Our Kicker dials up Peter Bothum out of off of the bands Brother Of Monday and Von Hayes to discuss the new Brother of Monday album as well as lo-fi recording in general and, er, ideas for new restaurants.
photo Lauren Bothum
Peter also educates Kicker about American cuisine, chooses a favourite Guided By Voices song, and talks about the Brother Of Monday album artwork. A half wrestler / digger on fire, anyone?
Have a listen to all that on this link or on the audio player below.
Tracks played:
Von Hayes – Brother Of Monday
Brother Of Monday – Ken Tremendous
Brother Of Monday – Andy
Guided By Voices – My Impression Now
Brother Of Monday – Plato’s Cave
Brother Of Monday – Look It In
Brother Of Monday – Dereliction
You can find the brand new Brother of Monday album by clicking on the picture above and the rest of their back catalogue here:
Also, if you would like to contribute to Kicker’s fund-raising for the Motor Neurone Disease Associaition, you can find details of how to do so, along with the Rebuilding From Dereliction album Brother of Monday contributed to here:
What a fantastic year for live music! I managed to get to 66 gigs and see more than 100 different bands, here are some photos and videos of them. Click on the photos to see full size.
Big shoutout to all those who’ve accompanied me at those ❤️ …
Mrs Garbanzo, both Garbanzo Juniors, Richard B, Kicker Of Elves, Girvan, Mark a.k.a. The Lancashire Toreador, Simon, Debs, Richard F, Pompey Mike, Richard P a.k.a. Inverurie Ram, Mat R, Martin S, Ian D, Mike M, Bruno, Carlos, Jon J, Alex P, Alex J, Martin B, Jean-Paul, Martin J, Richard H, Kate, Steve W, Nick, Jan, Neil, Iain M, the other Richard B, Phil, Dawn, Ian P, Paul H, Will M, Will N, Mia, West Brom Ken, Matt J and Bonsai Tiger.
24th January: Do Nothing / Alright (Okay) / So Reverie @ Future Yard, Birkenhead
Do NothingDo NothingSo Reverie
Chorizo Jnr & I went to @donothingband gig at @future_yard on Friday. 4th time seeing them, they're just getting better & better. New songs sound great, hopefully get to hear them on an album soon? pic.twitter.com/rZ1GEpzWvk
20th March: The Tubs / Body Suit @ Gullivers, Manchester
The TubsBodysuit
29th March: The Wedding Present / Evy Frearson @ The Sub Rooms, Stroud
Last night at @stroud_sub my 40th & my son's 4th time seeing the semi-legendary @weddingpresent Magnificent as always. Here are some videos: Deer Caught In The Headlights, Crawl, Kennedy & Bewitched pic.twitter.com/2j1zka7wnS
6th April: An Evening With Mark & Lard @ The Storyhouse, Chester(didn’t take any photos)
15th April: Jane Weaver / Memorials @ Boiler Room, Guildford
My 1st ever visit to @BOILEROOM last night. Fab venue, wish it had been there when I lived in Guildford 35 years ago!!@JanelWeaver & band played a blinder even though my photos make it look like her head has been replaced by a big speaker. Memorials supporting were great too. pic.twitter.com/GV9t2viBQI
17th April: Cover to Cover presents the album “Chet Baker Sings & Plays” @ The Mildmay Club, London
Cover To Cover
18th April: Manic Street Preachers / The Anchoress @ Shepherds Bush Empire, London
The AnchoressManic Street PreachersManic Street PreachersManic Street Preachers
30th April: Melin Melyn / Bitw @ District, Liverpool
Melin MelynBitwMelin MelynMelin Melyn
3rd May: Manic Street Preachers / Honeyglaze @ O2 Apollo, Manchester
Dug out a 29 year old t-shirt for a spectacularly great evening seeing @Manics at @O2ApolloManc last night. The Shepherds Bush gig 2 weeks ago was amazing, this one was even better!!! pic.twitter.com/cJWHjYP8WA
5th July: “Pop At The Lock” The Proctors / The Understudies / The Cords / The Just Joans / Feutre / Jasmine Allen Estate / The Sunbathers / Cola Jet Set / Miki Berenyi Trio @ The Kings Lock, Middlewich
The CordsFalling & LaughingThe UnderstudiesThe SunbathersThe ProctorsCola Jet Set (acoustic set)The Just JoansFeutreCola Jet SetCola Jet SetMiki Berenyi Trio
30th August: “Manchester Psych Fest” Gong / Westside Cowboy* / PINS* / The Bug Club* / Sidney Minsky Sargeant / Christopher Owens / Goblyns* / Floodlights / Pale Blue Eyes / Blind Yeo* / The Bug Club* / Do Nothing* / Goat / La Securite* / Yin Yin / Formal Sppeedwear @ Various venues, Manchester
As usual with Psych Fest, a busy schedule of bands playing at the same time creates some frustrating clashes. I have marked with asterisks the bands where I caught the whole set.
7th October: Edwyn Collins / The Hanging Stars @ Albert Hall, Manchester
My 48th gig of 2025 & maybe my favourite so far? The great @EdwynCollins in Manchester on Tuesday. Ye gods!! Video clips of 3 of the greatest songs ever recorded here What Presence?!, Consolation Prize & Felicity. pic.twitter.com/zoZv4FpGq0
13th November: John Shuttleworth @ Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool
John Shuttleworth
16th November: “Louder Than Words Festival” Billy Bragg Q & A and book signing @ Innside Hotel, Manchester
John Robb in conversation with Billy about the new book “Billy Bragg: A People’s History.” The book, running to almost 600 pages, comes with over 50 contributions from Billy and contains the memories and anecdotes of over 700 friends, collaborators and fans (including me on page 214)
Video below shows that neither of us have aged at all!
What a thrill to chat to the great @billybragg at his @ltwords book signing yesterday. It's been a while! I'm one of many contributors to the new book "Billy Bragg: A People's History" available now from @SpenwoodBookspic.twitter.com/lZApsrtEXQ
rapping about the middle of Lidl & what your mother has in her underpants, here's Goldie Looking Chain @theGLC at Burnley Mechanics Theatre @Bly_Mechanics on 28th November 2025 pic.twitter.com/cENnpzCbGi
It’s the last day of 2025 and we’ve just got time before the New Year drinking begins for me to share a few of my favourite things. Sorry Julie, but bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens didn’t make the list.
You can also hear me playing some of my favourite songs from this year in podcast number 129 .
Favourite albums
My favourite album of the year is “I Still Want To Share” by Sophie Jamieson. Check out my blog post about it.
Here is a list of 40 albums I loved this year.
My 10 absolute favourites are shown in the list above with the yellow box around.
All in all, I’ve listened to well over 700 albums this year and I’ve shared them here.
P.S. an extra couple of albums that Kicker recommended but I only just got around to listening to… Second Wind by Melys & After The Flood by Ed Kuepper & Jim White.
Always On My Mind (originally by Willie Nelson / Elvis Presley) – Chrissie Hynde & Rufus Wainwright (my favourite of many great covers on the “Duets” album by Chrissie Hynde & Pals)
Favourite re-issues / compilations
Kattguld: The PNKSLM Singles Volume 1 (2014-2018) – Les Big Byrd
Bin Juice – The Lovely Eggs(compilation of out-takes & b-sides)
Here are a handful of photos from the 66 gigs I’ve been to this year. A separate blog post about all of those is coming soon.
Favourite fiction books
These were not necessarily released in 2025, but that’s when I have got round to reading them.
A Mask Of Flies (Matthew Lyons) – Starts off as a heist-gone-wrong story, then becomes a supernatural horror epic. Brilliant and imaginative storytelling.
Mickey 7 (Edward Ashton) – The film adaptation changed the title (to Mickey 17) & quite a lot of the story / characters. The film is pretty decent but the book is far better.
Seagulls (Edwin Stevens) – a fucked-up story about some fucked-up people in a fucked-up North Wales caravan park. The author is yer man from the band Irma Vep.
Cold In July (Joe R. Lansdale) – Fantastic crime novel by the author of Bubba Ho Tep, the film of which is one of my all-time favourites.
