If You Don't Control Your Mind, Someone Else Will

Six songs today, plucked from the plethera of recommendations that come my way every day. All worth your time and your money.

1) Disaster!: Neil Brogan (Near Broken Band)

Tags: alternative / DIY / indiepop / jangle pop / lofi / powerpop / Belfast

Neil: "I like making songs"

Me: "I like listening to your songs"

2) Walking Barefoot - Marche Pied Nu: Anne Gallien (single)

Credits: seagulls, Lucie the bass, thumb piano, egg shakers. scarlett 2i2, laptop, garageband. 

Anne: "stand up / you can do it / you got this!"

Me: "1980s Siouxsie & The Banshees/Pink Industry downtempo vibes, with a bassline to die for and gloriously sensual French vocals."

3) T H A M E S: The Woodentops (single)

Credits: Time stretching, digital toning Acoustic guitar and voice

Rolo: “Hi, a new release here, a long ambient piece with a touch of folk in the tradition of naval and sailor song, a continuous roll, like the river itself, with audio like light reflecting and depth of water. Its not rock or club or pop or beats of any kind. Its more a throb, or a pulsation, Hope you like the mood.! ®¬ <-Rolo”

Me: "Solo Rolo, with a near 16-minute companion piece of sorts to Bathyscaphe from 2024's Fruits Of The Deep. Superb, as you might expect.”

4) The Morning Of The Trip: Andy Bell & Masal (Common Primitives)

Tags: alternative / electronic / jazz / turkish folk / ambient / harp / indie / kosmische krautrock / psychedelia / shoegaze / London

Andy: "Playing [my] guitar “as if it was a waterfall""

Me: "The follow up to 2023 debut Tidal Love Numbers promises to be an even more satisfying trip"

5) No Compass Required (Puerto Montt City Orchestra No Direction Remix): Warriors Of The Dystotheque / Balaphonic (No Compass Required EP)

Credits: Jonny Mac, Sean Graham, Mike Rufolo, Nick Rufolo (WotD), Danny Ward (Balaphonic), Angus Murray, Tim Salter (Puerto Montt City Orchestra)

Them: "sailing round the Mediterranean in search of the Balearic Beat."

Me: "The original version, plus remixes by Chris Coco and Puerto Montt City Orchestra. will inevitably turn up on a Dubhed selection. Sheer bliss."

6) Blue Bird: Coyote (Blue Bird EP)

Story: Bluebird And The Coyote (Native American Lore)

Coyote: "Accept criticism, but never accept disrespect"

Me: "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) for 2026? Even better."

...No Sweeter Genius

The second half of tunes that have tickled my fancy in the first 26 weeks of '26

 

The final thirteen feature a couple of returning artists in The Rotations and Fluke, more than justified in both cases. The rest are new to this selection, even if the names are familiar.

deary has confidently picked up the shoegaze baton and are running away. Thankfully, being shoegaze, it's at a fairly languid pace so you'll have no trouble catching up. And it is worth catching up with their debut album, as today's pick No Sweeter Feeling will attest.

 

With A Sense Of You, The Rotations offer up another song that sounds like it's been transmitted from a parallel universe, very much like our own, just a little...off. The vocals sound like Tom Waits belatedly finding out that Neighbours has been cancelled (again), which only adds to the charm.

 

If you only remember Chad Jackson for Hear The Drummer (Get Wicked) way, way back in the mists of time, then you are in for a pleasant surprise. Genius Of Skank Pt. 1 is not an overreaching title and sums up the track perfectly. This track appears on the excellent Evil Acid Barons double album and is well worth your pennies. Now, when we get Pt. 2, Chad?

 

I enthused about Fluke's gorgeous new double album The Second Bite yesterday, albeit as a side reference to an accompanying Daniel Avery remix of their classic Atom Bomb. This time, I've picked from the album itself. Several of the tracks are subtle tweaks, polishes and updates of the original, others take the song on a bit more of an excursion. Case in point: 1995 single Tosh goes cruising around mid-70s New York, gets funked up and wakes up the following morning, wanting to do it all again. Great stuff.

 

In the 1980s, both The Bluebells and The Kane Gang flirted with the UK record-buying masses. The former have come back in the 21st Century, arguably even stronger than before and latest album This Is... proves more than a match for anything they've done.

 

Whilst The Kane Gang are no more, two thirds of the band have reconvened as Autoleisureland. In many respects, the New Road Movie album sounds like barely a day has passed since Closest Thing To Heaven and Motortown. Your personal history with 80s pop whether you enjoy Autoleisureland's album or not. I like it.

 

In the 2000s, a band called The Strange Death Of Liberal England existed. No, me neither. However, thanks to being a fan of Roberta Fidora, I've been hooked up with TSDOLE's former organ player and their latest project, dee eye why. Debut song Autonomous features Roberta on vocals and is most enjoyable.

 

Spanish DJ/producer Roglar aka Victor Balaguer Alonso nest, getting the remix treatment courtesy of London boy Ian Vale and, as ever, neither disappoint. Fly With Dumbo is pumped up without going over the top...

 

...by contrast with the dappled sounds of Rays Of Sunshine, just one example of why Pye Corner Audio's current album More Songs About The Sun is a gift to the ears. Writer Ian Rankin features on another song and Andy Bell (Ride/GLOK) lends his guitar talent to several others.

 

Speaking of which, Alliance, the GLOK / Timothy Clerkin album from 2025 has been reworked and remixed by a host of contemporary artists. I've gone back to the old school for a remarkable job by Richard Sen. Well, I say remarkable, but I'm struggling to think of a time when Richard has been anything less. The competition is stiff, but this reimagining of The Witching Hour is a standout on the record.

 

The Moonrocks are new to me but their song Cardiac Arrest definitely leans more heavily on the classic rock stylings that the cosmiche that their name suggests. You don't always have to innovate to be fun.

 

That said, Broken Chanter is a perfect example of great pop rock songs that manage to sound familiar and catchy whilst having something fresh to play and say. I've fallen deeply in love with Broken Chanter since being introduced them a few years ago and the latest album is brilliant. 

 

Almost as a response to Scarlet Fantastic's opening call on Volume 1, a year without a summer is almost too much to contemplate.

 

And, as if on cue, rays of sunshine through the window and a nudge for me to get up and get out. 

 

 

1) No Sweeter Feeling: deary (Birding)

2) A Sense Of You: The Rotations (Gung-Ho)

3) Love Is Gonna Keep Us Cryin': Autoleisureland (New Road Movie)

4) Nave (Malaphors Mix): Sister Ray Davies (Holy Island Baby EP)

5) Autonomous: dee eye why ft. Roberta Fidora (Bungalow Legs EP)

6) Tosh (The Second Bite): Fluke (The Second Bite)

7) Cardiac Arrest: The Moonrocks (A Room With A View)

8) Fly With Dumbo (Ian Vale Remix): Roglar (I Know EP)

9) Rays Of Sunshine: Pye Corner Audio (More Songs About The Sun)

10) Indian Summer: The Bluebells (This Is...The Bluebells)

11) Genius Of Skank Pt. 1: Chad Jackson (Evil Acid Barons)

12) The Witching Hour (Richard Sen Remix): GLOK / Timothy Clerkin (Alliance Remixed)

13) A Year Without A Summer: Broken Chanter (This Could be Us, You, Or Anybody Else)

  

Summer Feeling, No Sweeter Genius (1:00:47) (GD) (M) 

Belonging Yet Longing

On this day in 2021, I posted excitedly about Dot Allison's return with Long Exposure, the lead single from Heart-Shaped Scars, her first album in 12 years.

In October 2022, I created and posted a Dot Allison selection and wondered why it had taken me so long to get around to it, given how much I love her music.

Five years on from that initial post, three years and seven months on from that Dubhed selection, and I've only just got around to creating a companion selection. Yet, it all feels like it was only yesterday, 

Ironically, I haven't included any songs from Heart-Shaped Scars per se. Instead, there's a remix of Cue The Tears by Anton Newcombe, and the original demo of The Haunted, featuring Amy Bowman. Amy also provides backing vocals to the opening song, Milk And Honey, from 2023's Consciousology. Both albums are furnished with lush string arrangements by Hannah Peel.

One Dove inevitably appear, Sirens taken from Morning Dove White, produced by The Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. Fallen is an absolute classic, this version taken from the original promo white label 12" by "Dove".

Most recently, Dot has collaborated with both Mark Peters and Andy Bell, the former transformed into an ambient excursion by Richard Norris, the latter a cover of The Passions featuring Michael Rother.

Further Dot duets include Jude Rawlins, Christian Henson and Slam, 2007 track We Medicate transporting on a satisfying Bauhaus vibe. 

Dot has always travelled comfortably in the worlds of electronic and alternative music, between the dancefloor and the folk club, from glow stick to torch song.

Although the music here spans over three decades and each of Dot's albums and collaborations have their own distinct identity, I'm amazed at how well the selected songs sit together. 

As a companion piece to my previous selection, Everywhere Yet Nowhere, I also think it works really well. Completely accidental, but both come in at 61 minutes, just five seconds separating the two. And as Everywhere Yet Nowhere begins with Dot and Christian Henson, so Belonging Yet Longing ends with the same pairing. 

I'm not in the least objective about this because I'm such a fan of Dot's music, but these are two of my favourites of the many hundreds of mixtapes I've created in the past forty years.

1) Milk And Honey: Dot Allison ft. Amy Bowman (2023)

2) Sirens: One Dove (1993)

3) Wistful Summer: Dot Allison ft. Jude Rawlins (2012)

4) I Wanna Feel The Chill: Dot Allison (1999)

5) Sundowning (Richard Norris Ambient Remix): Mark Peters ft. Dot Allison (2022)

6) Fallen (Dawn): One Dove (1991)

7) Cue The Tears (Anton Newcombe Remix): Dot Allison (2022)

8) Lo-Fi Love Song: Dot Allison (2000)

9) You Dropped Your Soul: Dot Allison (2007)

10) I'm In Love... (Album Version) (Cover of 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' by The Passions): Andy Bell ft. Dot Allison & Michael Rother (2025)

11) We Medicate (Album Version): Slam ft. Dot Allison (2007)

12) The Haunted (Demo): Dot Allison ft. Amy Bowman (2023)

13) When Love Comes Alive: Dot Allison ft. Christian Henson (2012)

1991: Fallen EP: 6

1993: Morning Dove White: 2

1999: Afterglow: 4

2000: Substance EP: 8

2007: Exaltation Of Larks: 9

2007: Human Response: 11

2012: Pioneers 01: 3, 13

2022: The Entangled Remix EP: 7

2022: Sundowning EP: 5

2023: Consciousology: 1

2024: Demo-itis: 12

2025: Pinball Wanderer: 10

Belonging Yet Longing (1:01:21) (GD) (M)

You can find Everywhere Yet Nowhere here

A Cycle Without End

A dozen picks from my weekend music haul, half-and-half new releases and newly discovered.

I've been dipping into the PRAH label archives, including their annual 'Scratching The Surface...' samplers, mostly name your price and bursting with curiosities from their catalogue. Choice picks here are from Gentle Stranger and Raven Bush, plus a remix of Stroud-based 4-piece The Umlauts by label mate Hiro Ama. All good stuff and well worth a visit.

There's quite an electronic lean to this selection, spanning Prins Thomas, Luke Vibert and Soulwax, from 10:40 to Pye Corner Audio via 100 Poems, with a bold Bowie cover.

Autumns are new to me and I've been listening to the Through The Re-Construction Of Grace EP on repeat. The remix of Trolley Coin featured here has a real Mark Stewart vibe, which I love. A perfect counterpoint is DJ Lui's edit of a Fad Gadget classic, Lady Shave.

Wrapping things up is a remix of Not On The Radar, the title track of Mark Fry's 2025 album. As a teenager in 1971, Mark released Dreaming With Alice, which went on to become a psychedelic cult album. Three and a half decades later, the difficult second album appeared and Mark's been on a roll since, Not On The Radar being album #5.

And who to remix? None other than Richard Norris, delivering another slice of sonic sunshine.

It was such a fruitful shopping trip that a second 12-song selection will be popping up here sometime this week. In the meantime, try then go off and buy!

1) Boiler Suits & Combat Boots (Hiro Ama Remix): The Umlauts (2022)

2) Cycle: Pye Corner Audio ft. Andy Bell (2026)

3) Once In A While: Gentle Stranger (2021)

4) Løveskatt (Prins Thomas Diskomiks): Ora The Molecule (2025)

5) Winner: 10:40 (2026)

6) Perfect We Are Not: Soulwax (2026)

7) To Ziggy With Love (Cover of 'Ziggy Stardust' by David Bowie): 100 Poems (2026)

8) Floss: Raven Bush (2019)

9) Trolley Coin (Dyslexia Mix): Autumns (2026)

10) Lady Shave (DJ Lui Danceteria Edit): Fad Gadget (2015)

11) Don't Touch (Luke Vibert Remix): The Veees (2016)

12) Not On The Radar (Richard Norris Remix): Mark Fry (2025)

2015: Lady Shave EP: 10

2016: The Veees: 11

2019: Jeté EP: 8

2021: Phantom Thoroughfare: 3

2022: Boiler Suits & Combat Boots EP: 1

2025: Løveskatt EP: 4

2025: Not On The Radar: 12

2026: More Songs About The Sun: 2

2026: Partick Sailing Club Presents PSC#001: The Beautiful Flowers Wait For Peace: 7

2026: Perfect We Are Not EP: 6

2026: Through The Re-Construction Of Grace EP: 9

2026: Winner EP: 5

A Cycle Without End (1:02:04) (GD) (M)

Still Jammin' On The Moon(s)

My shortlist for yesterday's Justin Robertson mixtape ran to 26 tracks, enough for two 86-minute Dubhed selections, so why keep you waiting?

More of an even split between the 20th and 21st centuries, there are some classic remixes of Finitribe and Stereo MC's, a rare B-side from Justin's late 90s alias Gentleman Thief, a deep cut from Lionrock's hugely underrated second album, plenty from The Deadstock 33s and collaborations with Dot Allison, Michael Rother, Nadine Sutherland, Ernie Ranglin and Brix Smith.

More nourishing than a Sunday roast, well, spiritually at least... enjoy the feast!

1) Arikanto (Justin Robertson Remix): DJ Shine (2011)

2) Forevergreen (Forevermost Excellent Mix By Justin Robertson, Mr. Samples & Phunky Torso): Finitribe (1992)

3) I'm In Love... (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix) (Cover of The Passions): Andy Bell ft. Dot Allison & Michael Rother (2025)

4) Who Are You? (Sleuth Mix By Justin Robertson & Richard Hector-Jones): Larceny (1995)

5) The Liquidator: Lionrock 1997)

6) Spain (The Deadstock 33's Edit By Justin Robertson): The Stranglers (2010)

7) Creation (Justin Robertson Instrumental): Stereo MC's (1993)

8) At Peace In The Barber's Chair: Gentleman Thief (1999)

9) Brix Goes Tubular (Extended Version): Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s & Brix Smith (2022)

10) Ramvong (Justin Robertson Deadstock 33's Remix): Richard Rossa (2014)

11) Seventeen (Justin Robertson Mix): Ladytron (2009)

12) Lost In Space (Lionrock Galactic Boogie Mix By Justin Robertson) (Cover of John Williams): Apollo 440 (1998)

13) Save Me (Album Version By Justin Robertson): Two Culture Clash ft. Nadine Sutherland & Ernie Ranglin (2004) 

1992: Forevergreen (The Justin Robertson Mixes) EP: 2

1993: Creation EP: 7

1995: Who Are You? EP: 4

1997: City Delirious: 5

1998: Lost In Space EP: 12

1999: We Generate Love EP: 8

2004: Two Culture Clash: 13

2009: Light & Magic: Remixed & Rare: 11

2010: Spain EP: 6

2011: Arikanto EP: 1

2014: Ramvong EP: 10

2022: Brix Goes Tubular EP: 9

2025: I'm In Love... EP: 3

Jammin' On The Moon(s) Vol. 2 (1:25:41) (GD) (M)

If you've still got room for desert, please indulge yourself with this trio of JR selections from the Dubhed archives:

 

Truth In The Palm Of Her Hands (Lionrock singles and remixes 1992-1997)

Dip Your Hip (JR/Deadstock 33s tracks and remixes, 2001-2023)

Deadstock Holiday (JR remixes 1990-2023)

Supermarket Sweep

It's nearly that time again, so here's half a dozen 2026 releases that will be scanned at the checkout on Bandcamp Friday and undoubtedly troubling a Dubhed selection or two in the near future.

