An apology to my Spurs-supporting friends:

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The Kings Of Leon never did much for me when they appeared 25 years ago. I always felt their story – three sons of an itinerant preacher and their cousin – was better than their music.

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RIP Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry (1937-2024) – New Orleans pianist, rockabilly legend and singer of novelty single Ain’t Got No Home.

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RIP Steve Albini – record producer extraordinaire (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Low, Manics, Breeders) and band member (Big Black, Rapeman, Shellac).

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Never let it be said that I’ve no room in my life for pop music – proper, popular, chart-friendly, hands-in-the-air, dance-around-the-kitchen pop.

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I admire the fact he was still writing at 88, and he can certainly spin a good yarn after all those years. But, oh man, John LeCarré’s latest spy saga is filled with excruciating anachronisms that make the 21st century seem like a foreign country. 

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Here’s a new playlist for the end of Spring and… hopefully… the start of Summer. There’s seminal hip-hop, hardcore techno, primal punk, vintage soul, vintage folk-rock, funk, country and Congolese rumba. And probably more besides. 

Charley Crockett is a new name to me, though I feel I ought to have heard of a guy who’s made 14 albums in nine years. His hybrid of country, blues and soul taps into that sound forged at Muscle Shoals in the late Sixties and Seventies, with smouldering horns and searing blues guitar matched to a country twang.

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Mel Day first came to fame at the age of 77 as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent. Now he’s made a brilliant slice of Deep Soul with Tito Lopez Combo.

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There was a time when the demise of a Moody Blue might have made headlines; at least in the music press. This week the death of keyboard player Mike Pinder – the last of the original members – passed almost unnoticed. But not by me.

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