Just A Dream

It was beginning to seem like just a dream, but I finally got to see Misty In Roots (again) in Bristol on Friday night.

I originally bought tickets to see Pama International, headlining with a full band at The Fleece in February 2025.

The gig was postponed, then cancelled and relocated to the Bristol Beacon, with Pama International moving to a support slot under Misty In Roots. I duly bought tickets for the revised show in September 2025.

The gig was postponed a week or so beforehand, "due to circumstances out of the bands, promoters and venues control." and rescheduled for Friday 27th March 2026. Thankfully, it was third time lucky!

I turned up early, perhaps too early, encountering a very spare crowd, mostly lining the walls of Lantern Hall, fixed on their phones. The show wasn't sold out and heavily discounted tickets and 2-for-1 deals were being offered throughout and right up to the last minute.

The other change was that the support was re-billed as a "Pama International Hi-Fi DJ Set". I don't know what prompted this, but seemingly poor ticket sales would surely have made bringing a full band together and travelling back and forth along the M5 and expensive proposition.

The hour-long DJ set was great, lots of crackly reggae 45s and unexpected sides, but there was no sign of DJ or decks in the room. I like to think that it was all happening live backstage, but it could well have been prepared in advance and piped into the space. Sadly, the lack of connection with the audience meant that few were dancing at this point despite the choice tunes.

Perhaps sensing the restlessness in the room, which at least had started filling up nicely, with a late influx of students and twenty-somethings to bring the average age down considerably, Misty In Roots took to the stage about 15 minutes earlier than billed.

The seven-strong band took their positions and played Wise And Foolish for a good few minutes before front person and founder member Walford 'Poco' Tyson came on stage. In this respect, it was pretty much as for their gig at the Electric Ballroom in London in October 2024.

That was my first experience of Misty In Roots and whilst the location and the vibe was different this time, the band were similarly captivating this time around. I was closer to the stage and I could see a lot more. And smell a lot more. I didn't spot a spliff on stage but the clouds wafting out into the concert space didn't come from a smoke machine, that's for sure.

As in 2024, I just got caught up in the music and I didn't keep track of what was being played and in what order. Apart from Wise And Foolsh, I recall Slavery Days, On The Road, See Them A Come and several others, many stretched out into an extended rhythm, showcasing the chops of individual members. 

After an hour, Misty In Roots left the stage, returning a few minutes later to play a couple of encores, then were off again, this time for good.

For a band celebrating their 50th anniversary, and with the majority of members of a certain age, here is further proof that life is worth living, that causes are worth fighting for and that reggae and dub music is as vital now as it was more than half a century ago.

Misty In Roots are back at the Electric Ballroom on 4th April. You'll be hard pressed to find a better Saturday night out, even in London.

For today's selection, as I'm unable to recall and recreate the setlist, I've instead put togther an hour-long Misty In Roots compilation, a dozen songs, some of which were played on Friday, others which have been included...just because.

I've tried to avoid duplicating songs that have appeared on previous Misty In Roots selections, and I've added a trio of 12" versions, opening with early single AA-side Rich Man and closing with one of my favourites of theirs, Follow Fashion, in it's 10-minute definitive version.

1) Rich Man (12" Version) (1979)

2) Slavery Days (Album Version) (1981)

3) Jah Jah Bless Africa (Part Two) (Single Version) (1981)

4) Horizon (Album Version) (1985)

5) Viva Zapatta (Single Version) (1980)

6) Life Boat (Album Version) (1981)

7) New Day (Album Version) (1983)

8) Wandering Wanderer (12" Version) (1981)

9) Oh! Wicked Man! (Live @ Cirque Royal/Koninklijk Circus, Brussels, Belgium) (1979)

10) See Them A Come (Single Version) (1979)

11) Cry Out For Peace (Single Version) (1981)

12) Follow Fashion (12" Version) (1983)

Just A Dream (1:03:35) (GD) (M)

If you'd like more from MIsty In Roots, Pama International - and The Ruts DC - then look no further!

International Roots (Misty In Roots + Pama International) (September 2025)
Misty Ruts (Misty In Roots + The Ruts DC) (October 2024)

Dubby Happy People (April 2023)

A special thanks to fellow audience member Colin Macqueen, who took the excellent band photo heading this post, plus the close up of Poco, which I borrowed from his posting on BlueSky.

