Ian McNabb West End Centre, Aldershot: Friday 17 April 2026I first knowingly listened to some of Ian McNabb's work in the autumn of 1991. It was my first term at college, and someone added a few Icicle Works son...

1st gig of 2026 means the 1st review - and it was a great evening watching a career spanning solo acoustic set by #IanMcNabb at the lovely West End Centre in Aldershot. Lots of great solo songs - plus some #IcicleWorks classics thrown in for good measure.

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Ian McNabb It is time for another musical meander, as we travel along Six (ish) Degrees of musical separation from our chosen starting point, in bizarre eccentric circles towards our end point - the King of Shoe...

It's time for another meandering #SixDegreesOfKevinShields - starting with the underrated #IanMcNabb (who I see live tomorrow). From there it is another trip around the musical houses to get to Kevin Shields' door.

#tomwaits #elviscostello #thewaterboys

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Reviews of a couple of new records for you.

Another EP from the welcome return of #U2 - and something topical and vitriolic from #GangOfFour

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Voices from the Northwest I have focused on here before on some of my favourite guitarists, bassists and drummers, perhaps thinking that singers get enough of the limelight as it is. But there is one particular group of singer...

What joyous rabbit holes I have fallen down researching this one - three truly great voices representing one geographic area and broad music scene.
What was in the water in Seattle at that time?

#stonetemplepilots #soundgarden #screamingtrees

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Essential 10: Nirvana This edition of The Essential 10, our quickfire introduction to a wide range of my favourite artists, features Nirvana; an act that managed just three studio albums (and their legendary MTV Unplugged ...

A little (but loud) something to keep you going.

This Essential 10: ten tracks from across an artists repertoire, could be singles, album cuts or rarities - all this coming courtesy of #Nirvana

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Under The Bushes at 30 Thirty years ago - 26 March 1996 - an album was released to very little attention. Except if you were one of a small band of devoted lo-fi fans dotted around the world who knew.Well, at the time, that...

Slightly belatedly, we celebrate 30 years of my favourite #GBV album, Under The Bushes, Under The Stars - which came out 26 March 1996.

A great album packed full of the lo-fi, underproduced goodness you'd expect from #GuidedByVoices

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Playlist: Coming Home No, not football silly... the prodigal daughter returned home from university this weekend, and that is why we are celebrating the home. It's where the heart is, after all. Ten songs about going home,...

Time for a #playlist - this time it's about home; being home, coming home and not making it home.

#kaiserchiefs #foofighters #bryanadams #crowdedhouse #ozzyosbourne #paulyoung

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Playlist: St. Patrick's Day 2 Well, St. Patrick's Day has rolled around again, so what have we got for you this time?We did one a few years back that focused on bands with Patrick / Pat / Patricia's in - you can relive that one he...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.

Here are some more great Irish bands from across the years and genres to help you celebrate.

Sláinte

#thecranberries #MBV #ash #thinlizzy

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Uncle Tupelo This edition of The Essential 10, our quickfire introduction to a wide range of my favourite artists, features Uncle Tupelo; an act that managed four albums over a career that spanned 1987 to 1994.I h...

Time for an #Essential10 - 10 tracks by one of my favourite artists; could be singles, album tracks or rarities.

This time, ten tunes from Alt-Country pioneers #UncleTupelo - perfectly fusing punk, country-rock and hints of folk and bluegrass.

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Neil Sedaka At the end of last week, another of the big names of pop passed on - a man who has written, sung on or played piano with and on, many of the great acts and popular pop tunes of the last sixty-five yea...

We remember pop icon #NeilSedaka, who died last week - and go on a trip along #SixDegreesOfKevinShields - travelling from Sedaka towards the prince of shoegaze, with a few unexpected twists on the way...
#alicecooper #bigcountry #therapy? #waynesworld

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Playlist: Geography 12 - An NYC State of Mind I will be honest with you - I was listening to my favourite radio show last week (Radcliffe & Maconie on BBC 6 Music, for the record), and it was one of their features that sparked the theme for this ...

