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 June 2025.
Ed Davenport - Counterchange || Leonard Cohen - Death Of A Ladies' Man || Various Artists - Feed Your Head! || Miracle Fortress - Was I The Wave? || The Flaming Lips - Transmissions From The Satellite Heart || Ian Anderson - Homo Erraticus || Air - Love 2 || The Boo Radleys - Giant Steps || The Producers - Positive Influence || Daft Punk - Tron Legacy || Back Street Crawler - 2nd Street || Ulrich Schnauss - Far Away Trains Passing By || Aerosmith - Honkin' On Bobo.
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
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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Tunng - Love You All Over Again
Tunng's ninth album and their first in five years, celebrates their 20th anniversary by returning to the softer sound textures and folksy melodies of their earlier releases. For me, this is a welcome step back to the pagan feel that first drew me into the work. Listening to this is like falling into a weird dream with a bazaar soundtrack of crackles, haunted unnatural noises, mystery and magic that make this sound as good as 2005's "Mother's Daughter and Other Songs". Co-founder Mike Lindsay has said "It's very Tunng, dark but then warm and melancholic". When I played this it instantly reminded me of the film "The Wicker Man", a truly captivating album that casts a bewildering spell on the listener.
Everything Else || Didn't Know Why || Sixes || Snails || Laundry || Drifting Memory Station || Deep Underneath || Levitate A Little || Yeekeys || Coat Hangers.
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Music Magazines
Mojo
Mojo issue 381 featuring The Beatles; Black Sabbath; Siouxsie And The Banshees; Blur; Wet Leg; Herbie Hancock; Bruce Springsteen; Rick Wakeman; The Kinks; ABC; English Teacher; Gina Birch; Carla Thomas; Cabaret Voltaire; Bob Dylan; Charlie Musselwhite; Poor Creature; Hotline TNT plus 141 reviews.
Includes free CD "Feed Your Head!".
Fifteen mind-altering classics featuring The Heartbreakers; Mudhoney; The Gamblers; Otis Redding; Charlie Parker; The Orb; Barrington Levy; King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard; The Fall; Lil Green; John Prine; Bert Jansch; The Purple Gang; The 13th Floor Elevators plus Love.
Uncut
Uncut issue 340 featuring Nick Drake; The Who; Alan Sparhawk; Black Sabbath; Matt Berninger; Brian Eno; Margo Cilker; Queens Of The Stone Age; Bobby Weir; Peggy Seeger; Pulp; Arthur Baker; Sharon Jones; Mark Eitzel; Gwenno; Natalie Bergman; Little Richard; Bonnie Dobson; The Raincoats; Friendship plus 180 reviews.
Includes free CD "The New Sounds".
Fifteen tracks of the month's best music featuring Alan Sparhawk; BC Camplight; Matt Berninger; Peggy Seeger; Steve Queralt ft Emma Anderson; Nathan Salsburg; Poor Creature; Natalie Bergman; Holden & Zimpel; Witch; S.G. Goodman; The Wildmans; Faun Fables; Tropical Fuck Storm plus North Mississippi Allstars.
Hi-Fi Equipment
My sound system: KEF speakers, Technics deck, Philips wireless headphones, Marantz CD player and Marantz amplifier.