A Glitch Repeats

Sixty minutes, ten tracks, one decade in the life of MAN2.0 aka Mark Bailey.

My recent NEIN Records catalogue buy has significantly boosted the quantity of MAN2.0 music and remixes in my collection, and this is only a good thing as I've been a fan since I discovered Mark via his remixes and releases on Paisley Dark Records a few years ago. Last year, he took the next logical step by launching his own label, Embryonic Soundwave.

Today's selection plucks selections from the past decade, spanning 2017 to 2025 and trying to avoid repeating tracks (or at least versions) that I've previously used elsewhere on this blog.

Starting off with the brilliantly-titled Anti-Chug, the selection takes in remixes for Perry Granville, Tronik Youth and Soft Cell, as well as MAN2.0 releases including last year's superb CTRL ALT DEL and wrapping up with Cosmikuro's stunning rework of 2023 single Red Shift.

May your weekend be full of sunshine, inside and out. I think this is the ideal soundtrack.

1) Anti-Chug (Single Version): MAN2.0 (2017)

2) Fake Robots (MAN2.0 'Counterfeit Machinery' Remix): Ulises Arrieta & Javier Martinez (2019)

3) CTRL ALT DEL (Tronik Youth Remix): MAN2.0 ft. Precious Blood (2025)

4) Turbo Rave (MAN2.0's Cabin Fever Remix): BT COP (2020)

5) It's A Mug's Game (MAN2.0 Edit): Soft Cell (2022)

6) Shake Up Your Mind (MAN2.0 Remix): Steady State (2021)

7) Glittering Lights (MAN2.0 Remix): Perry Granville (2023)

8) Seedling (Single Version): MAN2.0 (2017)

9) Don't Space (MAN2.0 Single White Female Remix): Tronik Youth (2017)

10) Red Shift (Cosmikuro's 'Hold Your Breath' Mix): MAN2.0 (2023)

2017: Abandoned EP: 9

2017: Heavy Machinery EP: 8

2017: Plan Your Journey EP: 1

2019: Fake Robots EP: 2

2020: Turbo Rave EP: 4

2021: Shelter Me: Beats For Beds: The Remix Album: 6

2022: FREEDLS: Sexy Dinosaur From Outer Space: 5

2023: Glittering Lights EP: 7

2023: Red Shift (Late) EP: 10

2025: CTRL ALT DEL EP: 3

A Glitch Repeats (1:00:09) (GD) (M) 

All of these - and more - are available to buy online and if this music pushes your buttons, tickles your fancy or sugars your plum, then I highly recommend MAN2.0's Operator EP, on Embryonic Soundwave, last December.

Nights At The Circus, Twenty Years Ago

And now for something a little different...

On Saturday 25th March 2006, Mrs. K and I saw Nights At The Circus at the Bristol Old Vic and I reviewed it the following day for my old blog. I thought it would be fun to share it with you.

"Nights At The Circus" by Angela Carter

Adapted by Tom Morris & Emma Rice

It's 1899 and Europe eagerly anticipates the coming of the new century, none more so than vaudeville, and especially sensational trapeze artist Fevvers. As the name suggests, Fevvers has wings, but are they real or just another illusion to mask the harsh reality of circus life? Cynical New York Times journalist Walser is determined to prove the latter and finds himself on a inexorable journey toward discovery, liberation... and love.

I'm a belated fan of Angela Carter and have so far read only three novels: Shadow Dance, The Magic Toyshop, both from the late 1960s, and 1977's The Passion of New Eve. All of these feature Carter's characteristic approach of investigating - and challenging - sexual identity and so I expected much the same from this adaptation of her 1984 novel. Tom Morris and Emma Rice have inevitably pruned Carter's original work for the stage, occasionally at the expense of narrative cohesion and characterisation. However, Kneehigh Theatre's energetic - and often cheeky - production guarantees that the end result makes up for any potential criticisms that this somehow "isn't Angela Carter".

