ALBUM REVIEW – JESCA HOOP: LONG WAVE HOME With her seventh solo album, Jesca Hoop finally takes the leap to the producer’s chair. It is a move inspired by the independence of her hero, Joni Mitchell, who has played a prominent role in Hoop’s ...

"There is so much innovation in the arrangements, a multitude of tiny details to enjoy, all put together with precision to make an album that will constantly reveal new delights."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Long Wave Home by Jesca Hoop
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/22/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – VARIOUS: SOMETHING FOR THE LONGING – SCOTTISH INDEPENDENT POP 1985-1999 Ask a music fan to choose a band that personified the Scottish independent scene and it is likely that there would be lots of different answers. Perhaps it would be the feedback drenched pop of The Je...

"It gives a good indication of the musical variety and creativity coming out of Scotland over a period of a decade and a half. It was a scene not tied down to a specific sound or sensationalism."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews the new Cherry Red compilation
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/19/album-...

LIVE REVIEW – ART SCHOOL GIRLFRIEND: MANCHESTER GORILLA – 16/04/2026 As I stand in the relatively small space of Gorilla in Manchester tonight, the thumping bass and house beat of ‘L.Y.A.T.T’ blasts through the room, the whole crowd lost in a trance of colourful lights...

"The show was nothing but excellent from ASG, the atmosphere being electric throughout. The lighting and background visuals only enhanced the experience."
Alex McFerren reviews Art School Girlfriend at Gorilla:
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/17/live-r...

ALBUM REVIEW – SYSTEM 7: FLOWER OF LIFE Electronic pioneers System 7 (Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) return with a new album, Flower of Life. The duo lean more into the house side of their music on this record, with a fresh and positiv...

"Flower of Life is a great combination of ambient house, trance, techno and even prog."
Alex McFerren reviews the new release from System 7
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/17/album-...

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 17 APRIL 2026 Penny Arcade                 Double Exposure          The album harks somewhere between the restless experimentation of Syd Barrett and the uninhibited analogue innovations of Tim Presley as White Fen...

This week's selection of new releases - www.silentradio.co.uk/04/16/album-...

LIVE REVIEW – BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: MANCHESTER ALBERT HALL – 11/04/2026 When linking the concept of nostalgia and music, my brain heads straight to one of those 80s music festival, where, tucked away off-the-beaten-track, thousands latch on to their youth by listening to ...

"Tonight I’ve got a newfound appreciation for them. They’re fantastic live and don’t let a second of their show sit dully. Everything from their presence to their interactions made the show."
Leah Simons reviews Belle & Sebastian at the Albert Hall
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/15/live-r...

ALBUM REVIEW – HORA LUNGA: NEW AGE MUSIC VOL. 2-3 When you think of ambient music, I can guess one of the first names you think of is Aphex Twin, followed by Boards Of Canada probably. Hora Lunga are even more strange and far out sounding than those ...

"If you are into the weird and strange side of ambient music, then this compilation is for you."
Alex McFerren reviews the new release from Hora Lunga.
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/15/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – CHROMA: 25 FOREVER From the post-industrial landscape of Pontypridd, South Wales, CHROMA emerged not just as a band, but as a voice – urgent, unfiltered, and impossible to ignore. The trio KT Hall, Liam Bevan, and Zac M...

"Their music pulses with intent, calling out misogyny, interrogating social decay, and documenting the complexities of growing up in a world that feels increasingly fractured."
Seren Catherall-Jones reviews Chroma's 25 Forever:
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/13/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – ANTOINE DOUGBE & L’ORCHESTRA POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU: S/T Calling himself ‘The Devil’s Prime Minister”, Antoine Dougbe had a fearsome reputation. The son of a Vodún priest, he was initiated into the religion which while it acknowledges the existence of a sin...

"It is a joyous combination of overlapping Afro-Cuban and Cavacha rhythms, guitars, keyboards and dynamic horns."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Antoine Dougbe & L’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/13/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – POLICE DOG HOGAN: THE LIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS Police Dog Hogan, the British band that is firmly rooted in bluegrass and Americana, are back with their seventh album, The Light At The Top Of The Stairs. The band are in touch with their elder selve...

