Hinterland – The Plan

[Sort of] SO. I’ve done the Myspace trawl and found a lot of good new stuff. Which – when you add new finds together with old favourites and acts-I’ve-wanted-to-see-for-ages – makes Hinterland an exciting, if boggling, prospect. At the moment, my key plan looks to be like hanging round the Arches/Classic Grand end where I […]

NAF: KING CREOSOTE / Flick The Vs

Every KC I’ve heard sounds slightly different. This one has the usual mix of acoustic and electric instruments, but there’s considerably more electronica than on Bombshells or KC Rules OK which gives it a more ethereal overtone. On first listen the songs are more downbeat and introspective (for KC, surely not possible!) too. But I […]

New Album Friday

OK, I decided that the Friday mp3 A-Z selector was a nice experiment but was going to get old quickly, but I like bigging up music, especially if it doesn’t involve expressing an informed opinion (long time readers will know how I feel about music journalism). So watch in amazement as I tread the tightrope […]

Songs in the Key of…Y

Nearly at the end now. Probably go back to random next week. Yawns – Frightened Rabbit Yeah Next – Mother And The Addicts You Are Could I? – King Creosote You Better Believe It – Small Faces You Don’t Know Me – Ben Folds You Made Me Like It – 1990s You’re Not My Friend […]

Songs in the Key of…T

I know, I know… but there were a lot of S’s! Take It All – Badfinger Take Me Home – Crystal Gayle and Tom Waits Talk To Strangers – Envy And Other Sins Teardrop – Jose Gonzalez The Audition – A Band Called Quinn The Bagman’s Gambit – The Decemberists The Bee Song – Arthur […]

Songs in the Key of…S

It’s that time of the week again and my MP3 player’s got to the S’s. Here’s what it’s been dishing up today: S.I.C.K.O. – Fangs Save Me – Joan As Police Woman Same Old Stuff – The Feeling Sad Professor – REM Scarecrow People – XTC Sea Diver – Mott The Hoople See You – […]

Songs in the Key of…L

Think I might make this a regular Friday feature. Still going alphabetically through the MP3 library on my phone. We’re at L now. Here’s the last dozen: Leeds United – Amanda Palmer Leggy Blonde – Flight Of The Conchords Leslie – King Creosote Let Down – Radiohead Let’s Dance – David Bowie Lick A 99 […]

Songs in the Key of G

For a while I’ve been suspicious that my mp3 playing phone is eschewing the supposed random nature of the shuffle mode I normally keep it on and, instead, has favourites that it insists on me listening to. I don’t mind it too much, but there’s hundreds of songs on there that I just don’t get […]

Endings and Beginnings

So, we’ve slipped seamlessly from the end of 2008 to 2009. On Hogmanay, filling in the End Of The Year Club catharsis sheet, it struck me with some force how frickin frustrating last year was for me. On many levels, but mostly creatively. When I got to the section which asked about resolutions (which I […]

Not seasonal

If you’re into your Germanic retro electro, you might enjoy these (courtesy of Random Jane). This one should get you in the seasonal mood. And this one is getting me in the mood for tonight’s fives night out. The bit where the band take on the shop dummies in Sweden strips. That’s pretty much us.