The play gets off to a cracking start as a female singer in top hat-and-tails drag (ex-Casualty star Adjoa Andoh) sings a Dietrich-esque ditty called "Die, Century, Die". As she departs, the spotlight is immediately thrown on Gísli Örn Garðarsson's world-weary reporter Walser, who has secreted himself in the front row of the stalls. As he continues to make wisecracks, a gesturing arm poking through the stage curtain accuses, admonishes then invites him onto the stage. Walser is then overwhelmed by the chorus (played to camp comic effect by Carl Grose, Amanda Lawrence, Andy Williams and Ed Woodall), parading around the stage in their gowns and ill-fitting Y-fronts. Walser's subsequent - and forcible - eviction by the chorus via the stalls is interrupted by Fevvers' (Natalia Tena) appearance on the trapeze. Immediately, both characters and audience are captivated by the sight of the winged performer singing "I'm Only A Bird In A Gilded Cage". From this point on, Walser is inexorably drawn towards Fevvers, though his path is obstructed by humiliation and danger.

The production tackles a number of challenging aspects of the narrative in highly inventive ways, not least the Siberian circus sequences, with wild tigers conveyed by flame-filled buckets and scraping handsaws. The minimal sets are also effective, with backdrops solely consisting of curtains and frequently exposing the usually hidden backstage area. In many ways, this helps to create the illusion of a working circus, with lots of activity on the periphery whilst the 'main performance' is taking place. A musician (Stu Barker) sitting sidestage throughout also provides a great foil for the hapless Walser, who becomes increasingly frustrated by his fellow's inability to notice to the series of bizarre events occurring before their eyes. As expected in Carter's work - and indeed, circus stories in general - the dark underbelly is revealed, most horrifically through Ed Woodall's performance as Boffo The Clown. Up to this point, the audience have automatically applauded each musical performance. However, in a jaw-dropping number, Boffo waxes lyrical about his wife-beating, as he enacts this abuse upon his frail, bruised partner (played to great effect by Amanda Lawrence). Another sinister turn is provided by Andy Williams as The Colonel, a man possessing "diamonds that could make you shit" and an avid collector of wings, who has become obsessed with Fevvers' own unique enhancements. Yet, humour is ever present to balance this, particualrly in Fevvers' guardian Lizzie - in typical gender-challenging fashion played by Carl Grose - whose loathing of the opposite sex manifests itself in her habitually pissing into men's socks.

The play does suffer from being overly long, particularly in the first half, but the actors make every effort to keep things moving at an attention-grabbing pace. My only other criticism would be that the necessary filleting of the original novel has removed some of the guts of the lead characters. Although the performances by Natalia Tena and Gisli Orn Gardasson as Fevvers and Walser respectively are strong, it feels that there's not enough substance in the script to elevate their characters from likeable to people that the audience can truly empathise with. However, this is a small niggle at what is otherwise an imaginative and entertaining production. An added bonus is that it will make you want to seek out Angela Carter's original work, which can only be a good thing.

Wow. Hard to believe that was twenty years ago. Reading the review brought a flood of vivid memories. Mrs. K and I rarely go to the theatre these days, but we were so fortunate to live in Bristol at the time, with so many theatres and so many great productions within walking distance of our home.

Now, not forgetting that this is supposed to be a music blog, I have two related songs and videos for you. 

Nights At The Circus is the opening and title track of the 2007 debut album by Bishi. I didn't discover her music until 2021, thanks to a guest vocal on Richard Norris' single Water, but I've been a fan ever since. And yes, Bishi's song and album title was inspired by Angela Carter's novel. Great video, too.

A Bird In A Gilded Cage was written in 1900 by Harry Von Tilzer and Arthur J. Lamb and has been covered dozens of times since, including by a 6-year old Molly Ringwald on her Molly Sings album in 1975 ("She's little Molly, but she sings big"!)

I couldn't find Molly's rendition online, so instead I've gone for a glorious technicolour version by Barbara Cook, performed on a 1965 episode of US entertainment series The Bell Telephone Hour.

And, to close, I should add that I've read considerably more of Angela Carter's novels in the past two decades!

 

Waxing Lyrical

Three mailshots from Soulwax, Follytechnic Music Library and Leo Zero, all containing the musical equivalent of a volcanic eruption (I should hasten to add, in respect of impact, not catastrophic devastation).