Favourite music books
One Two Three Four: The Beatles In Time (Craig Brown) With a Little Help From Their Friends: The Beatles Changed the World But Who Changed Theirs? (Stuart Maconie)
Having read Hunter Davies’ book as a teenager and pored over Mark Lewisohn’s Complete Beatles Chronicle & Ian McDonald’s Revolution In The Head in my 20s, I didn’t think I would ever need to read another book about The Beatles. But both of these are fascinating, brilliantly-written books that I’m very happy I took the time to read. The Maconie book is particularly good at telling the band’s story in an innovative way whilst conveying great love for the music and the people at the centre and on the fringes of their world.
Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska (Warren Zanes) – There are also loads of books about Bruce and I’ve read several of them! But as with the 2 Beatles books, I thoroughly enjoyed this and learnt loads.
Bless Me Father (Kevin Rowland) – In the latter chapters of Ted Kessler’s books, he explains how he had several meetings with Kevin as they planned to collaborate on his biography. I remember being very disappointed when Ted says that the meetings just stopped and the proposed book was dead in the water. So I was delighted when it was announced that Kevin had written the book himself. And what a book it is. Like the Miki Berenyi autobiography I loved last year, Kevin’s story is very dramatic and eventful before you even get to his music-making. He’s been one of my musical heroes since I bought the Geno 7″ when I was 9. That single doesn’t have a picture sleeve and neither do my copies of “Come On Eileen” and “Jackie Wilson Said.” So when I went to the book signing at Liverpool Rough Trade, I took along my copy of “Let’s Get This Straight From The Start” instead. If you could have somehow told the young Chorizo in 1982 that one day he would meet and chat to Kevin Rowland and get that record signed, I think he would’ve exploded with joy!! The 54 year old version just about held it together at the time, but can’t help smiling as he’s typing this now because HE MET KEVIN FUCKING ROWLAND!! 😁😁😁😁😁
Hope I Get Old Before I Die: Why Rock Stars Never Retire (David Hepworth) – Each of the 36 chapters is about a different artist and as always with Hepworth’s books they’re full of thoroughly entertaining storytelling and wild theories.
Sandinista! by The Clash (33 ⅓) – Micajah Henley – I’ve read a lot of this series and this is one of the best. Until I read this, I wasn’t aware a shortened 12-track promo version of the album was given to US radio stations in advance of the album’s release. That particular nugget of information inspired my new favourite parlour game “Which songs would be on YOUR 12-track version of Sandinista?” (coming soon to a toy shop near you)
Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir – Steve Van Vandt – A very entertaining read. Little Stevie knows how to tell (and embellish) a good story and he’s near the top of my list for “famous people I’d like to spend an evening down the pub with”
Favourite Nicolas Cage film
Let’s face it, the man deserves a category to himself.
I thought The Surfer was brilliant. I also loved Arcadian & Dream Scenario.
Favourite films that don’t have Nicolas Cage in them
(not necessarily released this year, but I watched them in 2025)
River – My favourite film of 2022 “Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes” also had a time travel theme, the same director (Junta Yamaguchi) and writer (Makoto Ueda) and a few of the same cast members. But “River” is even better.
Beethoven Unleashed (BBC) – comprehensive series released to coincide with Ludwig Van’s 250th birthday in 2020 but I only got round to listening to it this year.
The Last Hurrah (Spotify) – outrageous foul-mouthed comedy featuring the late, great Rik Mayall as an alcoholic, immoral snowman.
Michael Spicer: No Room (BBC) – Season 2 of the best satirical comedy series around came out earlier this year
The House At No. 48 (BBC) – fascinating strand of The History Podcast series. It tells the story of a man seeking to uncover family secrets
🍻 “Quality Pints” Round-up 🍻
I’ve travelled around various places this year for gigs, football matches, cycling trips & catch-ups with friends and family. In honour of The Bug Club’s brilliant song, here are the some of the places where I’ve consumed a quality pint. I’ve only included places that visited for the first time in 2025. If you find yourself in any of these towns and cities, get along to these establishments for some quality pints.
Quality pints, quality pints, quality pints in your town! 🍻
Please help support all the wonderful musicians, filmmakers, writers and creative minds mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, downloads, books etc and BUYING THEM!!!
It had to be this. First heard on a bus ride back home from work, I can remember exactly where this came on my headphones – it was at the junction of Allerton Road and Queens Drive on the number 80, and, yes, it brought tears to my eyes. Scott just keeps on producing wonderful songs combining humour and heartbreak. Long may it continue.Can he make it 3 in 3 in 2026? I wouldn’t bet against it. Just make sure there’s a custard reference, eh?
Top 25 Albums
1 Stephen Jones – Ten Of Your Favourite Things
An album that is literally about ten of my favourite things by one of my favourite artists: a shoe-in for number one spot really. Stephen Jones remains remarkably prolific (see below) but at the same time maintaining an unbelievably high level of quality that ensures every new release is a must hear. Sadly, only I will get to hear this album in full (you can hear one of the tracks on this podcast), but should you wish to have an album of your own favourite things recorded – it might well be worth asking here.
2 Alan Sparhawk & Trampled By Turtles – Alan Sparhawk With Trampled By Turtles
3 Scott Lavene – Cars, Buses, Bedsits And Shops
4 Half Man Half Biscuit – All Asimov And No Fresh Air
5 Little Whirls – Eels And Smiles
6 Ed Kuepper & Jim White – After The Flood
7 Gruff Rhys – Dim Probs
8 Hap A Damwain – Diwedd Hanes
9 The Humdrum Express – Rastrophiliopustrocity Pomposity
10 Maxine Funke – Timeless Town
11 Good Flying Birds – Talulah’s Tape
12 Guided By Voices – Thick, Rich And Delicious
13 Michael Hurley – Broken Homes And Gardens
14 The Mekons – Horror
15 The Bug Club – Very Human Features
16 The Saints – Long March Through The Jazz Age
17 Melin Melyn – Mill On The Hill
18 Wreckless Eric – England Screaming
19 Mclusky – The World Is Still Here And So Are We
20 Sharp Pins – Balloon Balloon Balloon
21 The Moles – Composition Book
22 Swearing At Motorists – 31 Seasons In The Minor Leagues
23 Guided By Voices – Universe Room
24 Rural Tapes – Oneiric
25 Mavis Staples – Sad And Beautiful World
…. and making up a top 50 albums, all of which you should own, are, in alphabetical order, 25 more:
The Apartments – That’s What The Music Is For; Autocamper – What Do You Do All Day?; Babybird – Internal Bleeding; The Bats – Corner Coming Up; The Burning Hell – Ghost Palace; Edwyn Collins – Nations Shall Speak Unto Nation; Comet Gain – Letters To Ordinary Outsiders; The Cords – The Cords; Crayola Lectern – Disasternoon; Deadman’s Ghost – A Votive Offering; Robert Forster – Strawberries; BillFox – Resonance; Index For Working Musik – Which Direction Goes The Beam; Kitchen Cynics – To The Green Round; Don Leisure – Tyrchu Sain; Edvard Graham Lewis – Alreet?; Lightning In A Twilight Hour – Colours Yet To Be Named; Melys – Second Wind; Modern Nature – The Heat Warps; The Necks – Disquiet; The New Eves – The New Eve Is Rising; The Nightingales – The Awful Truth; Emma Pollock – Begging The Night To Take Hold; Possible Humans – Standing Around Alive; Rip Van Winkle – Blasphemy; Franco Rossino– #1; Sharp Pins – Radio DDR; Smug Brothers – Stuck On Beta; Throwing Muses – Moonlight Confessions; Transistors – Everything Will Never Happen Again; The Tubs – Cotton Crown; Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Public Works And Utilities; Wiiince – Puce; James Yorkston AndFriends – Songs For Nina And Johanna
Top 5 Compilations
1 A Selection Of Music From Libyan Tapes (Habibi Funk)
2 Tough Love 20: Don’t Do Anything Important With Anybody Else
3 Electronic Sound 2025: UK Grassroots Electronic Music
4 Star Charms (Inscrutable Records)
5 Codrophenia (Fruits De Mer)
Top 5 EPs
1 Peter Jefferies – Duit On Tuesday
I would never have anticipated an EP of Nilsson covers would be anywhere near my favourite of the year (you can hear what we made of some of those late 60s Nilsson albums here and here), and yet, New Zealand legend Peter Jefferies takes the original songs to places they could only have dreamt about going and has produced yet another Almost Halloween Time Records release that you must have.
