s 2014 debut album, Float, was an intriguing, atmospheric collection of dark and sometimes harrowing but somehow insubstantial (in the ethereal, rather than qualitative sense) songs. Summer of Crush is both more…

Inevitably, the releases of the year 2015 (part two)

  Secrets of the Moon – SUN (Lupus Lounge) There is not a lot of emotionally complex black metal music out there; a shame, because the expressive possibilities of the form are arguably greater and more powerful than any other metal genre. Also a shame, because,…

Inevitably, the releases of the year 2015 (part four)

The penultimate selection of the year’s best releases, I’m thinking there will have to be some ‘honourable mentions’ at the end of the final part! Enslaved – In Times (Nuclear Blast Records) It’s been a long time since Enslaved could be classified as viking metal,…

Inevitably, the releases of the year 2015 (part three)

Onwards with more of the best new releases of 2015, as usual in no order, but with the first mentioned especially worthy of earspace… Oblivionized – Life Is A Struggle, Give Up (Secret Law Records) Oblivionized spent the years 2008 – 2013 or so building a…