First up is a standalone single from the brothers Dewaele, spending a magical mystery tour in Abbey Road Studios 1, 2 & 3 to come up with this absolute banger. Beats, vocals, keyboard stabs, squelchy bits, you name it, it's got it, delivering seven minutes and twenty five seconds of club- and ear-friendly pop goodness. 

It's incredible to think that the first release from Follytechnic Music Library was barely three years ago. FML1 was an album of Hot Chocolate edits, so it seems fitting that the latest, FML39, features another sweet thing, namely Blancmange.

A dozen skillful edits from their 1980s period, mostly singles, of which I've plumped for the most obvious, Living On The Ceiling.

Every FML is a labour of love and a delight to the ears. Individual releases are name your price, or you can buy the full discography (currently at 46 items) for a tenner. You will not regret it.

Leo Zero has been a longtime hero of mine when it comes to edits and mash-ups, and he's been on a creative streak with the former in the past 12 months, with a slew of new releases.

The past few days have seen nine more added to the catalogue, covering a diverse range of artists from Sade to The Seeds, Christopher Cross to The Clash and, perhaps the most unexpected of all, Dinosaur Jr.

I was tempted to feature the latter but instead I've gone for Beverley Knight's cover of I Wanna Be Your Lover by Prince, performed for BBC Radio 2's Piano Room back in 2019.

Leo has turned that stripped down, three-minute version into a nine-minute dancefloor behemoth. I love it.

And a belated happy birthday to Beverley, born 22nd March 1973. What a legend!

 

Don’t Get Why It's So Hard To Find Some Peace And Quiet

Courtney Barnett is one of those artists who I'm predisposed to like, but I haven't obsessively bought everything that they have released. 

I think I would have been flicking through a music magazine - Mojo or Uncut, most likely - in late 2014/early 2015 when I saw a picture of Courtney and was immediately captivated by her eyes. I then read the article and I was even more intrigued.

Pedestrian At Best was my first listen, followed by Depreston and Kim's Caravan, all three appearing on Courtney's debut album sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit. I was won over.

Fast forward a decade to October 2025, and Stay In Your Lane, the first sniff of a new song from Courtney's fourth album (sixth, if you count a collaboration with Kurt Vile and a soundtrack) entitled Creature Of Habit.

Site Unseen (a duet with Waxahatchee) followed in January, with 'visualisers' for two more songs last month then a fifth song, One Thing At A Time dropping on Tuesday. 

Site Unseen is the best of the three videos, albeit essentially a fun promo for Juliana and Nicola GIraffe aka Giraffe Studios. Album opener Stay In Your Lane is my favourite song. I love Courtney's solo to close One Thing At A Time, but I'm less convinced that, at 4:42, it's a single and the video is a bit of a naff distraction, if I'm honest.

 

Some of the Aussie inflections and edges which made Courtney's vocals stand out have been smoothed out since those songs I first heard in 2015, but I still can't help but smile when I hear that voice and guitar. I wouldn't always describe it as 'in perfect harmony' - and I'm glad it's not - but a singer and musician who are quite happily co-habiting. 

I'm looking forward to hearing Creature Of Habit in full this weekend. You can find it on Courtney's website, on Bandcamp or a clutch of other retailers.

Giant Disco Night (45:33) At My House In Miami

Six of the best from Pilooski aka Cédric Marszewski, remixing or re-editing to create an irresistible groove. 

Long overdue for a Dubhed selection, so consider this an appetiser for the main course, which will hopefully arrive in 2026 (!)

I was pretty sure that I'd shared the edit of GIANT by The The before, but I can't see that I have, and whilst I've posted Pilooski's previous work with/on Jarvis Cocker, this one's a first, as are the rest of today's picks.

1) GIANT (Pilooski Edit): The The (2007)

2) You're In My Eyes (Discosong) (Pilooski Remix): Jarvis Cocker (2009)

3) The Night (Pilooski Re-Edit): Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (2009)

4) 45:33 (Pilooski Remix): LCD Soundsystem (2009)

5) House Of The Truth (Pilooski Dub Version): Alexi Taylor (2022)

6) Miami (Pilooski Instrumental Dub): Baxter Dury (2023)

 

 

 

 

 

I Want To Sing To Regret, I Just Can't Pay Its Debt

Cate Le Bon and five-piece band, performing for KEXP on 27th January.

