As I type I’m listening to the Mary Anne Hobbs show from yesterday on which she played the album in full. First time I’ve heard it for a while and given that they are my favourite band I do find all their alb […]

I’ve been at the game today and a mate commented that the Windies bowlers seemed to have run out of steam towards the end of the Aussies’ innings. As mentioned above, the 70s version never seemed to struggle wit […]

The Duke Spirit just after they had released their first album, probably 2005 time. They’d been getting rave reviews and basically took to the stage thinking they’d already made it. They just went through the mot […]

Warsaw followed Stiff Kittens. I was a bit disappointed not to get that after one clue.

I saw Broken Social Scene in Birmingham last year (apparently the long standing joke is that around half the population of Canada has, at some point, been in BSS) and there were about eight of them on stage that […]

The bit where he calmly climbs past a couple of people who have just woken up having spent the night halfway up is quite surreal and rather amusing.

It’s a great film.

The voice is the thing that’s holding me back from going ‘wow’ from the off. It’s slightly Black Star Bowie in places although I read somewhere that he claims to have never listened to it.

Like you say, musical […]

Rightly or wrongly, I’ve always thought of his album with Beth Gibbons as being the album you’d ask someone to listen to if they wanted to get into Portishead. A more accessible introduction to her voice. […]

On a related note, this weekend I picked up the new album by Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb aka Rustin Man, his first album since his 2002 collaboration with Beth Gibbons. I’ve only had a couple of listens so far b […]

Early – Doves, Elbow, The National, New Order, Turin Brakes, REM.

Late – Faith No More, Talk Talk, Queens of the Stone Age.

All – too many to mention, thankfully.

The Colour of Spring got a lot of plays in the sixth form common room and I still regret missing the opportunity to see them live on that tour.

It was years later before I bought Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock […]

None of that would have happened if he hadn’t been wearing his bike helmet.

Yes, should be mandatory in the UK too, especially given how busy our roads are (and add lights in the dark to that). Having worn a helmet for so long now it would feel weird going out without one on and I can’t u […]

I Believe In Miracles is also worth a look if you’re after a bit of Forest/Cloughie nostalgia.

As others have said, I was always pleased to hear him introduced at the start of the News Quiz. When he went off on one of his rants I could be reduced to tears.

Really very sad news.

Some fitting tributes here.

I have Unfinished Sympathy, similarly low key but distinct. That and Paradise Circus are probably my two favourite Massive Attack songs.

From bobness and myself over the usual Thursday evening pint.

Derek and the Dereks

Inspired by Derek Smalls of course and ably assisted on bass by Derek Forbes.

On drums, if he’s finished his c […]

Yes, great album and I shall have an opportunity to listen to it driving home from a meeting later on this evening.

I kind of missed it at the time although I remember one of my housemates at uni being into it […]

I’ve been quite fortunate too with the two wisdom teeth I’ve had removed. Standard anesthetic followed by the dentist actually pressing down on each tooth with some blunt instrument to basically crack it into […]