The Teardrop Explodes were one of my favourite bands in the late Seventies. I bought all their records and saw them several times.

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William Orbit was one of that elite echelon of music producers with an identifiable “sound” that can be recognised almost as soon as you hear it. (more…)

John Douglas was a founder member of The Trashcan Sinatras, playing guitar and singing harmonies with the Glasgow band since 1986.

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Leon Bridges teams up with dance trio Jungle on a slice of uplifting summer soul infused with the sound of Afro jazz and funk.

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Summer’s here – as if we didn’t notice! – and here is a soundtrack for those long lazy sunshiney days, preferably with a long cool drink in hand. We’ve got the most memorable horn riff of all time – so good we’ve got it twice! – and artists from Lisbon to Madrid and Mexico, ending in a poignant tribute to the late lamented Glen Hansard.

When I first heard the adrenalin rush of those guitars at the start of Girl From Mars, I was instantly transported back to the first wave of punk in 1977.

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Mourning Service are an American goth band in thrall to the gloom-mongers of the early Eighties nearly half a century later.

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Such sad news about the far too premature death of musician and actor Glen Hansard in a motorcycle crash in his hometown of Dublin.

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Shoun Shoun is the project of Bristol-based Annette Berlin, who describes her band’s sound as “lo-fi anxiety and raucous tales of bad behaviour.”

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Body Type are a four-piece female band from Sydney, Australia, whose brand of noisy garage-punk is now drifting into a calmer place.

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