First up is Broken Chanter with two songs from fourth album This Could Be Us, You, Or Anybody Else. JC from The Vinyl Villain reviewed the album a couple of weeks ago, reflecting that he "long ago run out of superlatives to describe just how much joy and happiness comes [his] way with every new Broken Chanter album."

It was JC and The Vinyl Villain that switched me on to Broken Chanter back in 2020 and, late though I was, I'm up to speed with JC's take on things. I haven't heard the album in full yet but, on the strength of these two, it's an early contender for the 2026 'best of' list.

The brilliantly named Sister Ray Davies, aka Adam Morrow and Jamie Sego, recently released Holy Island Baby, a remix EP companion to last November's debut album Holy Island.

Five reworked songs, including two by the mighty Pye Corner Audio, which are worth the purchase price alone.

Speaking of Pye Corner Audio aka Martin Jenkins, Bandcamp Friday often sees a one-off single drop. This may or may not happen, but either way you can pre-order new album More Songs About The Sun, which is due in June. 

A sequel of sorts to 2022 album Let's Emerge!, More Songs About The Sun features Andy Bell (Ride/GLOK) across several tracks, a spoken word contribution from writer Ian Rankin and even vocals from Martin himself. Great stuff.

What can I tell you about Autumns? Not a lot, to be honest. Autumns is Christian Donaghey and his Bandcamp page has 80+ releases going back to 2014. It was February's 2-track EP, Through The Re-Construction Of Grace, that grabbed my attention.

Opening with a blistering remix of Trolley Coin from last year's Through The Construction Of Grace EP, things ramp up on the flipside with the wonderfully-titled (but with "don't try this, kids" advisory) Spit On A DJ For Therapy.

If you like your pop of the jangly variety, then husband and wife Carl Mann and Kat Mann have got it and then some, performing as Shapes Like People. Their single Lately was recommended to me by Kathryn on BlueSky and it's a shimmering, summery stunner. Sounds even better now that the sun's shining.

Ending on a high, spiritually, metaphorically and literally, is long-time favourite of this blog, Jesse Fahnestock and a fresh release as 10:40.

Winner is constructed around a familiar twangy guitar sample (there's a clue in the title) and it continues the journey that Jesse has been on, via 10:40, Electric Blue Vision, Jezebell, Powder Wax and RetroFit, in pursuit of that perfect synthesis of old and new, borrowed and blue. Personally, I think Jesse nails it every time and his latest release is (excuse the pun) a winner.

Fifteen Strings And Infinite Beats

Ninety-one minutes of Andy Bell to breeze through the Easter weekend and blow those blues away.

The original thought had been to revisit Andy's music as GLOK but as I was putting together a shortlist of songs, I found myself pulling in a Ride song here, a solo song there, and I ended up with a list of about thirty tracks, all equally deserving of inclusion.

What I've ended up with is half that, fifteen career-spanning crackers, spanning thirty five years and taking in Ride (then and now), Hurricane #1 remixed by My Bloody Valentine/Kevin Shields, Beady Eye (but no Oasis), remixes of Aviator, Do No Harm, Fe Salomon and Flyying Colours, collaborations with Masal, Pye Corner Audio, Timothy Clerkin and Du Blonde, and quite a lot of GLOK.

I think it turned out alright but then when you're dealing with an artist who is not only incredibly gifted but also phenomenally prolific, it's on me not to screw it up!

1) Aubrey Drylands Gladwell: Andy Bell (2020)
2) Portland Rocks: Ride (2024)

3) Rising Sign (My Bloody Valentine Mix): Hurricane #1 (1999)

4) White Smoke (Remix By Andy Bell): Beady Eye (2013)

5) Pinball Wanderer: Andy Bell (2025)

6) Damascene (GLOK Remix): Do No Harm (2022)

7) Vapour Trail (Album Version): Ride (1990)

8) Indica (Pye Corner Audio Remix – GLOK Re-Edit): Andy Bell (2021)

9) Taxicabs (GLOK Remix): Fe Salomon (2023)

10) The Gift (GLOK Remix): Aviator (2018)

11) Wavygravy (GLOK Remix): Flyying Colours (2022)

12) Perfume (Acoustic Version) (Cover of Paris Angels): Andy Bell (2020)

