Urgh I’ve been sleeping on the Cafe Oto programme and seem to have missed the boat for The Necks and Los Thuthanaka. Sigh.

Tremendous song from an excellent album thedelines.bandcamp.com/track/walkin...

Really impressive to complain about "grievance politics based on religion" when *two sentences earlier* you've talked about "the monster of harversting muslim community bloc votes".

Good record, this - even if it does come weirdly close to lifting Champage Supernova youtu.be/CFlVkte3oT4?...

The BAFTA discourse has to be a new low for social media, particularly in the other place. People I beg that you accept that multiple things can be true at the same time!

THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE I’m @princecharlescinema.com on April 23rd for an extremely rare screening of John Sayles’ groundbreaking second feature, LIANNA (1983) from an original 35mm print together with an online Q&A with John Sayles and Maggie Renzi! On sale now, don’t miss it: tinyurl.com/33bfc63e

As ever, I’m getting irrationally excited about a Bruce Springsteen tour taking place in a different continent, that there is zero chance of me being able to attend, and that is more than likely to be a direct repeat of the shows I saw in the UK and France last summer.

I can only hope that Reform giving high profile roles to the most thoroughly discredited former Tories will be their downfall, but I’m probably being naive.

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

Across a filmmaking career spanning more than five decades, Frederick Wiseman – who has died at 96 – refined a uniquely austere, quietly radical form of documentary cinema www.bfi.org.uk/features/fre...

Frederick Wiseman - perhaps the very greatest documentary film maker, and tremendous value in a Q&A almost to the very end. What a life and what a body of work.

"Everything is beautiful." --The last line spoken in Wiseman's final film, MENUS-PLASIRS LES TROISGROS.

How about regulating this?

I should also say, I fully expect the UK government to ban under 16s from social media, and to ban them from using VPNs. They'll do it, to get great headlines, but in the process ruin the lives of some marginalised teens and make most kids less safe.

A bit of Love on Valentines Day (If You Know You Know)

I am sick, absolutely sick, of the retreat of civic society, the media and the other political parties in the face of Reform UK - one of the most existential threats the state structures have faced for decades.

All this said, there are few better places to be than an Underworld show, so all is good.

I know there’s good reason for it, but the utter palaver of getting into a gig at Brixton Academy now has put me right off going.

THIS

Getting things delivered is just becoming ridiculous now. Earlier this week, a book was left ‘behind the bins’ (actually not even behind but next to them in this case) in the pouring rain with only cardboard packaging.

This is really sad news - Christoph was the first artist I worked with when I worked for Basho Records, and a really excellent musician. www.srf.ch/kultur/musik...

What Kemi seems to mean here is ‘keep children off certain social media platforms so that adults can do whatever they like on them’.

What are we defining as social media here? Will it include messaging apps? What about video or audio sharing platforms with comment networks? It’s not simple Kemi. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Last 7 days:

New music! Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore Craig Taborn/Tomeka Reid/Ches Smith Courtney Marie Andrews Daniel Blumberg (soundtrack) Al Green (EP) Speedy J (EP) Jana Horn Imarhan They Might Be Giants Enrico Pieranunzi Anything else?

Post a pic of the venue where you saw your first concert and the band: This isn’t straightforward for me as my parents took me to lots of live music as a child but I tend to go with the first gig I went to without them specifically because I wanted to go.

Belated new music post from last Friday: Pullman, Kris Davis, Robert Stillman, Adam O’ Farrill, Winged Wheel, Sault, Dry Cleaning, Zach Bryan - anything else? (Pretty good start to the year!)

For the love of all that is holy, *stop* leaving packages ‘behind the wheelie bins’ where they will get soaking wet in today’s weather, and leave them in the place I have specifically requested them to be left about 700 times. Jesus wept.

Properly funding the court system would clear the backlog even more quickly. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

New Iron & Wine! ironandwine.bandcamp.com/album/hens-t...

RIP Bela Tarr. I came to Satantango later (not least because of its foreboding length) but getting lost in Werckmeister Harmonies at the then Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge was a milestone in my appreciation of a cinema beyond the mainstream.

Happy new year everyone! Quite glad to see the back of 2025 if I’m honest. Onwards!

2025 reading: I have completed my challenge of 30 books! www.goodreads.com/readingchall...

I’ve also hastily written something about 2025 in film, but I don’t really feel I kept up well this year and I’m likely not the best person to write this: patonstango.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/2...

Regrettably, this is now going to drag on beyond the end of the year - but here is part 1 of my epic look at reissues, compilations, box sets and rediscoveries of 2025: inleaguewithpaton.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025...

I already agree with this in principle - citizenship is an untouchable status or it is nothing - but also for reasons of prudence. “The Home Sec can revoke citizenship when he/she deems someone’s online output sufficiently offensive” is a v dangerous precedent to set with Reform leading all polls.

2025’s best music for me: inleaguewithpaton.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025...

Merry Christmas!

I’ve started my review of 2025 with the new music long list - more than 450 works I’ve listened to and at least partially enjoyed in 2025. inleaguewithpaton.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025...

Drink The Sea at the Jazz Cafe tonight - a very special evening and a fantastic final gig of 2025.

Last 7 days:

OK a load of stuff I still need to check out here (plus much I know and like)

I’ve been rubbish with new releases these past few weeks, so here’s a thread working backwards. Feel free to suggest anything I’ve missed over the last few weeks. 5/12 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Voices From The Lake Melody’s Echo Chamber Cortex and Hedvig Mollestad Richard Youngs Dove Ellis

Shack were incredible tonight. So relieved to have seen Mick on much much better form. Lovely to get Byrds Turn To Stone this time too. Lots of love for John in the room as well, which is great to see.

Lawrence!

Belatedly joining the chorus to say yes it is really good that Los Thuthanaka got album of the year from Pitchfork - exactly the kind of innovative and creative record that deserves recognition. Also you can find it very easily on Bandcamp! losthuthanaka.bandcamp.com/album/los-th...

Haters are gonna hate but I thought that was pretty damn great

Tonight: Cameron Winter at The Roundhouse

Last 7 days: