Who are your top 10 all-time favourite guitarists? Real quick off the top of my head... Terry Bickers Dave Fielding Howard King Jr. Chris Urbanowicz Andy Bell (Ride) Neil McDonald Wayne Hussey Dean Garcia Nick McCabe Jez Williams

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to everyone. See you for new music in just a few weeks!

It's very humbling to have made it into a 'Best Of 2025' playlist. How lovely!

Comic actor Harry Worth's famous window sequence - first used in his 1960s TV show Here's Harry - was filmed on St Ann's Square, Manchester, at Hector Powes tailor's shop.

My top 10 gigs of 2025 Agnes Obel - London Exit North - Manchester Chris Difford - Camden MBV - Manchester Patrick Fitzgerald - Hebden Bridge Squeeze/China Crisis - Brit Fest Boxer Rebellion - Manchester Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Liverpool Chameleons - Manchester The Duke Spirit - Manchester

A fellow musician messaged this about Sp*tify and he's absolutely spot-on.

Introduce yourself with 5 gigs you've seen: Throwing Muses/Pixies Prince My Bloody Valentine (supporting Pixies) Frightened Rabbit Curve

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic PATRICK FITZGERALD (KITCHENS OF DISTINCTION) The last time I saw Patrick was at Reading Festival in 1991! Drive That Fast hadn't been out long and they played a blinder. Tonight, both Patrick & Julian are on stage, so we have two-thirds of the band!

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic PETE FIJ (ADORABLE) Just stepped onto the stage at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. Pete's up first this evening, supporting Patrick Fitzgerald (photos to follow in a while).

#LiveMusic #Manchester #MBV MY BLOODY VALENTINE There's absolutely no question that last night was truly one of the loudest gigs that I've ever been to. It's over 30 years since I last saw them, but that was a pretty special gig.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic #Manchester THE CHAMELEONS Just stepped onto the stage at @Alberthallmcr for their annual pilgrimage. The Albert Hall is such a magnificent venue 👌

Having a pre-gig wander in Manchester ahead of tonight's Chameleons gig. The Christmas Market is big this year!

News: The 'Answers On A Postcard' vinyl LP now has 10% off until 24 Nov. Enter the promotional code SPINMAS at the checkout. elasticstage.com/skypatterns/...

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic #Liverpool BOO HEWERDINE & REG MEUROSS I've been at a small village hall this evening, in the lovely village of Thornton Hough, in the Wirral, just over the water from Liverpool. It's always an absolute delight to see Boo - with the wonderful Reg too.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic JUST MUSTARD Just arrived at @RoughTrade in Liverpool, it's Just Mustard's live return after several years away following the success of 'Heart Under'.

I visited Jack White's 'Third Man Records' shop in London a few weeks back. A yellow record shop is a thing of real beauty. Lots of great records inside - plus a nice selection of guitar FX pedals too.

Cob Records in North Wales originally set up shop in 1967. These days, it's stacked mainly of thousands of secondhand CDs, and there's also quite a bit of vinyl. You'll require several hours to go through all the racks. The Ffestiniog Railway is located directly opposite.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic THE DUKE SPIRIT Unbelievably, it's the 20th anniversary of 'Cuts Across The Land', and tonight they've returned to Manchester. The sheer energy on that stage is an incredible sight. They sound wonderful too.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic #London AGNES OBEL Just stepped onto the stage at the @RoyalAlbertHall, it's the wonderful Agnes. This is a bucket list item for me, I've never visited the Royal Albert Hall before. It's the most magnificent venue.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic #London CHRIS DIFFORD (SQUEEZE) Just stepped onto the stage at Dingwall's in Camden, it's the wonderful Chris Difford. This will be my third time seeing him this year alone. Sounding fabulous! 👌

I'll never tire of reading about the recording of Talk Talk's 'Spirit Of Eden'. I'd completely forgotten that all six songs originally had different working titles, such as 'Maureen' and 'Norm'. This is such an interesting article. www.classicpopmag.com/features/cla...

#NowPlaying #NewRelease JOANNE ROBERTSON Blurrr There have been a couple of mentions of this album, so I'm checking out what all the fuss is about. It's about as stripped back as you can get, sultry vocals over an acoustic guitar. Divine. 🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Eh...

#NowPlaying #NewRelease YASMINE HAMDAN I Remember I Forget It feels like absolutely ages since the last album from the Lebanese singer. I first heard her on Jools Holland's show back in 2013 performing the beautiful 'Beirut'. 🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjMX...

I found this early cutting of @thecharlatans.bsky.social. The gig was before @tim-burgess.bsky.social joined the band (he was the singer in the support band, The Electric Crayons). Baz Ketley left the band shortly after the gig. A very young Martin Blunt is shown in the pic.

A question I've been pondering: Why do most bands split up? - Musical differences - Singer offered solo deal - Personality clashes - Kicked off the label - Run out of ideas - Demoralised with the industry Any others? Which of these do you think is the most common reason?