The set features four songs from Cate's seventh album Michelangelo Dying, released four months previously in September 2025.

A timely reminder that I haven't bought the album or listened to it in its entirety yet, and these four songs only serve to demonstrate that I need to get my act together.

Joining Cate are 

Euan Hinshelwood (Emmy The Great, John Grant) on guitar and saxophone

Stephen Black (Sweet Baboo, Euros Childs) on guitar and synth

Paul Jones (Catatonia, Y Cyrff) on keyboards

Toko Yasuda (Enon, Blonde Redhead) on bass guitar

Dylan Hadley (White Fence, Cass McCombs) on drums

Elements of Durutti Column, Cocteau Twins, Martha & The Muffins, Pink Industry and yet the songs feel very much now and very much Cate Le Bon. Lovely to hear host Cheryl Walters' post-set catch up with Cate, too.

What a legend. 

1) About Time

2) Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)?

3) Ride

4) Heaven Is No Feeling

Universal Language

Transglobal Underground have been speaking truth to the times we live for more than three decades and what better example that music is a universal language than in the grooves of their tunes?

I've selected ten songs from their extensive catalogue, spanning 1991 to 2025, a mixture of singles, album tracks, remixes, deep cuts and obscurities that only hint at their rich and varied history. 

There is a very deep well to draw from and though I can't quite believe that it's taken me over five years to debut a Transgllobal Underground selection, there is plenty more to come.

1) The Elephant (The Balaphon-A-Bing Bong Immigrant Mix By Transglobal Underground): Dodgy (1994)

2) Jatayu (Album Version): Transglobal Underground ft. T.U.U.P. (1994)

3) Kese Kese (Where's The Sarangi Mix By Transglobal Underground): DJ Cheb I Sabbah ft. Mala Ganguly & Shafqat Ali Khan (1999)

4) International Times (Apis Bull Mix By TGU): Transglobal Underground ft. Neil Sparkes & Queen La Cuica (1995)

5) City In Peril (Dub Colossus Mushroom Mix By Count Dubulah): Transglobal Underground (2020)

6) Temple Head (Burundi Beat Mix By Aki Nawaz & Paul Tipler): Transglobal Underground (1991)

7) Slowfinger (Album Version): Transglobal Underground (1993)

8) Baby It's Cold Inside (Transglobal Underground Remix): The Cold Head (2025)

9) Bujdosó (Transglobal Underground Remix): Anima Sound System (1999)

10) The Green Spider (Single Version): Transglobal Underground (2019)

1991: Temple Head EP: 6

1993: Dream Of 100 Nations: 7

1994: International Times: 2

1994: So Let Me Go Far EP: 1

1995: International Times EP: 4

1999: Bujdosó EP: 9

1999: Shri Durga EP: 3

2019: The Colours Started To Sing Again EP: 10

2020: Walls Have Ears EP: 5

2025: Torture Chamber EP: 8

Universal Language (57:31) (GD) (M)

Anson Men

Poor Strangelove. I should have loved them, really.

They were from my birthplace Bristol. They made epic indie music that reached beyond the boundaries of the small gig circuit and on a par with their contemporaries. Yet... Patrick Duff and his band of merry men got (excuse the pun) duff treatment from me back in the early to mid 1990s.

Today's post focuses on their support slot for American Music Club at The Anson Rooms (aka the University of Bristol Student Union) in Clifton, the posh part of Bristol, both literally and metaphorically elevated above the city and it's surround.

The date was Friday 21st October 1994 and I was there, purely and simply, to see American Music Club. My (soon to be) ex-girlfriend wasn't. I wrote about my experience of their performance last May and had this to say:

[My] college ex was a fan of Strangelove, especially Patrick Duff, 

so for her this would have been the appeal of the gig over the headliners.

Sadly, not my first time seeing Strangelove - 

I would have seen them at least once 

at the Bristol Community Festival at Ashton Court - 

but I can't remember much, other than they were 'good'.

At the time of the gig, my girlfriend and I were still a couple, though it must have been one of the last things we did together as I was temporarily living in Derby before the year was out. 