"a good mixture of Americana and bluegrass music. It has relaxing and even sombre melodies, mixed in with some faster paced numbers."
Alex McFerren reviews the new album from Police Dog Hogan
@policedoghogan.bsky.social
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/12/album-...

"an album for every stage in a relationship through the highs and the lows and through a loop it is safe to say that this is Holly Humberstone’s best album yet."
Freya Hoare reviews Holly Humberstone's Cruel World.
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/10/album-...

This week's new releases roundup - www.silentradio.co.uk/04/10/album-...

"the acoustics are immaculate and Dressner’s voice is clear and sharp but with a touching vulnerability."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Annie Dressner & Kris Drever at Liverpool Philharmonic Music Rooms
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/09/live-r...

INTERVIEW – FAUNA To celebrate the release of their irresistible, joyous debut album ’Taiga Trans’, we sent some questions to Gothenburg band Fauna. Their co-founder and bassist, Ibrahim Shabo (Ibbe), kindly told us mo...

Here's @andrewneal66.bsky.social's interview with Fauna
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/06/interv...

ALBUM REVIEW – FAUNA: TAIGA TRANS Fauna’s debut album is a vivid and vibrant brew. An outernational combination based in Gothenburg in Sweden, they also have backgrounds from France, Finland, Syria, Poland and Turkey which feed into t...

"On their debut album, Fauna creates a multilayered and multicoloured landscape that is occasionally disorienting and frequently joyful but always firmly alive."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Taiga Trans by Fauna
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/06/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – SUNN 0))): SUNN O))) Sunn O))) have once again provided an album to lose oneself in. A place to forget. A multifaceted white noise machine to slow the world down around you, adding a space for clarity of mind and a chance...

"This album is a great example of how art from a sinister sonic palette can resonate in a way to make someone laugh and be joyous, rather than cry and despair."
Connor Ryan reviews the new self-titled Sunn O))) album
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/06/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – ARLO PARKS: AMBIGUOUS DESIRE It’s hard to believe that it was only five years ago that Arlo Parks released her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams. An ensemble of observation masked through melody; it was the perfect introduction t...

"As she explores the freedom of a new musical direction, we’re thrown right into it, and it makes for yet another fantastic listen."
Leah Simons reviews Arlo Parks' 'Ambiguous Desire'
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/05/album-...

GIG GUIDE – APRIL 2026 Now that the clocks have gone forwards, that means only one thing. Longer days, and with an incredible few months of gigs coming up across Manchester, April is shaping up to be an exciting time. With ...

Our April gig guide is ready for your perusal.
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/03/gig-gu...

LIVE REVIEW – TOM A SMITH: DEAF INSTITUTE – 02/04/2026 Tom A Smith’s show this evening in Manchester’s best small venue felt like the end of something. Sunderland’s worst kept secret has been steadily honing his craft for over a decade, and those fortunat...

"He’s a real showman with a repertoire of moves that somehow channels James Brown AND Ian Curtis, but it feels genuine and real and honest."
Brendan Downes reviews @tomasmithmusic.bsky.social at the Deaf Institute
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/03/live-r...

ALBUM REVIEW – JARBOE: SIGHTINGS Jarboe’s ‘Sightings’ is a reminder of the beauty in the “strange”, the atmospheric and seemingly alien sounds of an artist devoted to a specific vision. One of self-reflection, psychedelic calmness an...

"‘Sightings’ is in short, an excellent piece of atmospheric, post-rock with strong themes of nature, the soul and spiritual evolution."
Connor Ryan reviews the new album from @jarboe.bsky.social
www.silentradio.co.uk/04/03/album-...

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 3 APRIL 2026 Angine De Poitrine       Vol. II    Microtonal cardboard duo that has to be seen to be believed. Check out their recent KEXP performance. Vol. II stretches the boundaries of Angine de Poitrine’s sound...