13) Tidal Love Conversation In That Familiar Golden Orchard (Edit): Andy Bell & Masal (2023)

14) Pulsing (GLOK Remix - Citadel Version): GLOK (2020)

15) Nothing Ever (12" Version): GLOK / Timothy Clerkin ft. Du Blonde aka Beth Jeans Houghton) (2024)

1990: Nowhere: 7

1999: The Greatest High EP: 3

2013: 42.42 (Beady Eye Remixes) EP: 4

2018: Omni: 10

2020: The Citadel EP: 14

2020: The View From Halfway Down: 1

2021: All On You EP: 12

2021: Another View: Andy Bell Meets Pye Corner Audio Uptown: 8

2022: Damascene EP: 6

2022: Low Maintenance EP: 11

2023: Taxicabs EP: 9

2023: Tidal Love Conversation In That Familiar Golden Orchard EP: 13

2024: Alliance: 15

2024: Interplay: 2

2025: Pinball Wanderer: 5

Fifteen Strings And Infinite Beats (1:31:00) (GD) (M)

Like this? Here are some more selections from the Dubhed archives:

Imagine The Sky Filled With A Thousand Suns: Andy Bell (July 2022)

Dirty Starlight: GLOK (September 2022)

Ticket To Ride: Ride (September 2024)

And, as we're four months into 2026, of course there's already new music featuring Andy Bell in the cosmos:

Live It Well

Not a lot of chat today as I've been plagued by power cuts whilst composing this post and it's accompanying selection. Only brief ones, but they've knocked out the PC every time and it's taken increasingly longer to get everything up and running again. And it's raining again.

"Arse!" as Father Jack was inclined to say, well, shout.

In that spirit, here's some joie de vivre courtesy of a dozen songs that have already brightened up my 2026; some only just so as they were released for Bandcamp Friday.

Again, I've found myself with an embarrassment of riches and have compiled 12 of them for your listening pleasure today, and this weekend.

Spare Snare's cover of Say My Name by Destiny's Child has been knocking around since 2001, but it's just reappeared on brand new compilation, Love Your Later Stuff, so it gets in on a technicality. That, and it segues beautifully into the dub of Jezebell's Turn It Yes by Justin Robertson's Five Green Moons.

It was a chance check in with the official Gavin Friday website that led me to the David Holmes remix of The Church Of Love, which snuck out earlier this year. 

And if you enjoy the song by Al MacKenzie (D:Ream) which gives today's post it's title (well, half of it at least) I will be coming back to the Evil Acid Barons album, which is an early contender for compilation of the year... and only a handful of tracks have been released so far.

1) Protector: SAULT (Chapter 1)

2) Life Is Short, Live It Well (Vocal Mix): Al MacKenzie (Evil Acid Barons)

3) Program 70: Pye Corner Audio (Program 70 EP)

4) Love To Watch U: A_M_B_O_S_S (Machine X Human EP)

5) Nothing Ever (Tom Sharkett Remix): GLOK / Timothy Clerkin (Alliance Remixed)

6) Surrounded By Spies (Richard Norris Dub): Placebo (Surrounded By Spies EP)

7) Song Of Siraba (Cosmikuro Remix): A Space Age Freak Out (Song Of Siraba EP)

8) My Electric Dreams (Airsine Remix): Pete Bones (My Electric Dreams EP)

9) The Church Of Love (David Holmes Remix): Gavin Friday (The Church Of Love And Dancing EP)

10) Say My Name (Cover of Destiny's Child): Spare Snare (2001) (Love Your Later Stuff)

11) Turn It Yes (Justin Robertson's Five Green Moons Dub): Jezebell (Turn It Yes Remixes Vol. 1 EP)

12) Môgôya (BOM Nation Remix): Namian Sidibé (Remix EP)

Live It Well (1:07:07) (GD) (M)

Double Entrendre

or, How To Get Away With Two "25 From 25" Albums Lists Whilst Pretending That Wasn't Your Intention All Along.

Looking back on 2025 so far, I think I bought more albums than ever, a mix of physical and digital. The latter was ably supported by a further year's subscription to the excellent Last Night From Glasgow label, which accounts for about a quarter of today’s and tomorrow’s featured artists.

A few were purchased at merch stalls following a headline or support slot gig, others on the recommendation of others, including you lovely people out there in the blogging community.

