Song of the Week #12 – Sophia

  I’m always amazed when this wee blog attracts the attention of artists that I like, particularly from musicians who are further afield. So it was lovely to get a couple of nice messages from Robin Proper-Sheppard of Sophia to thank me for flagging up on Twitter that, well, I’d simply listened to a couple…

Gig Hopping (Part 2) – Sleater-Kinney at Barrowlands, Glasgow (Gig #5)

Sleater-Kinney – Barrowlands, Glasgow – Friday 28th February 2020 For a long time, it looked like I’d never ever get to see Sleater-Kinney live. I belatedly got into them via ‘The Woods’ just before they split. Then, when they announced the comeback, despite loving ‘No Cities …’ I kind of figured that there would be…

Song of the Week #11 (2020) – Let’s Active (redux)

It’s probably fair to say that Let’s Active first came to attention as a result of core member Mitch Easter‘s production work with R.E.M.. Yet their take on garage pop deserved a wider audience than it eventually achieved. The original band was a trio featuring Easter (Guitar/vocals), Faye Hunter (bass/vocals) and Sara Romweber (drums). Although released…

Song of the Week #10 (2020) – The Beths

The last time the Beths were spotted in Europe they were concluding a summer of dates with a view to returning to New Zealand to record album #2. The first fruits of those recordings came out last week with the release of  single ‘Dying To Believe’ preceding second album ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ out on 10…

Gig Hopping Part 1 – The Monochrome Set, STOOR and the Cathode Ray live (2020 – Gigs 4 and 6)

The Monochrome Set, STOOR and the Cathode Ray – Mono, Glasgow (28th February) and Beat Generator Live, Dundee (29th) Having decided fairly late on to take in Sleater-Kinney at the Barras, the Friday night became slightly complicated when we decided to also see as much of the opening night of the Monochrome Set’s two date…

Song of the Week #9 (2020) – Jill Lorean

This week’s song of the week comes from an artist who’s featured a lot in live reviews  on the blog in the last 18 months or so. Jill Lorean, of course, is the performing name of Jill O’Sullivan late of Sparrow & The Workshop and B|DY_PRTS. Since starting to perform live in her own right,…