A roundup of the week's new releases - www.silentradio.co.uk/04/03/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – SCRITTI POLITTI: SONGS TO REMEMBER On my first day at sixth form college, I was asked by a fellow student what was the most recent record I had bought. My answer, ‘Songs to Remember’ by Scritti Politti, brought laughter. His dismal was...

"Over four decades later, it remains as thrilling as any new music. These were not just songs to remember but songs that have proved to be a regular companion through life."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Scritti Politti's Songs to Remember
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/31/album-...

LIVE REVIEW – LEON THOMAS: MANCHESTER ACADEMY – 27/03/2026 The Mutts never Heel tour. I had the pleasure of seeing Leon Thomas at the Manchester Academy and what a time was had, but let’s start off with the basics. Doors open at 7pm, I get there for 9pm, fash...

"Everyone should experience a Leon Thomas show at least once in your life. Even if you have not heard his music before, if the performance is anything like this one a great time will be had."
Seth Zarura reviews Leon Thomas at Manchester Academy
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/29/live-r...

ALBUM REVIEW – THE ACADEMY IS… : ALMOST THERE I know, I know you’re probably sick and tired of 2000s band doing 20th anniversary albums. However, rock band The Academy Is… has taken a fresh spin on their newest album in 18 years. From the first g...

"It’s like happiness in a bottle this album and it makes it such a refreshing comeback from the band."
Freya Hoare reviews Almost There by The Academy Is...
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/28/album-...

ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 27 MARCH 2026 Wild Billy Childish & CTMF      House on Fire  The album features remixed versions of their covers of The Saints’ ‘Untitled’ and The Yardbirds’ ‘Shapes of Things’ (both previously only available on li...

A roundup of this week's new releases
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/26/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – BHAJAN BHOY: MEDITATIONS When reviewing new music from Ajay Saggar, it has become obligatory to remark upon the impossibility of guessing what he will do next. Since last he featured on this website, he has released ‘Summer I...

"Emerging from listening to ‘Meditations’ is akin to leaving the cinema in daytime, stumbling back into the conventional world having been buried in an alternate universe."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Bhajan Bhoy
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/25/album-...

BOOK REVIEW: MARTIN ASTON – FACING THE OTHER WAY: THE STORY OF 4AD This might seem blasphemous appearing on a Manchester-based website but I would argue that 4AD was the most important record label to emerge in the post-punk era, eclipsing even Factory Records. Altho...

"While it is an essential read for 4AD fans, it should also appeal to anyone interested in music of that era and the intersection between creativity and commerce."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Facing The Other Way by
@martinaston.bsky.social
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/23/book-r...

INTERVIEW – BCUC Soweto ensemble BCUC (which stands for Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) make politically conscious, rhythm-heavy, life-affirming music which exudes positivity. Their fifth album, ‘The Road Is Never...

An interview with BCUC by @andrewneal66.bsky.social
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/22/interv...

ALBUM REVIEW – BCUC: THE ROAD IS NEVER EASY On ‘Sibitsa sa mmino’, BCUC sing words that translate as “we want progress and to succeed / the purpose of music.” These lyrics sum up their rare ability to produce music with such a clearly defined s...

"an album that radiates dignity and determination to overcome obstacles while most importantly of all making for an energising and uplifting listening experience."
@andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews The Road Is Never Easy by BCUC
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/22/album-...

ALBUM REVIEW – KILLERSTAR: THE AFTERGLOW Killerstar are a band fronted by Rob Fleming (vocals, guitar, synths), paired with James Sedge (drums) and a plethora of David Bowie’s longtime collaborators: Mike Garson (piano), Earl Slick and Mark ...

"The space indie psychedelic rock adventure showcases how the band can create dreamy soundscapes and capture that sound of Bowie’s glam years (his best). "
Alex McFerren reviews The Afterglow by
@killerstarband.bsky.social
www.silentradio.co.uk/03/20/album-...