Maybe it was our souring relationship and her interest in the floppy fringed frontman of Strangelove that made me disinclined to like the band. Yes, I could (and probably still can) be that petty.

Not a lot of personal memories of their set that night then, or previous Ashton Court Festivals, which is less surprising as they were frequently spent oiled up and under the influence and in the company of like minded friends.

Which makes recreating a setlist both a challenge and an opportunity to give Strangelove another (fair) hearing, thirty-odd years later.

The details of their set at The Anson Rooms in 1994 has not been captured online, so I've created a composite 12-song setlist, drawn from three contemporaneous performances: the Marquee Club in London on 8th June 1994, followed by the Astoria on 19th August 1994, with a Black Session @ 'La Maison La Radio' in Paris on 28th October 1994, a week after their Bristol gig.

Three quarters of this imaginary set is drawn from Strangelove's debut album, Time For The Rest Of Your Life, albeit out of sequence apart from the opening song. The remaining three songs include their 1992 debut Visionary, Hysteria Unknown and Wolf's Story Part I, which didn't a physical release until 1996, when Parts I to III appeared on CD2 of the Beautiful Alone single.

I've never heard the Strangelove album before now and of the smattering of songs already in my collection, none feature here, so the playback of this selection was as fresh to me as it will be to you, listening to it for the first time today.

The verdict? Strangelove got the shitty end of the stick from me back in 1994 and in 2026, I've really enjoyed their music. Time for the rest of my life, perhaps, but I will make more time to listen to Strangelove and catch up with what Patrick Duff has been up to since.

1) Sixer

2) Hopeful

3) Visionary

4) Wolf’s Story Part I

5) Quiet Day

6) World Outside

7) Hysteria Unknown

8) Time For The Rest Of Your Life

9) Low Life

10) The Return Of The Real Me

11) Is There A Place?

12) Sand

1992: Visionary EP: 3

1993: Hysteria Unknown EP: 7

1994: Time For The Rest Of Your Life: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

1996: Beautiful Alone EP: 4

Anson Men (58:13) (GD) (M)

If you want to recreate the whole evening (musically speaking, no relationship breakdowns please!), then you can find my recreation of American Music Club's set here.

Chest Pains, Musical Gains

A colleague at work pointed me to Angine De Poitrine and said that I might like them. They were right.

The duo from Saguenay, Québec, Canada take mysterious to a level that Daft Punk could only dream and join Robyn Hitchcock and Strawberry Switchblade in that select group that make polka dots cool.

The band name literally translates as Angina Pectoris and the blurb on Bandcamp explains more, but not much more:

By awakening the notes that sleep deep in the cracks between the piano keys, 

these two incongruous beings with large papier-mâché faces 

will make you feel an auditory stimulus comparable 

to the delicious and throbbing tightness 

that precedes a heart attack.

I thankfully can't speak from personal experience of the latter, but the sound that 'brothers' Khn De Poitrine (microtonal guitars) and Klek De Poitrine (percussion) make is incredibly infectious and incredibly groovy.

From a deceptively simple set up, the music takes in a tour of genres, one moment prog rock, the next big beat, the next psychedelia in extremis, yet never sounding like a mish-mash or an idea in search of a song. 

I've only heard a handful of their songs so far but, given that the Canadian dollar to UK sterling exchange rate (plus 20% digital discography discount) means that I can buy both albums - efficiently titled Vol. I and Vol. II - for around a tenner, it's worth taking the plunge.

Heading up the post is a 4-song set that Angine De Poitrine recorded for KEXP last December, during the Les Trans Musicales in Rennes, France. As such, the channel dispenses with the usual set-and-interview format to give space for just shy of 28 minutes of music.

The set comprises the first three songs from Vol. II, in reverse chronological order naturally, closing with their debut single (and opener of Vol. I).

1) Sarniezz

2) Mata Zyklek

3) Fabienk

4) Sherpa

As an added incentive, if you need it, I've added the closing song from Vol. I.

Angine De Poitrine are touring to promote Vol. II, including a date a Strange Brew in Bristol in May, though sadly long sold out by the time I had been introduced to their music. Maybe I'll head to Bristol anyway, stand outside and peer through the window, whilst the music poursa out into the street...