Exciting news from Radiohead HQ! #Radiohead2025Tour

This new Wolf Alice 'pressed flowers' LP is a first for me. I have picture discs, coloured vinyl, shaped vinyl, lathe-cuts, odd-sized vinyl... but nothing like this, where real flowers are pressed inside the two sides of vinyl. I'm about to give it a spin...

"I am not a number..." 🍻

Released OTD in 1983, the debut album from Manchester's Chameleons. This is a powerhouse of an album which begins with all guns blazing and ends with the most beautiful atmospheric, reflective and otherworldly song, 'View From A Hill'. 🔗 youtu.be/v3nbk3Eqs5A?...

#NowPlaying THE CHAMELEONS What Does Anything Mean? Basically 'Singing Rule Britannia' is such an incredibly powerful song! "Chained to the tree of life A dangerous thing to be And now the baby needs to grow But the mother is crazy" 🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=74eq...

#NowPlaying #4AD THE NATIONAL High Violet For me, this album remains the pinnacle of The National's catalogue. The album kicks off really well, but goes into orbit in the second half, with songs such as 'Lemonworld', 'England' and 'Conversation 16'. 🔗 www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5g...

#NowPlaying #Soundtrack LOST IN TRANSLATION I've lost count of the number of times that I've played this soundtrack. Mainly because of Kevin Shields' tracks that are exclusive to this compilation. Want to hear an 8 min version of 'Are You Awake' ? 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5WN...

#NowPlaying #drone #ambient DEAF CENTER Pale Ravine I've been playing this one a LOT recently. It's around twenty years old, but they've recently released an anniversary edition, and it's absolutely lovely. This is music that you can float away on... deafcenter.bandcamp.com/album/pale-r...

Today is Bandcamp Friday, and my new EP is released. You'll find it across most streaming sites - plus it can be downloaded from the link below. Support independent artists - and Thank You to anybody who listens.

4. The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls This was a simple idea. My Father is 90 years old, and I have precious few recordings of him. It's funny how we go through life taking photos, particularly on our phones, but rarely record sound, even when the conversation is interesting. 1/3

This Friday is Bandcamp Friday.

3. Colours Of Our Day (Remix) The inclusion of a 'remix' is arguably sometimes an excuse for a record label to extend a band's catalogue, though it really came into its own in the '90s when dance music came to the fore. 1/4

2. The Ill Wind Since the release of the album, I've been busy beavering away on a bunch of new songs. 'The Ill Wind' was penned with this in mind, but somehow it just doesn't fit quite right amongst the other songs, and better suits the feel of the 'Answers On A Postcard' 1/2

My 'Shoreline' EP is released tomorrow. Here are a few thoughts on each of the songs: 1. Shoreline Around twelve months ago, I was invited to perform at a festival and wanted to write something special for the set. Around two weeks before the gig, I came up with the chord 1/4

Take a peek at the video for 'Shoreline'. The 4-song EP is released on Friday. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGv...

My new 4-song EP is out everywhere on Friday. Pre-save it using the link here:- ditto.fm/shoreline-sk...

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic CHAMELEONS Just arrived on stage, it's Chameleons performing a warm-up before tomorrow evening's Castleton gig. I've been looking forward to this for a good while. I'm hoping to hear PS Goodbye in tonight's set.

Ozzy Osbourne visited my magic shop. He said he'd like to buy some stink bombs. How many? All of them. I had to go through drawers finding every last one. He bought 900 of them. To sign the credit card slip I handed him a shock pen, which he thought was hilarious and bought that too. RIP

My new EP, 'Shoreline', is released on August 1st 2025, and includes three exclusive non-album b-side tracks - 'The Ill Wind', a remix of 'Colours Of Our Day', and 'The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls'.

#Manchester #Oasis Outside of the Royal Exchange a few mins ago!

I'm in Manchester! 🍻

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic SQUEEZE Headlining proceedings at Ashley are the ever-wonderful Squeeze, celebrating fifty years together. Playing songs from their catalogue, I'm hoping to hear 'Pulling Mussels From The Shell', 'Labelled With Love' and 'Tempted'.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic BADLY DRAWN BOY Next up at Ashley Showground is Manchester's Badly Drawn Boy. I saw him when he toured with Squeeze on their last UK tour, and he impressed with his storytelling and mellow delivery.

#NowPlaying #LiveMusic CHINA CRISIS An outdoor gig on a lovely evening at Ashley, near Manchester. There are several bands on the bill this evening, with China Crisis on first and warming up the crowd with some huge tracks, including 'Christian' and 'Wishful Thinking'.

Highlights of #Glastonbury Olivia Rodrigo. She's a pocket-sized bona-fide superstar - and even managed to go one better and invite Robert Smith up to perform 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Friday I'm In Love' together. Her set was fantastic.