2 Getdown Services – Primordial Slot Machine
3 Bevil Web – 4 Track EP
4 No Slugs – Realisation
5 Birds In The Brickwork – Business Park Study #1 / Suburb Study #2 / Coastal Study #1
Top 5 Reissues / Re-pressings / Remixes / Not Strictly Speaking New Stuff
1 The Chills – Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs
Martin Phillipps’ death last year was a huge loss and especially shocking as he had looked in good health the year before when I saw him play in Manchester. He mentioned this album was in the works and played the beautiful ‘Stay Longer’. This is a superb collection that is a fitting closer to a musical career that gave us so much.
2 Baby Bird – Motherhood
3 Trappist Afterland – Collected Solo Works
4 Papernut Cambridge – Tape Session
5 Schizo Fun Addict – An Introduction To
Top 5 Live Albums
1 Les Rallizes Dénudés – Jittoku ’76
The best live band I never saw. This is a high quality recording of the band at possibly their peak.
3 Simon Joyner – The VHS-C Session At Cantine Polvanera
4 Guided By Voices – Goodnight El Dorado
5 Dick Gaughan – Untroubled: Live In Belfast 1979–82
The Robert Pollard Annual Output Roundup
Just three Guided By Voices albums were released in 2025: the live ‘Goodnight El Dorado’, and two studio albums: ‘Universe Room’ and the appallingly titled, but quite brilliant ‘Thick, Rich and Delicious’. Robert Pollard’s more scrappy lo-fi side was also seen on the Rip Van Winkle album ‘Blasphemy’. Tobin Sprout put out a neat Bevil Web four song EP, called, appropriately enough ‘4 Song EP’, while Doug Gillard appeared on a split single with Bunnygrunt covering Game Theory‘s ‘Dripping With Looks’ and also on Bill Fox‘s ‘Resonance’ album on the song ‘Wildflower’, where he featured on rhythm and lead acoustic guitar. Meanwhile, serial Robert Pollard collaborator, Todd Tobias put out an album called ‘Blue Mansions’ self-described as a collection of 14 aeriform vignettes, which was a million miles away from Rip Van Winkle.
There were also, rightly, a number of tribute releases with Band Called Aerodynamics (Ryan from Chilliwack) putting out a ‘Band Called Aerodynamics EP’; Joseph Airport and Cul De Sac Kids splitting a single called ‘Bloody Yanks’, featuring Boston Spaceships covers as well as GbV, and performing at the Euroheedfest 13, and finally on the always reliable Almost Halloween Time Records there was a tribute to the greatest album of all-time, the cleverly titled ‘Key Eat Mune: A Tribute To Guided By Voices And Bee Thousand’, which is worth checking out for the stunning cover of Smothered In Hugs by Guest Appearance (Ed Nolbed & Wio) alone.
Uncle Bob also treated us to another collection of his artwork with Eat 21 and forced me to buy some boots that I’ll never wear.
The Stephen Jones One Man Domination Of Record Shelf Space Award
Just the 220 tracks released by Stephen Jones under various guisesthis year:
Babybird –Jesusaurus; Internal Bleeding; Demos (2025); The 1995 Rehearsal Tapes / 1999 Etc.; I Am Plastic Man; The C Word
Baby Bird – Motherhood, Demo Tape 1988-1995
Stephen Jones – Ten Of Your Favourite Things; Almost Cured Of Sadness (Live In Amsterdam)
Black Reindeer – A Blk Rndr Celebration Volume 1
Top 5 Music Related Books (Read This Year)
1 Kevin Rowland – Bless Me Father
A remarkable read – unflinchingly honest with more details of onanism than strictly required. Kevin was also in great conversational form in Liverpool and has promised more Dexys to come.
2 Steve Van Zandt – Unrequited Infatuations
3 Tim Blanchard – Like Magic In The Streets
4 Will Hodgkinson – Street-Level Superstar: A Year WithLawrence
5 Andrew Schmidt – Peter Jefferies: The Other Side Of Reason
here are the other books I read this year (none in Welsh): Marc Weidenbaum – ‘Selected Ambient Works Volume II’*; James Yorkston – ‘Tommy The Bruce’***; Miki Berenyi – ‘Fingers Crossed’***; Terry Darlington – ‘Narrow Dog To Indian River’**; Craig Bellamy – ‘Goodfella’*; Charles Bukowski – ‘Post Office’**; Richard Brautigan – ‘In Watermelon Sugar’**; Mark Langshaw – ‘A League Of Our Own’*; Robert Harris – ‘An Officer And A Spy’***; Kurt Vonnegut – ‘Cat’s Cradle’***; Alan Jenkins – ‘How To Be In A Pop Group’**; Patrick Chapman ‘ ‘Danger In The Past’**; Nick Greenslade – ‘The Thin White Line’**; Kevin Sinfield – ‘The Extra Mile’**
Top 10 Gigs
I am getting to fewer and fewer gigs these days as my old cricketer knees make standing for any length of time quite difficult. This means I need to be more selective than I used to be. Fortunately, I chose very well this year.
1 Spare Snare + The Grand Gestures – V&A, Dundee, 7 & 8 July
I travelled up to Dundee in July to see the celebrations for 33 1/3 years of Chute Records, the label run by Jan Burnett. This involved 2 nights of the multi-singer fronted Grand Gestures playing a rare live set ahead of one by the legendary Spare Snare. I was blown away on the first night, noting that it may well have been my favourite Spare Snare gig ever. Then, the second night, they were even better, with even more Terry Edwards and Gary Barnacle . You can hear for yourself on the live album CD (taken from across the 2 nights), which comes out in a few days, and will be a dead cert for inclusion in this blog next year. As, to be honest, will the forthcoming Grand Gestures set, featuring the guest performances from Emma Pollock, Sanjeev Kohli, Jill O’Sullivan, Celie Byrne and Phill Jupitus.
2 Robyn Hitchcock – Prohibition Studios, Liverpool, 23 October
3 Ichi – Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda, 12 September
4 Robert Forster – Band On The Wall, Manchester, 13 October
5 Crinc + Hap A Damwain – Y Lab, Wrexham, 6 August
6 Tai Haf Heb Drigolyn – Y Fic, Bethesda, 13 September
7 The Bug Club – Future Yard, Birkenhead, 29 January
8 Gruff Rhys – Eglwys Glanogwen, Bethesda, 13 September
9 Melin Melyn – District, Liverpool, 30 April
10 Craven Faults – The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool, 28 November
Favourite Music Related Moments (Outside of Everything Above)
My old band Tom Violence put out a new original split single ‘Dereliction‘ (with our friends Hap a Damwain) on lathe cut vinyl from Lathe To The Grave. It looks and sounds magnificent even if I say so myself. The record was released as a bit of a concept by Almost Halloween Time Records, yes, them again, with each 7″ cover being cut from an original 42″ square painting of the derelict Allerton Towers in Liverpool by Luigi Falagario. We also used its release to raise funds for my friend Reg who has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. If you can spare some change, please think about donating here. Thank you.
Last year I started curating Music Leagues and this year I have just kept going.You can find our completed leagues below.
Please help support all the wonderful musicians mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, tapes and downloads and BUYING THEM!!!
This is a slightly longer version of an article I wrote for the “Best Of 2025” issue of the fanzine “Lunchtime For The Wild Youth”
Sophie Jamieson at Band On The Wall, Manchester 5th December 2023
I first encountered Sophie Jamieson in 2023 when I saw her supporting Lanterns On The Lake at Band on the Wall, Manchester. One person playing solo with guitar happens to be my least favourite kind of support act. It’s very difficult to make an impression in 30 minutes with a set of songs the audience are unfamiliar with and minimal accompaniment. But every now and again, a solo support act blows me away and I was absolutely mesmerised by Sophie’s songs and especially her voice. I went on Bandcamp soon after, bought her album “Choosing” and really liked it. But I noticed that most of the songs she’d played at the Band On The Wall gig weren’t on it so I kept a keen eye out for her next release.
That came along in January of this year with the second album “I Still Want To Care” on the ever-reliable Bella Union label which, as you probably know, is run by Simon Raymonde (ex Cocteau Twins). Once again the songs and the voice are just as breathtakingly great as I expected. But in addition to that, there are the beautiful arrangements and the layers of harmony vocals that are just incredible and really make it something very, very special.
Shortly after the album’s release, I saw Sophie play with her band at one of my favourite small venues, Low Four in Manchester. I recognised the drummer as another Bella Union artist Ed Riman. Last time I saw him, he was singing & playing keyboards with Lost Horizons, the band that label boss Simon formed with ex Dif Juz drummer Richard Thomas (a fellow QPR fan, come on you Rs!!). Ed sings lead on “Frenzy Fear” & “The Engine,” 2 of the best tracks on the first Lost Horizons album. He has also released 3 of his own albums under the name Hilang Child, the latest “Gratitude Journal” released in September 2025.
