In League With Paton

My Dad often bemoans the lack of committed political protest songs these days. I'll certainly concede that you're unlikely to hear a...

Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche Not content with setting himself the surely unachievable goal of recording an album for every US State, Sufja...

I really need to do something with the Links section of this blog. As a useful resource, it's fast becoming obsolete. A lot of the URLs ...

What a great weekend! In this stifling heat, it was good to get away to coastal Wales (for the Aberystwyth Arts Festival), where it was stil...

Sorry, a bit late with the news, but just in case anyone out there doesn't already know - these are this year's Mercury Nominations:...

All my own opinion, not work related etc etc.... In an extraordinary spirit of generosity, when one of my colleagues handed me a copy of Raz...

Deciding an album of the year for 2006 is going to be a particularly tricky task. We’ve already had highly worthy contenders from TV On The ...

A good description of some of Haruki Murakami's best novels, which apparently can be useful props when trying to impress the object of y...

Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XL Recordings) If anyone was still in any doubt as to which member of Radiohead was in the driving seat for the muc...

Scritti Politti, King's Cross Scala, 11/7/06 So, what would happen at Green Gartside's first official live performances for 26 years...

So, the announcement of the Mercury Music Prize nominations are nearly upon us again (the swanky party is on July 18th). I can't find a ...

Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways Make no mistake, this is an astounding album. Whilst it's always tempting to be cynical abo...

...as James Brown might have put it. Sorry to all readers for the extended hiatus - I've now changed jobs and moved flats, and some semb...

Just a quick message to say I will be posting here again very soon. Things have just been a bit hectic with recording and gigging commitment...

Bruce Springsteen and The Seeger Sessions Band, Hammersmith Apollo, 8/5/06 Having already written at length on the 'We Shall Overcome...

As I said before, there's just far too much to write about, 2006 proving to be another excellent year. So, without further ado... It...

Even a songwriter as questing as Bob Dylan found that, in an extended period of writers' block, it was helpful to revisit the traditiona...

I'm so far behind with this blog that it's getting ridiculous. There's something in the region of 20-25 albums to write about no...

Donald Fagen albums, it must be admitted, are not like buses. You wait 12 years and then you only get one, usually with a meagre 8 new song...