Great record alert: billy woods' Golliwog LP, released last Friday via Backwoodz Studioz. A gloriously sampledelic, Afro-noir Jordan Peele horror film of a record, all mixed up with firsthand post-colonial blues and woods' usual skewering insights. billywoods.bandcamp.com/album/golliwog

Accompanied by a rolling cast of often-female singers, The Pogues were blisteringly good the other night. Or, in the words of Spider Stacy: "Allrightallrighallright!" observer.co.uk/culture/musi...

Harp, check. "Alive paintings", check. Banging tunes, of course. Ambient passages, bien sur. No one does multi-disciplinary body-jacking quite like Sam Shepherd, aka Floating Points. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

WAMP WAMP! Absolutely excellent record klaxon. Indie rock, if you still partake. Ex-Vöid have it all - umlauts, key changes, churn and swoon. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Also - because I have range, I guess? - here are some of the #middlegrade #childrensbooksoftheyear that stood proud on the shelf in 2024. Sleb author-free zone. Includes clockworks, narwhals, neurodiversity and - sob - the late, lovely Jeremy Strong. www.theguardian.com/books/2024/d...

I also had the absurd task of whittling down the umpteen rewarding #albumsof2024 down to a frankly skeletal 10. Includes shakuhachis, club classics, orchestral jazz, plunging asymptotes and a folk tune about an awl. www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...

I had the rather absurd privilege of seeing Paul McCartney's own eras tour for The Observer www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...

Like Neil Young? Disdain boats as status symbols? Guitarist MJ Lenderman is the US indie darling for you. www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...

Just another reminder about how much fun Amyl and The Sniffers are www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...

[taps mic] Is this thing on? Pleased to be here.