During the gig, the other musicians in the band subtly supported the songs just as they do on the album. They give the songs space to breathe and they understand that much under-rated skill in musicians: restraint. Knowing when not to play.
I bought a signed CD from Sophie after the gig and I have been playing it regularly ever since.
Sophie and her picked Hagstrom electric guitar are a constant through the whole album and, apart from Ed on drums, she plays nearly all of the other instruments. She co-produced the album with Guy Massey and Josephine Stephenson did an incredible job with the string arrangements which are just perfect.
Our modern methods of consuming music are all about instant gratification. When you have every song in the world one click away, it’s very difficult not to take that for granted. I’m as guilty of it as anyone. Sometimes I will read an album review, start listening to it and not even get through the first track before dismissing it. The world is so busy and fast-moving these days we’ve all ended up being afflicted with short attention spans. You probably haven’t even read up to this point of this blog post! But if you have then let me tell you that “I Still Want To Share” is not an album that’s going to hit you immediately. Think of some of your favourite albums. I bet there are loads of those that didn’t particularly click on the first listen. Most of the best music doesn’t. It takes 4 or 5 listens before it gets its hooks into you. But this is an album full of beautiful songs and stunning vocals that’s well worth investing time in so allow yourself some time to get to know it.
If you liked either of Naima Bock’s albums or the quieter songs on Kim Deal’s solo album then you will love this. My wife says that Sophie’s voice reminds her of Weyes Blood. Fair comment but I think Sophie’s album is far more interesting.
Lyrically I’m not too sure what’s going on. Back at that gig in 2023, Sophie said something about her songs having started out as love songs but then morphed into break-up songs. Some of the relationships she’s singing about might be romantic but at other times (e.g. first verse of the title track) it seems to be about a sibling (or is it a lack of?)
There’s definitely a sense of reaching for something that can’t quite be grasped across the album. That feeling of unfulfillment / frustration is often mirrored in the music. Most of the melodies and chord sequences don’t resolve in the way you expect them to, instead they meander and re-direct off along more unusual paths.
After buying a ticket for The Golden Dregs playing in Liverpool in November, I was delighted to find out later that Sophie Jamieson was supporting. In the pub beforehand, I was bigging her up to my friends and raving about how great the album is. Then she played a set of completely new songs with nothing from that album at all!! But those new songs were amazing too, so she’s definitely an artist I’ll be buying more music from in the future.
Sophie Jamieson at Philharmonic Music Rooms, Liverpool 20th November 2025 (supporting The Golden Dregs)
Some of those new songs have just been released on the “Stitch” EP. Another new song (“You’re Gonna Kill Me”) can be found on the “Middle Farm Sessions Vol.3” compilation. There’s also a wonderfully captivating song called “How Much” that came out on the Heartists for Palestine compiliation “Counting The Strips Of Light.” From a conversation at the merch stand after the Liverpool gig, I found out that the new album will probably be a little more stripped back and that she’s about to start recording it. So look out for that in 2026 but in the meantime, get yourself along to her Bandcamp page or to bellaunion.com to buy the album. While you’re there, add some Hilang Child & Lost Horizons albums to your basket. The recent Ezra Furman one too.
Here we are again – our now once, or more accurately, twice a year podcast where we play new music that doesn’t come from the late 60s. In this show, our Kicker plays Chorizo his 24 favourite tracks from 2025 and does his best to answer questions about horses. We also find out what both wizards’ favourite things are, and yes, both Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers make inevitable appearances.
Just click on the link below to stream or download each half of the show:
As always, we urge you to support all the wonderful musicians involved in making our lives more tolerable by seeking them out on bandcamp (using the links above) or elsewhere, and BUYING their stuff.
A couple of records that hit the brief of “rainbow-hued, cotton candy, three-minute confections” from the pen (pan?) of Curt Boettcher. First a selection of demos for an unreleased solo album, outtakes and adverts, and then the debut album from The Millennium.
You can find out what we thought of these saccharine sweet albums by clicking on the image below.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
This tape from Robert Pollard’s collection was seemingly only labelled as “Scott Walker – ’66 – ’70”. As there doesn’t appear to be a single album by that name, we can assume that the tape was made up of favourite tracks from the period.
We decided to make use of the fact that Kicker has vinyl copy of the Boy Child – Best Of 1967 -1970 compilation album that came out on Fontana in 1990, and focus on the 14 tracks on that.
You can find out what we thought of the album by clicking on the image below.
You can read the sleeve notes written by Marc Almond below:
And here is a playlist of Kicker’s favourite Scott Walker tracks:
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
My favourite album of the year is Peanuts by Liz Lawrence. This came out in June and then was re-issued in November with the brilliant song “Yeti” added.
Here are more of my favourite new albums released this year …
Connection (originally by The Rolling Stones) – Susannah Hoffs and Elvis Costello
Favourite re-issue
This is a new version of the first Cinerama album, re-recorded in 2023 with a full band plus a live album / DVD of a Brighton gig I was at.
Best gigs of the year
I’ve been to 43 gigs this year, too many to include here so I’ll stick those in a separate blog post.
Favourite fiction books
Not necessarily released in 2024, but that’s when I have read them.
The Three Body Problem (Cixin Liu) – mind-bending sci-fi packed full of genius ideas. Looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
Walking On Glass (Iain Banks) – I’ve read nearly all of his books but never got round to this one until just recently. This one is certainly not a straightforward story but I still absolutely loved it.
We Sold Our Souls (Grady Hendrix) – my favourite new author discovery of the last few years. I have now read all of his books and I’d recommend every one of them. This one is the story of the fictional 90s rock band Dürt Würk and their great lost album Black Iron Mountain.
Worst. Person. Ever (Douglas Coupland) – Very funny. All the central characters here really are terrible people.
The Dispatcher trilogy (John Scalzi) – Film noir with a sci fi edge. The 3 books in the trilogy are The Dispatcher, Murder By Other Means and Travel By Bullet.
Self Help (Ben H. Winters) – an audiobook about an audiobook. Brilliant narration by Wil Wheaton & Ron Perlman
Favourite music books
Fingers Crossed (Miki Berenyi)
Rough Trade website selected it as their best book of 2022 saying this: “A revelatory and important statement on the sexism of the 90s music industry, growing up through parental neglect and the wild highs and lows of the Britpop years. The Lush star is a trailblazer and here to remind us that success means different things to different people and that perhaps the traditional definition ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
I bought this from Miki herself when she was doing a book signing at Bella Union in Brighton a while ago. It’s a truly remarkable read. Some musicians biographies can drag a bit when you’re reading about their early lives. You just want them to get to the bit where they start the band. That’s not the case here at all because Miki’s life before becoming a musician was already quite extraordinary. It’s an extremely honest and emotional book and highly recommended, regardless of whether you’re familiar with her music or not.
1967: How I Got There & Why I Never Left (Robyn Hitchcock)
Another musician who has a fabulous way with words. He really makes the music and his schooldays come alive here.
Elvis Is King: Costello’s My Aim Is True (Richard Crouse)
A in-depth examination of Elvis’ debut album, probably not a book for the casual fan but a fascinating read for Costellophiles like me.
In the summer, I also re-read Elvis’ brilliant autobiography Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.
Favourite non-fiction books
Unruly (David Mitchell)
Berserker (Adrian Edmondson)
Favourite films
My favourite film I’ve seen this year is The Substance. It’s putting it mildly to say that this will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I thought it was amazing. It’s frequently genuinely disgusting but I’m not sure it’s even a horror film. It’s more like incredibly unsubtle social commentary and a satire of Hollywood’s treatment of women. Barbie meets Basket Case.
