Album of the month
November’s album of the month is a bit of a surprise – not least to me. I had fully expected would be Jarvis, Joanna Newsom or most likely Amy Winehouse. But despite such heavyweight competition, the winner is London-based singer-songwriter James Mathe, who because of the colour of his facial hair, [...]
Are you ready for the Big Beat revival? Yes? Then check out Kids in Tracksuits. There’s not really a ‘scene’ yet, but you’ve always got the likes of NME around to invent one. When I first heard this Nottingham-based group, doing a session for John Kennedy on Xfm I was immediately transported back to the [...]
First, this week’s Contrast Podcast is out. I’ve got a bit of an agenda because I’m on there, but it’s as good as usual. This weeks’s theme is Chickens and other birds. There’s a good few avian crackers there. Mind you, I really must brush up on my intros – work out how to use [...]
So the Danielson Family Movie screening at Grace Church Hackney on Sunday night went well. There was a good load of people to see the film - probably more than we expected for a band which has such a particular cult appeal. But then again, maybe it’s not so surprising given that Danielson’s Luminaire [...]
Time to draw this series to a close. Unless I acquire a copy of volume 6, or finding my missing volume 11 CD, this is the last post of my Jockey Slut Disco Pogo for Punks in Pumps features. It’s volume 13, from December 2003. Looking at the tracklisting, it’s not the most illustrious-looking compilation [...]
Just when I thought I’d got all the essential albums of the year, and I could start spending my money on Christmas presents, another record hits me from leftfield. Well, not a whole record, but a band at least. It happened last Thursday I was listening to John Kennedy on Xfm talking to Pete Wareham [...]
In a better, fairer world, this gig would have sold out. Nevermind that, it would have been sold out at somewhere like Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Instead, despite a fair bit of critical acclaim, the great record buying public seem to have been quite slow to pick up on the charms of Jeremy Warmsley and Absentee.
I’ve [...]
Happy birthday to me. No, not my real birthday – that was last month. No, today is the first birthday of The Daily Growl. On 22 November 2005, I set me up a Blogger account and started typing. My posts on that day didn’t actually amount to much, but the next day I launched into [...]
I feel really sad about this news. This isn’t a film blog anymore (it never was really), but I can’t let this one pass without remark. I had to pay tribute to Robert Altman. I know he was old. I know he has had heart problems. But it’s still a real shock, and a huge [...]
So, today is No Music Day. At least Bill Drummond has declared it to be so. For those of you too young to remember, Bill was half of what used to be The KLF, the art-pop anarchists responsible for such varied pleasures as 3am Eternal and burning a million quid on a Scottish island.
If you [...]
