"With their pop nous and polyrhythms thrown in, there is always much to enjoy. Often serious, always fun, ‘Bingo!’ is bedlam, danceable and utterly wonderful." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews the new album from La Securite www.silentradio.co.uk/06/03/album-...

#5debutalbums2026 David Lance Callahan - English Primitive 1 After numerous tremendous albums as part of The Wolfhounds & Moonshake, his solo debut sees him developing his own mutant Eastern, Western blues, folk, post-punk style.

Excellent evening at the wonderful Chorley Theatre with @johnrobbofficial.bsky.social giving a charismatic talk about his new book, Punk Rock Ruined My Life, followed by a conversation about matters Fall & House of All with @stephenhanley6.bsky.social & @hanleypa.bsky.social

#5DebutAlbums2026 Anna B Savage - A Common Turn An introduction to an extraordinary voice. in/FLUX saw her go to the next level but, nevertheless, this is a very good debut.

#5DebutAlbums2026 Personal Trainer - Big Love Blanket Storming debut with bucketloads of memorable tunes.

#5debutalbums9599 Novak - s/t Simpler times when Novak was synonymous with a post-rock band rather than an anti-vax tennis player. The way they incorporate flute & glockenspiel into their sound separated them from other groups of the era. This still sounds wonderful.

#5debutalbums9599 Wonky, junkshop electro pop from Solex. One of the most inventive acts of the period & there's still nothing that sounds like it.

"its piano melodies offer an ideal blend of introspection and uplift that complement his understated voice. It is evidently a highly personal project for Bryant and proves to be his most fully realised." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Tracy Bryant's The Well www.silentradio.co.uk/05/18/album-...

#5debutalbums9599 The dissolution of Rodan led to a varied range of offerings: Retsin's folk leaning, Rachel's neo-classical, June of 44's post-rock & The Sonora Pine's complete mishmash. Retsin & Rachel's most likely to feature on my list.

#5debutalbums9599 Beulah - Handsome Western States When Your Heartstrings Break may be my favourite album of the period. Until now, I'd thought it was Beulah's debut but it turns out this came earlier. It hints at the emotional power-pop perfection that was to follow but is not as fully realised.

A fascinating account of the fluidity between classical music, pop & the avant-garde with a side order of post-war history. A detailed guide but @elizabethalker.bsky.social wears her knowledge lightly.

"‘Cine-Pop’ is an excellent debut indicative of a special talent to be enjoyed now but with the enticing prospect of what is to follow." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Radhika's new album. www.silentradio.co.uk/05/13/album-...

#5debutalbums9599 A distinct take on indie pop. Stuart Murdoch's best collection of idiosyncratic songs. Guaranteed to be in my top five.

"There is no defined musical template to ‘A Moment In My Eyes’. It has a welcome sense of adventure with none of its eleven tracks sounding alike." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews My Precious Bunny's A Moment In My Eyes www.silentradio.co.uk/05/11/album-...

#5debutalbums9599 Helium - The Dirt of Luck Fuzzy post-punk with a pop sensibility. Likely to be in my top five.

A wonderful book by @robinince.bsky.social. Small doses of science but larger amounts of humour & empathy. It has certainly added to my understanding of ADHD & neurodiversity, especially of the devastating self-criticism that can go with it.

#5debutalbums9599 The Delgados - Domestiques They would become my favourite band of the late 90s / early 00s. While their debut isn't as fully realised as later works, the likes of Under Canvas Under Wraps & Sucrose are pretty mighty.

#5debutalbums9599 US Maple - Long Hair In Three Stages The title sums up this joyfully crazy collection of skronky, wayward guitar-led post-rock.

"Shadow Child has the quality of a novella or a slim volume of poems. In that time, it covers rich and varied terrain related to its theme." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews the new album from Abigail Lapell www.silentradio.co.uk/05/02/album-...

#5debutalbums7579 I've always loved the title track. Having finally checked out the album, it is of a uniformly high standard.

#5debutalbums7579 Such an important record in developing my music tastes and worldview as I entered my teens.

#5debutalbums7579 William Onyeabor - Crashes in Love Wonderful keyboard sounds, horns & grooves. Probably won't make my top five but it is a close contender.

#5debutalbums7579 This stands up so well. Wall to wall classics. Picking a top 5 is becoming ever more difficult.

#5debutalbum7579 Magazine - Real Life Another of the least orthodox post-punk entries that it took me ages to appreciate but which I now adore.

I loved this. Robyn Hitchcock's memoir of a formative year, 1967, the music & his time as an inmate at boarding school, how that music inspired the rest of his life.

Today as I was about to catch a train, for the first time I was directly abused for wearing a mask. A guy shouted "twat" at me, unless he was describing himself. It probably wasn't the time to engage him in a discussion of why someone living with cancer might want to protect themself from viruses.

If not at the level of Dead Man or Ghost Dog, this is still a very enjoyable Jarmusch movie. Love the motifs linking the three stories and the quiet humour.

#5debutalbums7579 It has taken me an absurd length of time to get into this but after 40+ years it is now highly likely to feature in my top five.

"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-...

"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-...

How strange that the BBC didn't mention this in their headline reports today!

Highly recommended. It's quite an achievement to derive such humour from your own cancer. It's also a thoughtful book about how your thought processes are altered by it. His cancer was evidently far more gruelling than mine but there was much I recognised. The bits about his response to the death

Glyph - Ali Smith's best since Winter hitting that sweet spot of linguistic playfulness & political relevance.

"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-...

Greeting the start of this year's county championship with Duncan Hamilton's elegy for the 2019 season. He is the best long-form sports writer. The prose is deeply satisfying & it is a fine celebration of a calmer, patient life, part travelog, part social history.

#5DebutAlbums1519 Minyo Crusaders - Echoes of Japan They rework historic Japanese folk songs (min'yō) with Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian rhythms - wonderful stuff.

Being at a gig last night gave me plenty of cause for reflection.

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

"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-...

#5DebutAlbums1519 Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat Soulful, innovative, danceable, thoughtful, wonderful.

#5DebutAlbums1519 Slug - Ripe Glorious prog-tinged indie rock from Ian Black, formerly of Field Music. Highly likely to be in my five.

While in Leeds, I had my first cinema trip since 2020 to see The President's Cake - an Iraqi film set in the 90s. A 9-year-old has to make a cake to celebrate Saddam Hussein's birthday & it follows her attempts to source eggs, sugar & flour. Gives an insight into life where such items are precious.

Wonderful gig last night at Leeds Hyde Park Book Club from @emmaspollock.bsky.social. Lots from the excellent Begging The Night To Take Hold plus selected oldies & Paris 1919 cover. The amusing between song stories suggested that if she were ever minded to write a memoir, it would be entertaining.

#5DebutAlbums1519 Anna Meredith - Varmints Delightfully bonkers dance music through classical instruments.

I don't usually review reissues but I make an exception when it is a record I love as much as this.

I've never watched an episode of The Hairy Bikers so was taken aback at just how engaging this episode of DID proved to be. One of the very best www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

#5DebutAlbums1519 Weaves s/t Succinct, angular indie rock. Very impressive.

#5DebutAlbums1519 Meilyr Jones 2013 Confusingly titled album (it was released in 2016). A chamber pop masterpiece which I'm sure will feature in my eventual selection.

"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-...

Very difficult to watch Dirty Business without getting very angry about the colossal lie of water privatisation & the massive failure / complicity of the Environment Agency in turning a blind eye to sewage spillages. Brilliant campaigning & educational drama.