Other films I really liked this year:
Mandibles
Motherless Brooklyn
Bull
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Grudge Match
Re/Member
It’s What’s Inside
Elvis
Host
Madness In The Method
Late Night With The Devil
Ready Or Not
The Pig, The Snake & The Pigeon
Longlegs
Lady Bird
Version 1.0.0
Favourite TV shows
Bodies (Netflix)
Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix)
Bodkin (Netflix)
Boat Story (BBC)
The Head Of Joaquin Murieta (Amazon)
Favourite music documentaries
The Greatest Night In Pop – about the making of We Are The World by USA For Africa. Yes, I know it’s a rubbish song but the event itself was incredible and so is this documentary
Mutiny In Heaven – very well-made documentary about The Birthday Party with contributions from all the major players
Stiv Bators – fascinating story of the Dead Boys / Lords Of The New Church frontman
Favourite non-music documentaries
My Old School
Hail To The Deadites
Higuita
Long Live Chainsaw
Society Of The Snow
Dejame Viver
Daley: Olympic Superstar
Favourite podcasts
Dangerous Amusements – podcast about the music of Elvis Costello hosted by the very knowledgeable Stu Arrowsmith. I’ve been a keen listener to this podcast since it started in 2020. Stu concluded the series this year with “70 @ 70” a countdown of his 70 favourite songs in the run-up to Elvis’ 70th birthday in August.
Black Gold (BBC) – documentary about the Stanlow oil refinery, former workplace of several of my relatives and a major landmark round my way
True Story of the Coward Brothers (Audible) – the quirkily amusing audiobook counterpart to the recent album by Elvis Costello & T-Bone Burnett. My favourite bits were when Howard Coward loses his temper and swears a lot!
Most exciting musical moments& life goals achieved!
Pilgrimage to Asbury Park, Freehold and Long Branch! Chorizo Junior and me did the “New Jersey Rock Tour” with our brilliant guide Stan Goldstein. The ultimate day out for any Springsteen fanatic!
Bruce’s former home in Long Branch where he wrote the “Born To Run” album
Meeting and chatting to my other biggest musical hero Elvis Costello after his gig in Leeds and then again after his gig in Buxton. He even signed my copy of “Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers.” This was the first Costello record I ever bought (from WH Smith in Guildford, circa 1984.) “Some good stuff on that one” said Elvis as he signed it.
Favourite football moment
Jimmy Dunne’s 92nd minute winner which essentially saved QPR from relegation and sent our opponents Birmingham City down. Have some of that!
Favourite “Quality Pints“
I’ve travelled around the country quite a bit this year visiting friends, going to gigs and football matches. In honour of The Bug Club’s brilliant song, here are the top 10 new places where I’ve enjoyed some quality pints in your town.
Worth checking out if you happen to be in any of those places.
Please help support all the wonderful musicians, filmmakers, writers and creative minds mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, downloads, books etc and BUYING THEM!!!
Another year, another blog post starting with my favourite SONG OF THE YEAR – a full run down of all my favourite songs can be heard on the first of our two end of the year podcasts, but this year’s winner is this:
A song I saw Scott perform live in Liverpool, where he encouraged the audience to singalogacustard. Reader – they did.
Top 25 Albums
1 Andrew Wasylyk & Tommy Perman – Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On
The album I have played the most this year. The first time in these blogs that an instrumental album has come out on top (OK, the final song features him out of off of Arab Strap, but still). A wonderful wonderful record.
2 The Lovely Eggs – Eggsistentialism
A brilliant album that made me fall back in love with The Eggs.It was near impossible to choose a favourite track for the podcast – so many hits!
3 The The – Ensoulment
A quarter of a century waiting for this, and it did not disappoint. At all. Let’s hope the next will follow a bit quicker. Favourite line: the William Blake twisting “this greedy unpleasant land…”
4 The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World
5 Scott Lavene – Disneyland In Dagenham
6 Biz Turkey – Biz Turkey
7 The Revolutionary Army of The Infant Jesus – The Dream We Carry
8 William Doyle – Springs Eternal
9 The Eggmen Whoooooo! – Fuzzy Eggs, Please
10 Guided By Voices – Strut Of Kings
11 Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free
12 Brother Of Monday – Humdinger
13 Mount Eerie – Night Palace
14 epic45 – You’ll Only See Us When The Light Has Gone
15 Spencer Segelov & Great Paintings – You’re A Lighthouse, I’m At Sea
16 Godspeed You! Black Emperor – No Title As Of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
17 Wussy – Cincinnati Ohio
18 Neutrals – New Town Dream
19 Cleaners From Venus – Lilli Bolero
20 Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More
21 The Kitchen Cynics / The Phoenix Cube – The Great Filter
22 Craven Faults – Bounds
23 Billy Reeves – Steve – A Weekend In Egham, 1966
24 Tai Haf Heb Drigolyn – Ein Albwm Cyntaf Ni
25 Adam Geoffrey Cole & Trappist Afterland – Evergreen – Walk To Paradise Garden
…. and making up a top 50 albums, all of which you should own, are, in alphabetical order, 25 more:
The Bevis Frond – Focus On Nature , The Bug Club– On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System, Euros Childs – Beehive Beach, Crumbs – You’re Just Jealous, The Declining Winter – Last April, Derrero – Breezing Up, Ducks Ltd – Harm’s Way, The Hanging Stars – On A Golden Shore, Mick Harvey – Five Ways To Say Goodbye, Jon Langford & The Bright Shiners – Where It Really Starts, The Muldoons – We Saw The View, My Best Unbeaten Brother – Pessimistic Pizza, Mythical Motors – Upside Down World, Personal Trainer – Still Willing, Picturebox – Mobile Disco, Pye Corner Audio – The Endless Echo, The Reds, Pinks & Purples – Unwishing Well, Amy Rigby – Hang In There With Me, Tapir!- The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain, Lou Terry – Building A Case, Trans Charger Metropolis – More Meat & Potatoes, The Umbrellas – Fairweather Friend, Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Your Community Hub, Wildly -Wildly, Worldcub – Back To The Beginning
Top 5 Compilations
1 Shit Off Cock Ass (Soundtrack to The Bits: A Collection of Essays & Anecdotes by the Late, Truly Great Mel Daley)
Featuring the likes of Euros Childs, Derrero and Cate Le Bon covering Pink Assassin and Mandy songs. A delight from beginning to end, as is the book itself. Well worth hunting down here.
2 Landnotes 1 (Wayside & Woodland Recordings)
3 Undulating Waters 8 (Woodford Halse)
4 Under The Bridge 2 (Skep Wax)
5 Watch Out For Joker Bob: A Birthday Tribute For Robert Pollard (Unmarketed Products)
Top 5 EPs
1 Rip Van Winkle – The Grand Rapids
The most psychedelic Robert Pollard release for years. Possibly even better than the lone Guided By Voices album released this year. A real treat.
2 Getdown Services – Your Medal’s In The Post
3 E.L. Heath – Cambrian
4 Birds In The Brickwork – Suburb Study #1
5 Shit Present – Acting Tough
Top 5 Reissues / Re-pressings / Remixes / Not Strictly Speaking New Stuff
1 Spare Snare – Mix Up
Featuring re-imaginings of tracks from the most recent The Brutal album by the likes of Hi-Fi Sean, Scanner, Bis and assorted Spare Snare band members, this, unlike many remix albums, is all killer and no filler. A must have.
2 Neil Young – Archives Vol. III (1976-1987)
3 The Go-Betweens – G Is For Go-Betweens Volume 3
4 Melys – BBC Sessions Vol 1 (John Peel Sessions & Other Selected Rarities)
5 Ahmed Malek – Musique Originale De Films (Volumes 1, 2 & 3)
Top 5 Live Albums
1 Les Rallizes Dénudés – YaneUra Oct. ’80
A remarkably clear soundboard recording of the best live band ever.
2 Craven Faults – Thwaite Watermill
3 Babybird – Astoria, London, 1997
4 Dexys – The Feminine Devine plus Dexys Classics: Live!
5 Babybird – Threepiece Live, May, 2024
The Robert Pollard Annual Output Roundup
A pretty quiet year for releases as far the Guided By Voices family goes, but one full of high quality stuff nonetheless. In terms of new releases we had just the one Guided By Voices album, the fantastic Strut of Kings, but also a surprise reworking of classic songs on a 7″ from the current line up with the double A side commemorating the 30th anniversary of Bee Thousand with I Am A Scientist / Tractor Rape Chain. We also had the first release on Pollard’s new label, Splendid Research Records, with the Rip Van Winkle – The Grand Rapids EP. This features a band made up of Joe Patterson (Joseph Airport), Jason Short (Snake Oil), Bob Penry (Joseph Airport) with Uncle Bob in full-on weird mode on vocals. A great record. The label also put out a second release with Doug Gillard’s teen project Children’s Crusade – A Duty-Dance With Death appearing on vinyl and CD for the first time. Tobin Sprout packaged the 2 EPs – Waxnails/Sentimental Stations – on vinyl for the first time too, both having previously only been available on CD. There were also two tribute albums released: Collapse The Collectors, a fourth collection on The Bert Dax Cavalcade Of Stars label, and Watch Out For Joker Bob: A Birthday Tribute For Robert Pollard on Unmarketed Products. Both Guided By Voices – Same Place The Fly Got Smashed and Tonics & Twisted Chasers were re-released by Scat in various different colours of vinyl – the former in pink and red, the latter in orange and black. We were also treated to another volume of Bob’s collage art with Eat 20. And, slightly further afield (and missing from the picture – sorry) we had a very Circus Devils sounding release from Todd Tobias – First Man On The Rock, which, in my opinion is just crying out for a Phantom Tollbooth type rework from Bob. Maybe next year.
