Pulp return a quarter of a century after their last album with a nostalgic tribute to the Stone Roses’ legendary / mythical gathering at Spike Island. (more…)

Farewell to a musical legend of the early ’60s who grew up in my back yard of Stoke Newington, and found success in the pre-Beatles era with Joe Meek, North London’s own DIY Phil Spector.

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Not gonna deny I am biased when it comes to promoting local artists, so I make no excuse for posting Rose Gray’s tribute to our shared home borough in her ethereal techno tune Hackney Wick.

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Max Romeo’s career spanned the early days of ska through rocksteady to fiery roots reggae with a political conscience, peaking in the mid-’70s.

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Protoje is flying the flag for old-skool reggae music from Jamaica, with tunes like this tribute to sound system culture, Big 45.

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It’s so sad to learn of the death of Blondie’s drummer Clem Burke, another of the Class of ’77 who has left us far too soon. Is this his finest moment?

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The New Pornographers wrote and recorded this wistful elegy for the long-lostd last payphone in New York City.

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Here’s my latest playlist – a spring-flavoured selection from March, ranging from The Damned to Miles Davis, Roy Ayers to Fontaines DC. It starts with a bang, to mark the death of Brian James, before settling into a smooth soul groove, dipping into the Nineties now and then for what we once called ‘indie’ music, making a detour into the Seventies, and ending up back in the Fifties and Sixties with some fiery blues and cool jazz.

Ezra Collective became the first British jazz band to make a splash at the Brits in 2025, winning Best Group and making headlines with their plea to save the nation’s youth clubs.

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Ebba Åsman’s smoky late-night jazz is adorned with crackles of electronica on this brief taster from the Swedish trombonist’s new album.

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