The long rumoured and eagerly anticipated Special Edition of The Style Council’s debut Café Bleu has been announced and available to pre-order now. When Paul Weller disbanded The Jam at the height of their fame in 1982, it was nothing short of seismic – a bold, almost reckless act of creative reinvention that stunned fans and critics alike. But out of that audacious decision emerged one of the most inspired pivots in British pop history: The Style Council.…
Roger Eno talks to John Robb about his stunning new album, his are of creativity and the inspiration of the flatlands of his native East Anglia. Roger Eno represents something fascinating – the other brother ( not the third uncle of course but the younger brother of Brian) in a famous creative family, who has carved out his own remarkable path. His beautiful new album Without Wind / Without Air was released on 31 October 2025 on…
Hüsker Dü: 1985: The Miracle Year Numero Uno Vinyl 4 LP Boxset, Download, CD Out 7 November Our Score A momentous slab of high quality design in a deluxe 4 LP box set, a snapshot of giants at play and the sound of three barely contained masters at work. MK Bennett swoons appropriately. Everything echoes. It was a miracle year, in hindsight. By any…
Self Esteem | DellaXOZ | Roland FauntePitchfork Music FestivalTrabendo, Paris3rd November 2025 As Self Esteem makes her first solo foray into Europe, Iain Key goes international for Louder Than War. Self Esteem, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, has recently completed a month-long jaunt around the UK. I’d booked tickets for the first of the Manchester dates as soon as announced, having seen her on the I Tour This All The Time tour previously – there was no way I…
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sex Pistols first gig, our guest writer Hugh ‘Shug’ O’Brian tells us what this all means from past to future in a riveting read from his own memoirs… YEAR ZERO: Day 1.50 years ago, today…….. Thursday, 6th November, 1975.Top-floor Common Room, Saint Martin’s School Of Art, London.Headlining act: Bazooka Joe.+ support. And so it came to pass……..To almost everyone on the planet this was just any other day. In Britain, this was just…
Luna Marble : Luna Marble Self Released CD / DL / Stream Out 7th November After what seemed like an age of anticipation, the unveiling of the debut album from Luna Marble, Manchester’s finest exponents of 70s-influenced classic rock, is upon us. And a classic is exactly what this self-titled beauty is. With this collection of fan favourites and newer tracks, Luna Marble don’t so much reproduce the sound and image of a bygone golden age as capture…
Video premiere/single review/album teaser The Prongs Hey! Dandy DL only Out now From what I can make out, The Prongs are an idea turned band sprung from the imagination of Irish journalist, lyricist and novelist John Fleming, made flesh and a reality thanks to musician & producer Niall Toner Jr. Together they soundtrack a novelistic fake sociological fresco. Pop tones for the Irish diaspora, but particularly that to London in the 1980s. The new wave and the post-punk…
This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika and the Third Reich by Daniel Rachel Over the last seven decades, some of rock ‘n’ roll’s most celebrated figureheads have flirted with the imagery and theatre of the Third Reich. In This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll, award-winning music historian Daniel Rachel navigates these turbulent waters with care, asking us to look anew at the artists that have defined us, inspired us and given us joy – and consider why…
Henri Herbert: Get It While It’s Hot (HH Records | AWAL) CD | DL | Stream Out 7th November 2025 PRE-ORDER HERE Self-taught piano-playing phenomenon Henri Herbert is back with a band and most definitely a bang as he unleashes his new album Get It While It’s Hot upon the world. And it’s time to hold onto your hats as Henri brings us this earthshaking collection of songs which is steeped in the wild spirit and raw energy of…
Eastfield – Eastfield (Grow Your Own) LP | CD | DL Out Now The perpetually bouncy conductors of positive rail punk are back with a long player. Like an advance ticket, this album is limited so get on it before it leaves the platform says Nathan Brown. It seems like only a couple of months ago that Grow Your Own brought us the Terminus 10” by Eastfield and here we are with an album. Checking my notes it…
Colour TV: ¡baby! (via Tip Top Recordings) Streaming OUT NOW Following a self-imposed hiatus of almost two years, south-west based indie pop 4-piece Colour TV are back in action with new single ¡baby! and already aiming for the stars. It’s a song which heralds a new beginning for the band with its original line up, with so much to look forward to in the future. It’s been two long years since Colour TV’s last single, You Treat This…
SLAP RASH: Chokeheld Sour Grapes Download Out Now Mancunian sibling noise duo release a monolithic slab of indescribable brilliance via ubercool label while touring the EU and UK. MK Bennett attempts to describe it anyway. Manchester’s birthing pool of seeming genetic excellence never really abated, even if you have been led to believe otherwise. Granted, the multicultural petri dish of music made here has not always landed comfortably and, like our geographically close but otherwise distinct neighbour Liverpool,…