The Stephen Jones One Man Domination Of Record Shelf Space Award
Just the 168 tracks released by Stephen Jones this year under various guises:
Babybird – The Idiot In The Mirror (The Demos); Astoria, 1997; Eurockéennes de Belfort,1999; The Idiot In The Mirror (The Demos Part 2); I Don’t Want To Be Like One Of Those People- But I Am (Unfinished Demo Edits);Plastic Ivory (4CD); I Don’t Want To Be One Of Those People (5CD); 2009; Threepiece Live May, 2024; I Love You More Than Christmas
Stephen Jones – The Greatest Song Writer You’ve Never Heard Of
N.B. Two further very late arrivals this year (20 December) will be considered as 2025 releases under the Strummer Rule.
Top 5 Music Related Books (Read This Year)
1 Robyn Hitchcock – 1967: How I Got There And Why I Never Left
A remarkable tale of the teenage Hitchcock discovering music, including a meeting with Brian Eno. If only all autobiographies were so easy to read.
2 Steve Pringle – You Must Get Them All: The Fall On Record
3 Mel Daley – The Bits
4 Luke Haines – Freaks Out! Weirdos, Misfits and Deviants – The Rise and Fall of Righteous Rock ’n’ Roll
5 Stuart Braithwaite – Spaceships Over Glasgow: Mogwai, Mayhem, and Misspent Youth
Other books I have read (including a number in Welsh) this year were:
Aran Jones – Some Sex And A Hill**, Ian Passey – A New Cure For Insomnia**, David Keenan – For The Good Times**, Fern Brady – Strong Female Character***, Jane Savidge – This Is Hardcore**, Adam Biles – Beasts Of England***, Scott Lavene – Bits And Bobs Vol. 1**, Lois Arnold – Cysgod Yn Y Coed*, Phil Hay – Leeds United From Darkness Into White**, Magnus Mills – The Forensic Records Society**, Gaynor Madgwick – Aberfan***, Willy Vlautin – The Horse***, Mark Watson – Mortification**, Roald Dahl – Charlie A’r Ffatri Siocled*, Franz Kafka – Metamorffosis**, Herge – Anturiaethau Tintin: Yr Ynys Ddu**
Top 5 Music Films Seen (But Not Necessarily Released) This Year
1 Steve Van Zandt: Disciple
A gripping telling of Miami Steve’s move from the E Street Band and back again. Made me go and put Men Without Women on again.
2 The Story Of Microdisney: The Clock Comes Down The Stairs
3 The Jangling Man: The Martin Newell Story
4 Ffa Coffi Pawb (S4C Documentary)
5 The Glasgow School: A Postcard Records Oral History
Top 10 Gigs
1 The The – O2 Apollo, Manchester, 30 September
A very special gig. I discovered, or rather was forced to discover, The The at university when I met my friend Balloon Man in halls of residence back in 1986. He was already an uber-fan of the band and the album Infected had just been released. He played it to me constantly. I naturally became a fan and, of course, went back to discover Soul Mining, which I instantly loved. Mind Bomb came out at a time I was hospitalised and I was given a tape by BM, which I played over and over while lying in traction. We lost touch for decades when I was travelling the world, but found each other on social media about 10 years ago. To see a rejuvenated The The play with the friend who had introduced them to me made it extra special. The fact they played a ‘hits’ set with every song I really wanted to hear just sealed the deal. Gig of the year by a mile.
2 The Revolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus+ Trappist Afterland – Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool, 29 June
3 The Cleaners From Venus – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, 30 March
4 Euros Childs – Future Yard, Birkenhead, 9 October
5 The Reds, Pinks & Purples – The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 20 June
8 Scott Lavene – Kazimier Stockroom, Liverpool, 2 June
9 Gruff Rhys + Pys Melyn – Arts Club, Liverpool, 17 February
10 The Necks – The Tuung Auditorium, Liverpool, 9 April
Favourite Music Related Moments (Outside of Everything Above)
This was the year I got dragged into the Spotify Music Leagues – you can read about how right here – and to say that I have become obsessed might be understating things. You can find the 5 leagues I have set up below and find the all-important spreadsheet (IYKYK) of all the songs our players have submitted below that.
Please help support all the wonderful musicians mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, tapes and downloads and BUYING THEM!!!
Grab yourself a turkey sandwich and kick back with the remains of the eggnog because it’s time for Chorizo to share his favourite songs of the year.
He’s got 24 songs from 10 different countries, including a strangely high number of artists that have animals in their names. The podcast is split into 2 episodes of 12 songs.
I don’t have physical copies of most of the music I’ve bought this year because I tend to just buy the downloads from Bandcamp. But here are photos of some of the CDs that are in the podcast.
Here’s the tracklisting for you, including links to where you can support the artists by buying their music.
Side A:
We Can Still Win This [from the album At Home] – Dog Unit Men Like Wire [from the album A Firmer Hand] – Hamish Hawk Close Your Eyes [from the album News Of The Universe] – La Luz Botanical Garden [from the album Botanical Garden] – Anna Erhard New Moon [from the album Rooting For Love] – Laetitia Sadier My Room [single] – Divorce Ighre Messina [from the album (100% Sahara Guitar] – Etran De L’Air Fugue (Bin Song) [single] – Squid And Then Their Phone Goes [from the album Back To The Clubhouse] – John Mouse Shenanigans [from the album Zeitgeist Impressions] – Food Fight Success [from the album Here] – Mammoth Penguins Moon Needs The Owl [from the album Mount Elephant] – Upupayama
Side B:
Ursula [single] – The Itch The Uh Ah Song [single] – Florence Adooni Peace In Our Time [from the album Fear Of…] – Cowtown Names Of Plants & Animals [from the album Peanuts] – Liz Lawrence Trust In Me [from the album Mild Peril] – Silver Sun New World [from the album Soft Tissue] – Tindersticks Testing The Alarm [from the album Still Willing] – Personal Trainer Budge [single] – Autocamper Shots?! [from the EP Night Out] – Murder Club Quality Pints [from the album On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System] – The Bug Club Grog [from the album Back To The Beginning] – Worldcub On My Knees [from the album Manning Fireworks] – MJ Lenderman
In his annual round up, our Kicker once again narrows it down to his favourite 24 tracks of the year, split across two podcasts for your bitesize enjoyment.
This year, Chorizo brings his own version of The Price Is Right to the pod to enliven things to fever pitch levels. He also fails to pick out Kicker in a picture (see after the physicality).
Just click on the link to find a link to stream or download each half of the show below:
As always, we urge you to support all the wonderful musicians involved in making our lives more tolerable by seeking them out on bandcamp (using the links above where available) or elsewhere, and BUYING their stuff.
So we’re really grateful he took some time out from all of that to have a chat with us.
Last time I wrote about him on this website, I called him “the frontman every other band wishes they had” and in this interview he shows that he’s every bit as insightful and entertaining in conversation as well.
Nilsson’s second and third albums listened to in reverse chronological order as per the listing on Pollard’s tape. The Beatles loved him, but do the wizards?
You can find out what we thought of the two albums by clicking on the image below.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
A couple of unusual albums on this tape. Firstly, an experimental psychedelic rock album from the man who gave us one of Chorizo’s all-time favourites, Runaway, and also one of Kicker’s, Hats Off To Larry – the great Del Shannon. Secondly, a string laden pop album from country star, Rick Nelson. Neither of them sound much like what you’d expect from either artist, but are they any good?
You can find out what we thought of the two albums by clicking on the image below.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Last year, I ran a countdown of my 100 favourite Bruce Springsteen songs on my Twitter account. I started it 100 days before my son & I went to see Bruce at Villa Park.
