2021 Albums

Putting last year’s indecision behind, here’s a list of my favourite albums of 2021, with the usual disclaimer that the list is valid today and could be different tomorrow. What won’t change is the number 1 album – ‘Hey What’ is a remarkable piece of work from a band going for as long as Low…

2021 Singles

I’m not sure that I bought any actual singles this year (other than the odd download from Bandcamp) but I seemed better at keeping track of new releases on Spotify which resulted in 4 quarterly single playlists from which I’ve drawn both my favourite 30 singles and a slightly extended playlist. Here they are in…

2021 Live

As you might expect, this is a different type of review compared to past years. Initially, as shows were announced for late summer, I was nervous about going even to an outdoor venue so missed out on shows at Summerhall we’d have considered in different times and particualrly Nadine Shah’s EIF gig at Edinburgh Park….

25>26 – Idlewild live

Idlewild – Summerhall / The Usher Hall, Edinburgh – 26th / 27th November 2021 The addition of a special Captain-in-its-entirety show on the Friday meant 2 consecutive, but very different, nights of Idlewild to celebrate the band’s 25th anniversary (albeit a year late). The Captain show at Summerhall was announced as being short but how…

A Ridiculously Late Broken Chanter album review

Broken Chanter – Catastrophe Hits (Olive Grove/Last Night From Glasgow) How do you follow up a successful, but reflective, debut? Well, if you’re David MacGregor then you bring out the big pop guns. And make no mistake the second Broken Chanter album ‘Catastrophe Hits’ has some very big guns indeed. First off, for the first…