SCOTT ALSWORTH foresees the coming of the smaller, leaner, and class conscious indie studio, with art as its guiding star
Latest editorial
Culture Sat Dec 23: Attila the Stockbroker’s albums of the year
Volcanic: Gecko
MARJORIE MAYO recommends an accessible and unsettling novel that uses a true incident of death in the Channel to raise questions of wider moral responsibility
MIK SABIERS wallows in a night of political punk and funk that fires both barrels at Trump
Reasonable radicalism, death in Abu Dhabi, locked-room romance, and sleuthing in the Blitz
SIMON DUFF recommends a new album from renowned composer and oud player Anour Brahem.
JAMES WALSH has a great night in the company of basketball players, quantum physicists and the exquisite timing of Rosie Jones
A New Awakening: Adventures In British Jazz 1966 - 1971, G3, and Buck Owens
TO START with the obvious — the mighty Rancid’s Trouble Maker (Epitaph) is one of their strongest for years, with their catchily diverse punky/ska melodies well to the fore, with Telegraph Avenue and Farewell Lola Blue absolute anthems. Just a shame they hardly every play in this country. rancidrancid.com
The King Blues have come up with an absolute cracker in The Gospel Truth (Cooking Vinyl), in which singer/rapper/wordsmith Itch pours out his heart and tries to make amends for, as he confesses quite candidly, completely fucking things up in the past few years for himself and, more importantly, those he claimed to care about.
I’ve known him for 13 years — his talent is enormous and deserves more than being pissed up the wall and lost in welters of accusation and abuse. I really hope he can find the redemption he craves. kingbluesofficial.com
More from this author
Back from a mini tour of Yorkshire and Stockport and cheering for supporting act Indignation Meeting
Given the global plague of Agent Orange, the bard channels his energy into community self-help
In which we accompany the Bard into Cymru to meet his musical accomplices, young and old
The bard ditches an unspecial relationship, encounters a new subdivision of metal, and discovers the cure for a stiff neck