So, I've got two lists, loosely separated into artists that I'm familiar with and already owned albums by, the second compiling artists who, regardless of whether they'd been around for ages or just started out, were new to me. So, it's a hodge podge of debut albums and artists that I really only delved into properly with their latest long player. I'm posting the first list today, the second on New Year's Eve.

There are a shed load that I just haven't got around to buying yet and I haven't yet succumbed to streaming so I can't sneak them in on the technicality of having heard them. Apologies therefore include Pulp, Syd Minsky Sargeant, Death In Vegas, Mogwai and Water From Your Eyes, all of whom have released albums that I want to get (and said as much in previous posts), but who remain on my shopping list.

An honourable mention also to those that I did buy but who didn't make onto either list because, well, I had to stop at 25, right? A tip of the hat then to Manic Street Preachers, The Supernaturals, Julian Cope, Gareth Sager and Scanner.

I've listed them alphabetically, rather than in order of greatness, but I may reveal my favourite at the end...if I can decide on one by the end of this post!

25 From 25 - Old Favourites

(click on the links to buy these albums...and more!)

1) Let The Horse Run Free / Rodeo Disco: 100 Poems

2) The Collapse Of Everything: Adrian Sherwood

3) Pinball Wanderer: Andy Bell

4) Dead Souls: Armory Show

5) Metalhorse / Mary And The Hyenas OST: Billy Nomates

6) Mumbo In The Jumbo: Davey Woodward

7) Wise Music In Dub: Dennis Bovell

8) Subconsciousology: Dot Allison

9) Lay Low: Eddie Chacon

10) Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation: Edwyn Collins

11) Rats In Paradise: Emily Breeze

12) Begging The Night To Take Hold: Emma Pollock

13) Twilight: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont

14) Songs For Nina And Johanna: James Yorkston & Friends

15) Junk System EP 1&2: Junk System

16) Lotus: Little Simz

17) New Town Ghosts: Mark Rae

18) Lake Deep Memory: Pye Corner Audio

19) Barb And Feather: Red Snapper

20) Strawberries: Robert Forster

21) International: Saint Etienne

22) MAD!: Sparks

23) Faultline: The Cowboy Mouth

24) moisturiser: Wet Leg

25) Home: Xan Tyler & Dusty Stray

I have loved each and every one of these albums but my #1 of 2025 has to be Billy Nomates.

Not just because Metalhorse is a fantastic album, taking her music to another level, but also because she somehow found the time to write, record and release another album. The soundtrack to Mary And The Hyenas may have been relatively overlooked compared to Metalhorse, but it's every bit an equal. Astonishing to think that Tor Maries was also releasing one-off songs in between both of these. 

Finally getting to see Billy Nomates live in concert for the first time in September, with an excellent band and songs that took on a life of their own on stage, was an unforgettable experience and the push over the line to secure my #1 in a year of varied but brilliant albums.

21st Century (Sub)Urban Head Music

Four transporting and transformative tracks from GLOK aka Andy Bell, Rico Conning, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Julian Cope.

All clocking in at 15 minutes long, all locating and locking into an individual groove, ideal whether you're laid back, or stuck in a bank holiday traffic jam, trying to reach your destination. You will get there.

Invocation is the closing song from Pattern Recognition, Andy Bell's debut album as GLOK, unbelievably five years ago now. Andy has described GLOK as "all about the push and pull between electronic and psych in my music". The pulsating electronica, brief vocal snippets and hypnotic rhythms carry the listener along with no sense of the passage of time, just total immersion in the moment.

I knew of Rico Conning's work as a producer, starting with the limited edition remix 12" single of Sometimes by Erasure in 1986, which featured his work. I found my way back to Rico in 2022, courtesy of his remix of This Is Something by Summerisle Six aka Sean Johnston with Jo Bartlett on vocals. 

I then tracked back to Rico's own releases on Bandcamp. Frogmore is a four-track album from 2017 and is a revelation. Rico describes the title song as "a kind of audio diary" of the time he had a cabin "in the misty mountains of Malibu" in the early 2000s. The song is broken down into three distinct phases, the first two mining individual (treated) guitar seams, the third a brief and unexpected vocal reprise. It's wonderful.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are a band that I came to relatively recently and with some trepidation, not least because of the, let's face it, pants name, but also the daunting prospect of a back catalogue comprising roughly one million albums, EPs and live recordings.