It’s now just a few weeks before we are seeing him again at Wembley, so I thought I’d post the Top 100 here as well.
I also made this YouTube playlist of some favourite live versions of the top 50 songs which is well worth 5 and half hours of your time.
The Wembley gig will be my 5th Bruce gig. I’ve heard 39% of the songs of my top 100 played live and I’ve noted where after each song. [C] = Coventry, [B] = Birmingham, [M1] & [M2] for the 2 times I’ve seen him in Manchester.
There’s a Spotify playlist at the end of the page along with some nerdy statistics.
100 Open All Night (Nebraska)
99 One Way Street (The Promise)
98 Death To My Hometown (Wrecking Ball) [M1] [C]
97 Rendezvous (The Promise)
96 Matamoros Banks (Devils & Dust)
95 Cover Me (Born In The USA)
94 When You Need Me (Tracks)
93 Wreck on the Highway (The River)
92 Darlington County (Born In The USA) [M1] [M2]
91 Tougher Than The Rest (Tunnel of Love)
90 Galveston Bay (The Ghost Of Tom Joad)
89 The Wall (High Hopes)
88 Little White Lies (The Ties That Bind)
87 Hungry Heart (The River) [C] [M2]
86 Last Man Standing (Letter To You) [B]
85 Shut Out The Light (Tracks)
84 Brilliant Disguise (Tunnel of Love)
83 Stolen Car (The River)
82 My Beautiful Reward (Lucky Town)
81 The Ties That Bind (The River) [M2]
80 Prove It All Night (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M1] [B]
79 Youngstown (The Ghost Of Tom Joad)
78 4th July Asbury Park (Sandy) (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle)
77 Atlantic City (Nebraska) [M1] [M2]
76 Adam Raised A Cain (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
75 Independence Day (The River)
74 The Time That Never Was (The Ties That Bind)
73 Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (Born To Run) [M1] [C] [M2] [B]
72 Kingdom Of Days (Working On A Dream)
71 You’ll Be Coming Down (Magic)
70 Candy’s Room (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [B]
69 I’ll See You In My Dreams (Letter To You) [B]
68 None But The Brave (The Essential)
67 Fade Away (The River)
66 Something In The Night (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
65 We Are Alive (Wrecking Ball) [M1] [C]
64 Born In The USA (Born In The USA) [C] [B]
63 One Step Up (Tunnel of Love)
62 Blinded By The Light (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
61 Blood Brothers (Greatest Hits)
60 Ain’t Good Enough For You (The Promise)
59 For You (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
58 Rockaway The Days (Tracks)
57 Glory Days (Born In The USA) [M2] [B]
56 Breakaway (The Promise)
55 No Surrender (Born In The USA) [M1] [M2] [B]
54 Zero & Blind Terry (Tracks)
53 She’s The One (Born To Run) [C] [B]
52 Roulette (The Ties That Bind)
51 Promised Land (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M2] [B]
50 If I Should Fall Behind (Lucky Town)
49 Meet Me In The City (The Ties That Bind)
48 Valentines Day (Tunnel of Love)
47 My City In Ruins (The Rising) [M1]
46 Better Days (Lucky Town)
45 The Wish (Tracks)
44 Badlands (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M1] [C] [M2] [B]
43 Talk To Me (The Promise)
42 Real World (Human Touch)
41 My Hometown (Born In The USA) [B]
40 The Ghost Of Tom Joad (The Ghost Of Tom Joad) [C]
39 Thundercrack (Tracks)
38 Walk Like A Man (Tunnel of Love)
37 Cadillac Ranch (The River) [M1]
36 Johnny 99 (Nebraska) [M2]
35 The Man Who Got Away (The Ties That Bind)
34 Sherry Darling (The River) [M2]
33 My Love Will Not Let You Down (Tracks) [C]
32 Livin’ In The Future (Magic)
31 Growin’ Up (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
30 The Price You Pay (The River)
29 Factory (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
28 Iceman (The Promise)
27 Backstreets (Born To Run) [C] [M2] [B]
26 Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M2]
25 Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
24 Highway Patrolman (Nebraska)
23 Land Of Hope And Dreams (Wrecking Ball) [M1]
22 Lost In The Flood (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
21 The Promise (The Promise) [M1]
20 Incident On 57th Street (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle)
19 Racing In The Street (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
18 Point Blank (The River) [M2]
17 This Hard Land (Tracks) [M2]
16 Because The Night (The Promise) [M2] [B]
15 Born To Run (Born To Run) [M1] [C] [M2] [B]
14 Jackson Cage (The River)
13 Further On (Up The Road) (The Rising)
12 Night (Born To Run) [C]
11 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle)
I heard and fell in love with the piano version of Thunder Road (on the Live 75-85 boxset) before I’d ever heard the original version from the Born To Run album. I’ve seen Bruce play it live as solo acoustic song & the full band version. A performance of the piano version at Wembley this month would complete the set! But then switch up to the full band version for the instrumental end section.
So here are some stats for you…..
Darkness On The Edge Of Town was the only album where every single song made my top 100. Prove It All Night was the lowest ranked song from that album (#80) and Streets Of Fire was the highest (#3)
All the Born To Run songs apart from Meeting Across The River were in my top 100 so that’s 7 out of 8 songs (88%) Most of them were near the top and 4 from this album made it to top 15! (Born To Run, Night, Jungleland & Thunder Road which was #1)
My list included 6 of the 9 songs from Greetings (67%) It’s Hard To Be A Saint (In The City) was the highest ranked of those (#8) followed by Lost In The Flood (#22) & Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? (#25)
Born In The USA achieved an identical percentage to Greetings (67%) but with a few more songs (8 out of 12 songs made the list) Bobby Jean (#9) & Downbound Train (#5) were the highest placed from this album. Dancing In The Dark, Working On The Highway, I’m Goin’ Down and the mystifyingly popular I’m On Fire were the songs that didn’t make it from Bruce’s biggest-selling album.
The album with the most songs in my top 100 is also the album with the most songs on it! 13 of The River’s 20 songs made it (65%) The highest ranked songs were Point Blank (#18) Jackson Cage (#14) The River (#10) & Out In The Street (#6)
My list included 3 out of 7 songs from this album. 4th July Asbury Park (Sandy) was fairly low at #78 but the other 2 were both near the top end: Incident On 57th Street (#20) & Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (#11)
5 out of 12 songs from “the divorce album” on my list. That’s 42% maths fans. Valentines Day (#48) and Walk Like A Man (#38) are the highest placed, arguably the 2 saddest songs on the album?
Quite surprised that only 4 songs from Nebraska made my top 100. 🤷♂️ Open All Night #100 Atlantic City #77 Johnny 99 #36 and my favourite on this album, Highway Patrolman was #24. Such a great song they made a film of it! (The Indian Runner, directed by Sean Penn)
So the 8 albums with the highest percentage of songs in my top 100 are the first 8 albums he made. Suggesting the fairly uncontroversial conclusion that Bruce in the 70s & 80s was generally better than Bruce in the 90s onwards.
So looking at those albums from the 90s onwards, the one that fared the best is Wrecking Ball, with 4 of its 13 songs (31%) in my top 100. Highest ranked were Land Of Hope & Dreams (#23) & Wrecking Ball (#2)
3 out of 10 (30%) of the songs from this often dismissed / ignored 90s album were in my top 100, My Beautiful Reward (#82) If I Should Fall Behind (#50) & Better Days (#46)
And here’s another 90s album with 3 songs that made the cut. 3 songs telling 3 different stories of the rundown & oppressed. I put Galveston Bay at #90, Youngstown at #79 & The Ghost Of Tom Joad at #40
These 3 albums released 1995-2005 each had 2 songs in my top 100. Highest ranking song from each album… Magic: Livin’ In The Future (#32) The Rising: Further On (Up The Road) (#14) Devils & Dust: Long Time Comin’ (#7)
Bruce’s most recent album of original material also had 2 songs on my list. Last Man Standing at #86 and I’ll See You In My Dreams #69. Both these songs are being played in solo acoustic form on the current tour. I’ll See You In My Dreams is a very appropriate show closer but the full band album version is just amazing. If I was re-making the list now it would definitely be higher!
1 song each from these 3 albums. They are The Wall (#89) from High Hopes, Kingdom Of Days (#72) from Working On A Dream and Real World (#42) from Human Touch. It goes to show that even Bruce’s less consistent albums still have some under the radar classics.
