We live in a state of perpetual confusion.  The world can be a very complex place to dechipher in the post-Truth age; even things that aren't what they seem can't be trusted to be that predictable. I'm confused and so should you be. The conventions that have been built over years of robust economic models are eroding before our very eyes and evidence is not difficult to seek out. Student-led riots in France are causing panic on the streets of Strasbourg, Nice and Paris whilst a former footballer turned crisp salesman, can cause concern to the established order in the UK with one Tweet ..read more

  What do you get when four members of a band come back together under a different name and attempt to re-invent their own wheel? In essence, they try to do what they intended in the first place - well, they do in this case anyway. There can't be too many examples of that, in fact, this is the only one I can think of.  You see Das Koolies are basically the wonderful Super Furry Animals, without the band's dynamic songwriter and best-known face Gruff Rhys, who continues to plow the furrow of his own solo material. Content to move on from their past, whilst leaving it open for future ..read more

  The  Beyond the Walls festival has announced it's return to Alexander's in Chester - set around the majestic Roman walls - for it's annual installment of festival merriment. The event takes place on Bank Holiday Sunday 28th May and to coincide with the announcement of the date, organisers have announced the first draft of bands and artists that will make up the bill - and what a line-up! 2023’s headliner is none other than “sensei of the slow jams” himself, Brad Stank. The self styled “sexistentialist-pop bohemian” will perform his sultry psych-jazz, drawing the Garden ..read more

The annual FOCUS Wales festival returns with it's 2023 reboot in May. the growing reputation of the festival has seen it grow year-on-year Wrexham will welcome 20,000 attendees, and see over 250+ new music acts from Wales and around the world descend upon it's turf over  4 th –6 th May, and they have announced a further 70 new bands and artists today who will join the bill. Last year's bill featured artists such as Self Esteem, Public Service Broadcasting, Echo & The Bunnymen, Peaness, Gwenno, Goat Girl and The Besnard Lakes amongst many others and 2023 looks se to be just as eventfu ..read more

There are bands that are so prolific in their touring schedules that fans can barely miss them for the sheer volume of gigs they work through. Then of course, there are bands that rarely venture beyond the confines of the studio walls, instead preferring to hone their craft for years on end before allowing their babies into the world - Hello My Bloody Valentine.  The last decade has seen the rise of long-defunct bands reforming to tour reach almost epidemic levels. The financial reality being such that bands who produced album-after-album of quality work and toured extensively during t ..read more

2023. A new year full of hope, expectations, and fresh starts. Out with the old negativity and in with positive, vibrant statements of intent. My biggest hope is that you managed to avoid Jools Holland's Hootenanny - seriously you should have seen the state of it. Not even Self Esteem could save it.  Almost doesn't seem right, just or downright true that we have got to this year; I'm sure it was 1997 the other week - I was listening to OK Computer, Urban Hymns, and Radiator and trying to pull that girl who looked a bit like Cerys Matthews at the Tiv indie night - it was the ..read more

August Bank Holiday Weekend inspires different emotions in us at different times in our lives. As a child, it seemed like the dawning of the beginning of the age of  (Aquarius) - the sanctuary of six weeks off school; I always felt a sense of dread as it ended. For many adults, it's the ideal time to catch up with family or to get a great, no-interest deal on a sofa from a furniture shop on an industrial estate next to Nandos.  As the venom of music addiction continued to course through my veins in my late teens it meant one place: Reading Festival. Even now I have thoughts throug ..read more

  There's nothing conventional about the Kent/South London-based punk weirdos Punching Swans. The very existence of the band came about by the most unlikely of circumstances. Mutual friends of Greg Webster (guitars/vocals), Joseph Wise (bass/vocals) and Pablo Pagabotto (drums/vocals) - who had played in several different bands - suggested they get together and that they would work well; it was almost like musical blind dating. Thankfully, the awkward first few dates went well and the band clicked, starting to gig not long after they started rehearsing in 2012.  The new album GAMES ..read more

  When Ukraine won the Eurovision song contest and the continued war with Russia meant they couldn't host in 2023, the UK - who finished second - were the obvious choice to step in. After an exhaustive round of bids, just two cities remain in the running. Liverpool's musical heritage is well known globally, but perhaps Glasgow doesn't have the same pull, particularly with the mainstream. A city that has the spirit of Rock n' Roll coursing through its veins and has spawned some of alt-pop and indie rock's most famous and creative names; Glasgow is very much the outsider of the great mus ..read more

  The self dubbed introverted ginger curio, Uncool Paul has returned with his new album Ip Dip. I first came across Paul in the early days of the blog when he sent me a link to his -  then newly-released - album Limon and Leme. He's a self depricating character who has a love for a vast amount of nuances and idiosyncracies and this ultimately, fuses it's way into the work. Paul talks us through the new album telling us more about these eclectic influences, special guest performers and how cartoon villains struggle with old age.   1. Plastic Aspirations  'Plastic Aspi ..read more