The final eight acts to be shortlisted for the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition have been announced. These were selected by a shortlist judging panel from a 90 strong longlist chosen from thousands of entries by 30 music writers, including Neonfiller.com’s Joe Lepper. We are delighted to announce that one of Joe’s three picks, Problem Patterns, has made the final. They will join seven other acts to compete for a mainstage slot and a £5,000 talent development prize from PRS for Music Foundation. Two runners up also get £2,500 from the charity. Here is what Joe had to say about ..read more

The 90 acts that have been longlisted for the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition have been announced. These acts were picked by a judging panel of 30 online music writers including Neonfiller.com’s Joe Lepper. A main stage slot and £5,000 up for grabs for the winner and all 90 acts can be seen here and the judges comments about each act is available via the Glastonbury Festivals website. The shortlist judges will not decide which eight acts they will put forward for a live finals night next month in Pilton, which is near to the festival site. Good luck to all those who have got ..read more

The Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent Competition judging is now underway, with a main stage slot and £5,000 up for grabs for the winner. As one of around 30 long list judges I’ve been given my list of acts to listen to ahead of my deadline to submit three acts for the shortlist judges next month. Now at the half way stage I wanted to highlight six of the acts to impress me so far, who could be among my final contenders. But there are still dozens more for me to listen to and as ever the array of talent on show is incredible. Here are six acts and their songs that have impressed me so far ..read more

Synchronicity, when seemingly random events conspire to make the universe almost understandable (and bearable). Last week I discovered the musical joys of Paul Roland, and as I was working my way through his extensive and finely crafted back catalogue, I had a message from my friends. “Fancy coming to see Richard Strange in Leicester on Sunday?” I looked at the track playing at that exact same time, it was Dr Strange by the aforesaid Mr Roland. Sheer coincidence? No, it was a sign, a portent. Get thee to Leicester, birthplace of the legendary Englebert Humperdinck soonest. So, I got thee. This ..read more

Details of the Glastonbury Festival 2024 Emerging Talent Competition, which offers a main stage slot at the iconic event to the winner, have been announced. The winner of the free to enter competition will also receive a £5,000 talent development price from PRS Foundation, which is once again supporting the competition. Two runners up will be handed £2,500 in development prize money. Entry opens for one week only from 9am Monday 29 January until 5pm Monday 5 February. Applicants are urged to use the form via the festival website. The competition is open to UK and Ireland based acts of any mus ..read more

1970s singer songwriter turned independent artist John Howard has revisited two unreleased tracks from his Night Mail project from 2015 for his latest release. The double A side single features two tracks to emerge from the project, Safety in Numbers and In the Light of Fires Burning. These two piano and vocal driven tracks are a taster for his forthcoming album Single Return, says Howard. Safety in Numbers was written by Howard and one of his Night Mail collaborators Robert Rotifer, while In The Light of Fires Burning was co-written with another Night Mailer, Ian Button. Both were recorded b ..read more

Welcome to our Best Albums of 2023 list. Some years we showcase our top ten albums of the year. Sometimes this expands due to the sheer array of wonderful releases in the year. This time around it is one of those extended list run downs as we enjoyed a wide array of albums. We just couldn’t leave any out. Across our 20, we have the return of old faces, from the 1960s – both real and fictional. We delve into the masterful world of library music, there’s some great debuts from emerging artists too. And pop. Lots of pop. It is also worth mentioning the fine EPs that were released this year, with ..read more

Broken Family Band man Steven Adams is back with this first new collection in three years and his first as a solo artist since 2016’s Old Magick. “It’s taking ages but it’ll sound like it was recorded in an afternoon,” was Adams reported reply to his label Fika Recordings when asking for updates, says his press release. But after work on the album, taking in Wales, the south coast, the French countryside and his East London home, DROPS has finally ready to drop this year. Involved are a pride of indie musicians, including Daniel Fordham and David Steward from The Drink, Comet Gain and the Wave ..read more

There’s something so life affirming about seeing a largely middle-aged crowd watching Haircut 100 live again for the first time in four decades. The joy, the selfies, the dancing, the North Face gilets and the look of awe, through the glasses they now must wear, at just how freakishly young looking the band’s singer and songwriter Nick Heyward is and how super funky and exciting his band of 60-somethings still are on stage. But this is no usual return to the heritage pop and rock trail that so many 80s and 90s bands continue to embark on. Haircut 100 are a little different. In Love Plus One, F ..read more

As more families are forced to flea war and climate change worldwide it seems fitting that The Mountain Goats revisit one their most popular characters, Jenny, who offers sanctuary to people in need at  her ‘ranch style house’ in Texas. She first appeared on All Hail West Texas and has since been mentioned on Jam Eater Blues’ Straight Six, and Night Light on Transcendental Youth. But while All Hail West Texas, which is so beloved by The Mountain Goats fans, was recorded via frontman and song writer John Darnielle on his Panasonic boombox, here Jenny gets more modern treatment from the ful ..read more