Take the step beyond though and the rewards are immense. Laminated Denim is a two-song album from 2022, Hypertension comprising the second (digital) side. The most vocal-heavy of the four songs selected today, it's also unexpectedly easy going. With the song title, I guess I was expecting a full-on sonic assault, but despite being 15 minutes long, it's one of their most accessible songs that I've discovered to date.

Julian Cope's never been too bothered about being accessible. Despite writing some of the most catchy, melodic pop songs and being able to get away with ba-ba-ba's where other artists can't, he's also partial to a long-form drone and a dirge. Frequently, Julian's psych excursions can come over like a bad trip (road or otherwise), but when he's on, he's ON.

John Balance Enters Valhalla is the title track of an unexpected five-track album released in 2019; then again, most Cope releases tend to drop without fanfare or warning these days.

A tribute to Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton (né Burton) aka Coil co-founder and "Visionary Voice" John Balance, who died in 2004 at the age of 42. Julian various describes the album as 'mesmerizing', 'upbeat', 'emotional', 'rhythm-laden' with 'hefty grooves', tracking "the various stages of the artist’s journey into legendary Valhalla".

The music meanders, the main groove even popping off into the next room about two thirds of the way through, before giving way to some radio chat, before returning for the final approach, leaving the listener behind and it forges on into the distance. Stirring stuff.

If any/all of this music appeals, I've provided links below to purchase the full albums digitally, although if you're snappy, you can get the last remaining copy of the GLOK album on gatefold double orange vinyl.

1) Invocation (Album Version By Andy Bell): GLOK (2021)

2) Frogmore: Rico Conning (2017)

3) Hypertension: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (2022)

4) John Balance Enters Valhalla: Julian Cope (2019)

2017: Frogmore: 2

2019: John Balance Enters Valhalla: 4

2021: Pattern Recognition: 1

2022: Laminated Denim: 3

21st Century (Sub)Urban Head Music (1:01:02) (GD) (M)

25 For 25, Part Two

Following up from last week's first half, today's 13-song selection rounds out the 25 For 25 highlights of the year so far. 

 

I've been fortunate enough to see two of these artists live on stage in the last couple of months, and with any luck by the time year end comes around, I'll have seen another two, also for the very first time.

 

I had an opportunity to see another this summer, with tickets for a "secret", "intimate" 5k capacity gig in Bristol, which I thought Lady K might be interested in going to. When I broached the subject, she gave me a withering look and said that they were "stuck in the 2010s".

 

I don't know what made me feel older: Lady K's reference to the 2010s - which I consider to be yesterday - as ancient history, or Mrs. K suggestion that a middle-aged man going on his own to a show with potentially a predominantly teen audience might draw attention for all the wrong reasons. I didn't go.

 

I leave you to hazard a guess at the opportunity that I passed up. 

 

Speaking of older, I've previously seen three other of today's featured artists, all who crashed into the public consciousness in the 1980s and/or 1990s. and have released great new music in the past 12 months.

 

Things change over time and my enthusiasm for certain things in my youth may have waned somewhat in passing decades, but my passion for music remains undimmed. 

1) Waiting: Yvonne Lyon & Boo Hewerdine (Things Found In Books)

2) Slow Emotion Replayed: The The (Slow Emotion Replayed EP)

3) Monday Murder: YUNGBLUD (Idols)

4) Rubber Inner Tube: Mark Rae ft. Heidi Haswell (New Town Ghosts)

5) Space Station Mantra: Andy Bell (Pinball Wanderer)

6) Metrosexual Man: Davey Woodward (Mumbo In The Jumbo)

7) Kicking Up Dust: F.O. Machete (Mother Of A Thousand)

8) On The Missing: Later Youth ft. Lissie (Living History)

9) Being Baptised (Piano Version): Manic Street Preachers (Critical Thinking (Deluxe Edition))

10) Portland Town: Heavenly (Portland Town EP)

11) pond song: Wet Leg (moisturizer)

12) Fuckboy: Billy Nomates (Mary And The Hyenas OST)

13) Moonlight Hotel: Charlie Noordewier (Moonlight Hotel EP)

Side Two (45:21) (GD) (M)