Today's playlist celebrates NYC, with some great tunes that name check various districts and boroughs. Many decades and genres in here... and maybe a few surprises.

#billwithers #ninasimone #simpleminds #thepogues #littlesimz #beastieboys

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The Triffids: Born on a Treeless Plain Well, we’ve talked a bit about David McComb on here before, as part of our look at the great Australian musical poets of the 1980s; but this time, let’s look a little bit more at him and his band, The...

We go deep into #TheTriffids - an Aussie band that flew under the 1980s radar, with a gentle approach, that was probably too different to the brasher stuff coming from Oz at the time.

#DavidMcComb was a poetic genius who deserves to be heard more.

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Playlist: Not in English For this playlist we have picked out some great tracks from around the world - and this time, none of them are sung in English (well there might be the off word or two snuck in there). Don't let that ...

A global #playlist for you today!

Some great songs that are -shock- not sung in English; Spanish and French, of course, but also German, Japanese, Gaelic, Cornish and even Lithuanian and Greenlandic.

You won't understand it all, but you should enjoy it.
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Essential 10: The Psychedelic Furs This edition of The Essential 10, our quickfire introduction to a wide range of my favourite artists, features The Psychedelic Furs; an act that has so far managed eight albums over a career that span...

It's time for an Essential 10 - ten tracks from across the repertoire of an artist in my collection.

This time, we have a few of the singles and plenty of the deeper album cuts from... #ThePsychedlicFurs - one of Britain's best post-punk bands.

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Fred Smith, legend of the NYC scene, dies aged 77 News emerged yesterday that Fred Smith died on Thursday at the age of 77, having fought an unspecified illness for some time.Fred Smith (not to be confused with legend of the Detroit scene Fred 'Sonic...

Yesterday we found out that another legend of the NYC scene had died aged 77 - so we say RIP Fred Smith, a key member of #Television but also an original with Blondie, and a player with Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd's solo efforts.

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Playlist: Insects I cast the net out for ideas for themes for the next playlist and it was my son who came up trumps this time. So, this time around we will be focusing on Insects - ten interesting and varied tracks ab...

Here's another #playlist for you - this time with an insect theme.

Ten great songs from across the genres, with some sort of insect related title.

#blur #thecure #adamandtheants #wire #jonathanrichman

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Patricia Morrison: The Godmother of Goth She had a musical career that spanned three decades or more, but remains something of an unknown figure despite having been a part of three fairly well known bands during that time. Then, for the last...

Today we look at the career of Godmother of Goth - Patricia Morrison; a lady who was bassist in 3 well(ish) known bands over her career and had retired from the stage life before her mid 40s.

#PatriciaMorrison #TheGunClub #TheSistersOfMercy #TheDamned

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The Essential 10: Crowded House I am going to add a little preface to my usual opening blurb for this feature...I promised myself that 2026 was going to be full of positivity and goodness, and yet I find myself sitting here surround...

In need of comforting, excellent tunes in troubled times?

Then look no further than this #Essential10 with 10 great tracks from across the hugely impressive catalogue of #CrowdedHouse - expect a few rarer, deeper cuts too.

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Playlist: Greenland (& Denmark) I don't generally stray far into the world of politics here, but it is time to show some solidarity with the people of Greenland. It would be wrong to ignore that there are, of course, existing issues...

This playlist shows some solidarity with Greenland as it awaits the next move of the orange manbaby.

We delve into the world of Greenlandic and Danish music. There is a varied music scene in Nuuk and beyond - expect a few hidden gems and #Aqua of course!

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Throwing Muses This edition of The Essential 10, our quickfire introduction to a wide range of my favourite artists, features Throwing Muses; an act that has managed 11 studio albums and a bunch of EPs and compilati...

Time for an #Essential10 - a cross-section of ten tracks by one artist that I love.

This edition features Rhode Island's #ThrowingMuses - a great and well respected indie band who have never had the success they deserve.

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Andy Gill It’s been a while since we did one of our Six Degrees of Kevin Shields episodes, so to honour the new year, we are looking at musicians born on New Year’s Day to start proceedings.There are a few pote...