So that means the only album with no tracks in my 100 is Western Stars. A pity because There Goes My Miracle was on my longlist but didn’t quite make the cut. (I only considered original songs for the list for so the albums We Shall Overcome & Only The Strong Survive are ineligible. Maybe I’ll do another list of my favourite covers performed by Bruce further on up the road?)
Of course, lots of Bruce’s best songs don’t even make it onto the albums! 8 brilliant Darkness-era outtakes from The Promise were in my top 100. Highest placed: Talk To Me #43 Iceman #28 The Promise #21 and Because The Night #16
Also in my list were 5 songs from The Ties That Bind (unreleased tracks from The River era) Highest placed: The Time That Never Was #74 Roulette #52 Meet Me In The City #49 The Man That Got Away #35
That last one has NEVER been played live! Go on, put it in the setlist for Wembley Bruce!!
8 songs from the Tracks box set were in my list. The 2 highest placed were both Born In The USA era outtakes, My Love Will Not Let You Down #33 & This Hard Land #17. There’s apparently loads of unreleased Nebraska / Born In The USA-era stuff in the archive. Hopefully there’ll be a Ties That Bind / The Promise style official release of all that sometime soon.
And talking of non-album tracks, a couple more that made my top 100. #68 None But The Brave, first released on the 2003 compilation The Essential Bruce Springsteen and #61 Blood Brothers from 1995’s Greatest Hits.
There are 7 songs that Bruce has played every time I’ve seen him. 4 of those 7 have made it into the top end of my list (#15, #10, #9 and #1) 2 more are on the list but a bit lower down (#73 & #44)
There are 7 songs in my top 20 that I have never heard live before and I will be going absolutely bonkers if he plays any of those at Wembley. They are Streets Of Fire, Downbound Train, It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City, Rosalita, Further On Up The Road, Jackson Cage, Racing In The Street and Incident On 57th Street.
Most of those have been played at some point on this tour, so 🤞🤞🤞 you never know!!
Here’s a Spotify playlist of my top 100.
Lastly in no particular order here are the songs that were on my original list of 150 songs, but didn’t make the final 100…..
Two Hearts, Magic, Held Up Without A Gun, Jack Of All Trades, Seaside Bar Song, Be True, Long Walk Home, Santa Ana, Radio Nowhere, Someday (We’ll Be Together), The Rising, You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch), Hunter Of Invisible Game, There Goes My Miracle, All That Heaven Will Allow, Seeds, Cautious Man, Where The Bands Are, Mansion On The Hill, Brothers Under The Bridge, Waiting On A Sunny Day, Fire, We Take Care Of Our Own, Roll Of The Dice, From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come), Reason To Believe, Lonesome Day, Outside Looking In, Drive All Night, The E Street Shuffle, The Last Carnival, Spirit In The Night, My Father’s House, Shackled And Drawn, Living On The Edge Of The World, Your Own Worst Enemy, Tunnel Of Love, Straight Time, 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On), New York City Serenade, Mary’s Place, Wrong Side Of The Street, State Trooper, Happy, Don’t Look Back, Without You, Loose Ends, Kitty’s Back, Stand On It, 41 Shots (American Skin)
And remember people… “in the end, nobody wins unless everybody wins.”
I had rarely used Spotify as a way of listening to music, never mind thought about paying a subscription to stream songs, before this year. Now I am addicted.* Here’s why.
In February, my friend Aled Roberts, the Damwain out of Hap a Damwain, invited me to join his Spotify Music League.
I had no idea what he was talking about and was reluctant at first as I wasn’t a fan of the piss poor levels of return musicians got from the streaming site and didn’t want to ‘join the dark side’ by giving them any money. Once it was pointed out that I could play the Music League with a free account and that The Music League was pretty much a separate entity, I was in.
The idea is that a number of rounds are set up with specific criteria and the players select a suitable song. The first round I played was this one:
Perhaps surpisingly, and definitely wrongly, I didn’t submit a Datblygu track – I thought it was a bit obvious – rather I sumbitted the wonderful ‘The New Adam and Eve’ from Cardiff’s very own Simon Love.
Once all players had submitted their songs, a Spotify playlist was produced and we had 3 days to listen and decide how to use our votes. We each had 40 up votes to use (with a maximum of 8 on any one song), but also 7 down votes we had to use. Sadly, Simon’s song didn’t do as well as it should have, mostly because the majority of other players didn’t know he was Welsh, but I finished a creditable (I thought) 28th out of 45 – it was a huge league!
The game continues over a number of different rounds and as I write we are about to start the penultimate ,11th, round – more on this later. I have even managed to win a round – where we had to submit songs that weren’t in English – quite rightly, my selection of Sakuran Zensen hitting top spot.
Having really enjoyed the experience of being in a League, it was perhaps inevitable that I set up my own. I invited mostly people I know, but also a few online friends and some of the people from the Damwain league, who at least knew what they were doing.
This League has just finished after 10 rounds that included Songs Without Guitars, Songs by Someone And The Somethings, Songs Under 90 Seconds, Sad Songs About Specific Places, etc., etc., and so on. It has been a brilliant way to not only share some of the less well known songs that I think others will enjoy, but also to discover new music myself. As a result of submissions from both these Leagues, I have gone out and bought music in physical form. For example, the CD with this track on it from Ffug.
The inaugural Kicker’s Invitational has been such a success that a follow-up has already been set up and 22 players are ready to get going next week with a round for songs with an imperative in the title. Go figure! Anyway, it would be remiss of me not to share the top placings in the first League, you may recognise the name at the top.
No more to be said about that.
Funnily enough, the reason for me wanting to write about these Leagues, apart from hopefully finding more players for future competitions, is actually down to the current round in the Damwain League.
I have generally found myself making long shortlists of contenders for each round before making my decision except for this current round. The criteria this time is Remixes, and I couldn’t think of anything. I realised that I am not really a fan of the remix, and tend to see it as just a case of stretching out the original unnecessarily. Nevertheless, having been on a bit of a Microdisney deep dive recently, my first thought was this version of the Fatima Mansions song The Loyaliser.
Pretty good, right? But, frankly, not a patch on the original. Looking through my CDs I remembered that I actually have an album called Remixed, by the band Grand Gestures, so that’s where I went next. I really like the original Grand Gestures albums, and the track A Certain Compulsion they do with Emma Pollock on vocals is a particular favourite. This is the remix:
Again, I really like this, but not as much as the 7 minute original.
So, where to turn next? Who do I know who obsesses over the minutiae of different versions of songs, who is somewhat of an expert of the more obscure corners of electronica, who has, in fact remixed (well, redited) my own band Tom Violence, the man behind The Grand Gestures, Dundee’s very own Jan Burnett of off out of the band Spare Snare.
So, I contacted Jan and asked him to tell me his top three favourite remixes. After a full 25 minutes, he came back with this list and a few words about each.
Happy Mondays – Wrote For Luck (Vince Clarke Remix)
Factory trying to give Happy Mondays some credibility and club presence. At the time Vince didn’t really do other peoples remixes, and HM had no hits, they still didnt until Perfecto came along in their original guise of Oakenfold and Osborne, with Terry Farley.
Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence (The Quad: Final Mix)
Three original 12″s exist, and three original CD singles… Mute obviously knew this was a big hitter. The Quad final mix pulls together bits of all the other mixes and puts it on a one sided 15 minute 33rpm monster. It’s lovely.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love (Blank & Jones so80s Reconstruction)
Technically not a remix, ie they’ve not added any new sounds or beats, but just used all the original stems to make this epic version. I could listen to it on repeat forever.
Thanks Jan! I was surely onto a winner here now.
But then I felt a pang of something I don’t usually get pangs about. Was this cheating? Could I really submit a Remix I hadn’t actually heard before?
Well, dear reader, with the Remix Round not yet voted for, I had better not say just yet. After the votes are in I will come back to this post and reveal all.
For now, though, you can find the Music Leagues I am currently involved in on the following links. You should be able to access the playlists there, but if not, and you would like to, just let me know below, and I’ll send you a link. By the way, the Stockport League still has places if you’d like to join before 14 May, so don’t delay!
UPDATE:
I didn’t cheat. I submitted this version of one of my favourite Human League songs.
I didn’t win the round, that honour fell to a Fatboy Slim remix of the Beastie Boys, but I did make the top 10.
TRUST THE WIZARDS 