Playlist
My most recently played albums, playlist archive, current favourite, new releases, music magazines and hi-fi equipment.
Most Recently Played Albums
The albums I've played during July 2025.
George Benson - Guitar Man || Steve Hackett - The Total Experience Live In Liverpool || Kittie - In The Black || M83 - Digital Shades [Vol. 1] || Moby - Moby || Shpongle - Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland || Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night || George Benson - Absolute Benson || Quantic - Magnetica || Elvis Costello - This Year's Model || Cosmic Gate - Start To Feel || Frank Zappa - Zappa In New York || Various Artists - Sounds Of The New West, Vol 7 || Sly & The Family Stone - Fresh || Fila Brazillia - Black Market Gardening || Carly Simon - Anticipation || Blur - Leisure || Robert Plant - Higher Rock || Beck - The Information || Eat Static - Prepare Your Spirit || Blue Oyster Cult - Spectres || Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio || Suede - A New Morning || The Waterboys - A Pagan Place || Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club || John Brown's Body - Amplify || The Doobie Brothers - Minute By Minute || Back Street Crawler - Final Performance || Faith No More - Angel Dust || Culture - One Stone || Easy Star All-Stars - Easy Star's Thrillah || Evanescence - Fallen || Buddy Guy - Ain't Done With The Blues || Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 Way Street.
Playlist Archive
All the albums I've played each year since 1st January 2018.
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025Current Favourite
Pink Floyd - Pink Floyd At Pompeii MCMLXXII
This is the Steven Wilson stereo remix of the famous live performance recorded in October 1971 at the Roman Amphitheatre at Pompeii for the groundbreaking 1972 film. It captures Pink Floyd at a major transition in their career just a month after they had finished mixing "Meddle" and eight months before recording "The Dark Side Of The Moon". The recording quality is exceptional, every instrument sounds crisp and clear. The band are on top form and the awesome power of the music makes you feel as though you're standing right there in front of the band. An iconic piece of work.
Pompeii Intro || Echoes, Part 1 || Careful With That Axe, Eugene || A Saucerful Of Secrets || One Of These Days || Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun || Mademoiselle Nobs || Echoes, Part 2 ||| Careful With That Axe, Eugene || A Saucerful Of Secrets.
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New Releases
Buddy Guy - Ain't Done With The Blues
The eighty-nine year old blues legend has returned with his first studio record since 2022 and with a little help from Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Joe Walsh, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, The Blind Boys Of Alabama and a superb group of session musicians he's made another great album. This release shows that despite him about to retire from live performances the icon of Chicago blues has retained his powerful voice and can play guitar as if he'd sold his soul to the devil.
Hooker Thing || Been There Done That || Blues Chase The Blues Away || Where U At? || Blues On Top || I Got Sumpin' ForYou || How Blues Is That || Dry Stick || It Keeps Me Young || Love On A Budget || Jesus Loves The Sinner || Upside Down || One From Lightnin' || I Don't Forget || Trick Bag || Swamp Poker || Send Me Some Loving || Talk To Your Daughter.
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Little Feat - Strike Up The Band
"Strike Up The Band" celebrates Little Feat's enduring legacy, reaffirming their ability to strike the right chords in the modern musical landscape. From the first to the final track, the band continues to burn brightly, blending the talents of the seasoned originals and the newer members. It's a welcome addition to their six-decade-long journey of recording and performing. Little Feat remain very much a musical collective with a sound that's thrillingly disparate, moving from country-fried R&B to shotgun shack-shaking blues with ease. I feel Lowell George would have love it.
4 Days Of Heaven 3 Days Of Work || Bayou Mama || Shipwrecks || Midnight Flight || Too High To Cut My Hair || When Hearts Fall || Strike Up The Band || Bluegrass Pines || Disappearing Ink || Love And Life (Never Fear) || Dance A Little || Running Out Of Time With The Blues || New Orleans Cries When She Sings.