First #sixdegreesofkevinshields of 2026 - it starts with celebrating a musician who had a new year's birthday.

From there it meanders through the musical fields towards Kevin Shields - this time via west coast punk and hard rock.
#andygill #minutemen #mbv

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Playlist: 10 Songs That Bring Me Joy (welcome to 2026) Now, I tend to avoid doing Top 10 lists of anything musical, as orders of preference constantly change with moods, time and the like. But as 2025 concludes and 2026 hopefully dawns with some fresh hop...

A #playlist to kickstart 2026 - no real theme, just 10 songs that give me a positive vibe for the year ahead.

I hope the next 364 & a bit days bring you much to be grateful for - and the odd ray of sunshine.
#idles #simpleminds #bigcountry #splitenz

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Playlist: Winter 3 Here is my annual effort to do a broadly holiday based playlist without getting involved with any overtly Christmas music - a genre I generally don't like all that much. As ever, I get around this tho...

Time for a #winter #playlist for you.

This time, despite my general dislike of them, a few actual Christmas tunes have snuck there way in...

Anyway, a nice and mellow set of songs for you!
#thepretenders #HMHB #RHCP #muddywaters #azteccamera #swift

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Interesting Stories V: Christmas Edition I know have a reputation for not bringing much of the festive joy to the table at this time of year, but here is my vague effort at overcoming that. This latest in our collection of interesting storie...

Here are some more 'interesting' music stories - this time with a festive slant.

We look at a few facts you maybe didn't know about some popular Christmas songs, and a few other related things too...
#FrankSinatra #NatKingCole #BingCrosby #Metallica

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The Essential 10: 10,000 Maniacs This edition of The Essential 10, our quickfire introduction to a wide range of my favourite artists, features 10,000 Maniacs; an act that managed 5 albums over a career that spanned 1981 to 1993 (thi...

This #essential10 features ten of my favourite tracks by #10000Maniacs

I got into them just as #NatalieMerchant announced her departure, but I still spent most of the 90s listening to them.

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The godfather of Alt Country: Joe Ely dies aged 78 I have often spoken about how Uncle Tupelo and Steve Earle pretty much invented the genre of Alt-Country in the late 1980s, blending together outlaw country with hints of punk.But that, of course, is ...

After yet another crappy weekend of news - the last thing we needed was to find that Joe Ely had died!

One of the great unsung Texas troubadours, an Alt Country legend before such a phrase existed - his fingerprints are all across those bands.
#JoeEly

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Playlist: Steve Cropper Last week the world lost one of its most celebrated and important musicians, when Steve Cropper died aged 84 on 3 December.The 1960s was the era of the session band; the US was stacked full of them, p...

A playlist to celebrate the late and very great #SteveCropper who we lost last week.

A core part of the #Stax sound - a legendary guitarist with #BookerT&TheMGs and beyond.

#OtisRedding #Sam&Dave #EddieFloyd #MavisStaples

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He's About A Mover: Doug Sahm - a Texan Tornado There are myriad Texas musicians who have become household names over the last six or seven decades; Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Janis Joplin, Waylon Jennings, Stevie Ray Vaughan, not to menti...

Today we look back at a Texan musician who was something of a musical chameleon, mixing his genres up - but Doug Sahm is long overdue some credit.

#dougsahm #sirdouglasquintet #texastornados

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The Essential 10: The Replacements This edition of The Essential 10, our quickfire introduction to a wide range of my favourite artists, features The Replacements; an act that managed seven studio albums over a tumultuous career that s...

It's time for The Essential 10 - a quickfire tour of the back catalogue of one of my favourite musical artists.

This time - the shambolic wonder that was #thereplacements - one of the most important US post-punk bands of them all.

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Crossing the River: Jimmy Cliff dies aged 81 The sad news came out this morning, via his Facebook site, that reggae legend Jimmy Cliff had died, "due to a seizure followed by pneumonia." The post, written by his wife Latifa Chambers, went on to ...

RIP to reggae trailblazer and all around legend #jimmycliff

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