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new music reviews, news & interviews
Kieron Tyler |

“The Laughing Gnome” was David Bowie’s second single for the Deram label. It was released on 14 April 1967. That same day, he was on stage at the Ludwick Youth Centre in Welwyn Garden City. He was appearing as the singer in a band named The Riot Squad. Despite his solo status and on-going contractual tie with Deram – through its parent label Decca – he’d joined the band a month earlier. Curious.

Thomas H. Green |

At the Dot To Dot Festival in Nottingham, back in May, I noticed some of the most exciting bands I caught were marinated in grunge. One of them was Grandmas House. Their debut album now arrives and the grunge element turns out to be only part of the deal.

Sebastian Scotney
Miles Davis’s centenary this year has led to some fascinating work. The MILES play with Jay Phelps at Southwark Playhouse Borough in February –…
Joe Muggs
Jorja Smith’s performance at the recent Radio 1 Big Weekend shebang is really worth tracking down if you want a lesson in high functioning…
Thomas H. Green
Almost 20 years ago, Late Of The Pier were an exciting post-nu-rave band who injected synthesizer sparkiness into indie. They even had a Top 30 album…

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