The Lost Art of B-Sides (& Other Rants)
I am confident you have been asked about ‘lost arts’ to gloss over a lull in conversation. I keep a few uninspired answers on the lower shelves of my wit. Looking down there now...
The Ignorant Listener Blog
LOOSIE No. 1 (Or One for the Nomads)
Not that I’m angling for membership, but I’m sure living out of a backpack for four months makes you an eligible nomad. Searching for the illusive silver lining in that deflating realisation, I thought...
Some Albums #1 (Or Riding Out the Brum Blues)
Hip hop has been a constant in my life for over a decade. It’s part of the furniture, the gentleman on the mobility scooter in Wetherspoons come AM or PM. But I have come...
A Trip-Hop Love Affair (& Other Infatuations)
‘It’s a failed week if I don’t have at least one brilliant thought’ – Brian Eno. The quote goes something like that. My response to the quote is this – Format is a torniquet...
uknowhatimsayin¿ – Danny Brown
This piece started as a reflection on Danny Brown’s entire discography in the hope of flogging my spare ticket to some lucky soul (Camden, March 19th if anyone’s interested). His most recent offering ‘Stardust’ is...
The Boy Who Played the Harp – Dave
‘Eight more sleeps ‘till Dave drops boys’ – a sentence that could tranquilize a rhino. Despite surviving a wave of enthusiasm that could rebrand Jack Dee as chirpy, here we are. I was preparing...
Negro Swan – Blood Orange
You might not realise it, but you have heard Blood Orange. Either, like myself, you discovered him on a random Danny Brown track six years ago and placed him in camp ‘generic hip-hop chorus...
Live Laugh Love – Earl Sweatshirt
Music fatigue gives my arse a headache. It’s DEFCON 1 for imbalance in my life. The only saving grace is that it thaws out my writing hand. The pace of life has buried me...
The Specials – The Specials
I never learnt the art of resting. That phrase gets thrown around a lot. ‘The art of …’ followed by any old shite. But resting is most certainly an art. A lost one at...
Where I’m Meant to Be – Ezra Collective
I finally listened to Ezra Collective after being worn down by repeat All Points East visits. Ezra has existed like elevator music in my life, pitching into the hum of hangouts and house parties....
Teddy – Teddy Pendergrass
It’s strange the information you bury. Writing this I was surprised at how much Teddy Pendergrass adjacent knowledge I have without actually knowing anything about him. I’ve had a benign awareness of the man...