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The Flower Kings - Love
"Love" is the fifth Flower Kings album in less than six years, but it doesn't sound like the Swedish band is running out of ideas. Instead, it's an album of fully realised ambition and the music occasionally sounds close Yes, especially the guitar and vocals. The album is an amazing prog rock experience of a carefully constructed song cycle in which The Flower Kings beautifully paint a portrait of founder Roine Stolt's hope for peace and love. Free from commercial constraints and built on the creativity of the band members, The Flower Kings have created an album that shows musical expertise as well as a great feel for melodies.
We Claim The Moon || The Elder || How Can You Leave Us Now!? || World Spinning || Burning Both Edges || The Rubble || Kaiser Razor || The Phoenix || The Promise || Love Is || Walls Of Shame || Considerations.
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Bon Iver - Sable, Fable
Bon Iver's fifth album moves out of the shadows and into the light with music that remains as compelling as ever. Doing away with much of the stuttering, experimental elements to add touches of soul, R&B and lap-steel country at the same time as well as making a home in what used to be called 'adult contemporary' music makes this the most daring album in Bon Iver's catalogue. The great thing is that vibrancy emanates from these songs like never before, a beauty in its simplicity, a completeness that offers solace and understanding resulting in a soothing feeling. I believe this is the best work since "For Emma, Forever Ago".
Things Behind Things Behind Things || S P E Y S I D E || Awards Season || Short Story || Everything Is Peaceful Love || Walk Home || Day One || From || I'll Be There || If Only I Could Wait || There's A Rhythmn || Au Revoir.
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My Morning Jacket - Is
This is My Morning Jacket's tenth album in twenty years and they still sound as fresh as they did on their debut album "Z". Usually the band self-produce but here they drafting in Brendan O'Brien (of Bruce Springsteen & Pearl Jam fame) and this has resulted in a sharper focus on the melodies as well as bridging the gap between their rocking live shows and their generally gentler sound on record. There's a leisurely and easy-going vibe, the sound of an aging band content to crank out good tunes without really trying to pushing any boundaries but when the songs are this good there's no good reason to take risks.
Out In The Open || Half A Lifetime || Everyday Magic || I Can Hear Your Love || Time Waited || Beginning From The Ending || Lemme Know || Squid Ink || Die For It || River Road.
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Steven Wilson - The Overview
If you've looked the stars and wondered about how vast the universe is and how small we are, well that sense of awe is at the core of "The Overview", Steven Wilson's seventh solo album, an ambitious and thought provoking work. The album is inspired by the 'Overview Effect', a shift in perspective astronauts experience when they see Earth from space. The concept alone is compelling but it is Wilson's musical interpretation that elevates it into something extraordinary. He has returned to his progressive roots and has crafted one of his most compelling works.
Objects Outlive Us (No Monkey's Paw | The Buddha Of The Modern Age | Objects: Meanwhile | The Cicerones | Ark | Cosmic Sons Of Toil | No Ghost On The Moor | Heat Death Of The Universe) || The Overview (Perspective | A Beautiful Infinity I | Borrowed Atoms | A Beautiful Infinity II | Infinity Measured In Moments | Permanence).
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Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant
Jethro Tull have now released three albums in quick succession, "The Zealot Gene" (2022),"RokFlote" (2023) and now "Curious Ruminant". That is an output rate that few younger peers are able to match. It is clear that Ian Anderson's creativity has not run dry and this album, as well as the previous two, is of a very high standard. However, "Curious Ruminant" is perhaps the strongest of the three and it's exciting to hear an artist who's still producing music of this quality after so many years. For those who enjoy strong lyrical themes, there's much to dig into, and musically it's full of great playing and virtuoso flute in particular.
Puppet And The Puppet Master || Curious Ruminant || Dunsinane Hill || The Tipu House || Savannah Of Paddington Green || Stygian Hand || Over Jerusalem || Drink From The Same Well || Interim Sleep.
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Doves - Constellations For The Lonely
This band has stood the test of time as purveyors of catchy melancholic tunes with an impeccably charming sound. "Constellations For The Lonely" is an intricate and masterful record from a band at the top of their game, still retaining their familiar sound yet open to exploring new terrain. The album's progressive rock influences are hard to miss. "Strange Weather" could pass for a lost Pink Floyd track, all ethereal harmonies and dramatic chord shifts, while "In the Butterfly House" carries that creeping, Radiohead-like tension. In the end, the album is a powerfully sombre statement that may not be their most joyous work, but it's certainly one of their most compelling.
Renegade || Cold Dreaming || In The Butterfly House || Strange Weather || A Drop In The Ocean || Last Year's Man || Stupid Schemes || Saint Teresa || Orlando || Southern Bell.
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Darkside - Nothing
It has been four years since the band's last album "Spiral" and the band have clearly been busy as "Nothing" is packed full of ideas and influences. In fact there are times on this album that feel sonically confused or where certain ideas are not given the space to fully develop but it is that confusion that creates the fine organic and improvisational moments. This lack of cohesion makes for a difficult first time listening experience yet rewards repeated plays. The music is a dark, sensuous, strangely vivid, pulsing cosmic sprawl with what seems like every element getting run through some sort of effect. This is the frenetic soundtrack to the world's mounting chaos.
SLAU || S.N.C || Are You Tired? (Keep On Singing) || Graucha Max || American References || Heavy Is Good For This || Hell Suite (Part I) || Hell Suite (Part II) || Sin El Sol No Hay Nada.
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Yazz Ahmed - A Paradise In The Hold
Yazz Ahmed is a British-Bahraini trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer, she blends Arabic and Western influences to create rich and complex contemporary jazz. The album is filled with highly creative, haunting and moving music which collectively form a certain mystic to the overall sound. This is the work of a composer who understands the importance of space, embracing what is possible and triumphantly discovering a transformative beauty. The record is based on the sorrowful songs of Bahrain's pearl divers and the celebratory rhythms of traditional Arabic drumming. This is a groundbreaking fusion of tradition and innovation, a lovely album.
She Stands On The Shore || A Paradise In The Hold || Mermaids' Tears || Her Light || Al Naddaha || Dancng Barefoot || Into The Night || Though My Eyes Go To Sleep, My Heart Does Not Forget You || To The Lonely Sea || Waiting For The Dawn.
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Music Magazines
Mojo
Mojo issue 383 featuring Robert Plant; Joni Mitchell; Ozzy Osbourne; Willie Nelson; Van Morrison; Spinal Tap; Gary Numan; Michael Kiwanuka; The Police; Ronnie Spector; Woody Guthrie; Ernest Ranglin; Lucinda Williams; The Wedding Present; Baxter Dury; Mike Taylor plus 155 reviews.
Includes free CD "Higher Rock".
A fifteen track Robert Plant compilation featuring Another Tribe; Last Time I Saw Her; Come Into My Life; 47 Roses; Your Long Journey; Embrace Another Fall; Takamba; Monkey; Everybody's Song; Carry Fire; The Blanket Of Night; Arbadem (Maggie's Babby); Too Much Alike; Cindy, I'll Marry You Someday plus Polly Come Home.
Uncut
Uncut issue 343 featuring David Bowie; Ozzy Osbourne; The Lemonheads; Alabama Shakes; Joan Shelley; Popol Vuh; David Ackles; Suede; Ethel Cain; Stevie Wonder; Blake Mills; Pink Floyd; Adrian Sherwood; Dave Cousins; Cleo Laine; Tyler Ballgame plus 167 reviews.
Includes free CD "Sounds Of The New West, Vol 7".
Fifteen tracks of the best new americana featuring Friendship; Case Oats; Eve Adams; Horsebath; Souled American; Eli Winter; Slow Motion Cowboys; Anna Tivel; Wednesday; Shrunken Elvis; Julianna Riolino; Florry; Sally Anne Morgan; Jeffrey Martin plus Joseph Decosimo.
Hi-Fi Equipment
My sound system: KEF speakers, Technics deck, Philips wireless headphones, Marantz CD player and Marantz amplifier.