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.

"While it is an essential read for 4AD fans, it should also appeal to anyone interested in music of that era and the intersection between creativity and commerce." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Facing The Other Way by @martinaston.bsky.social www.silentradio.co.uk/03/23/book-r...

An interview with BCUC by @andrewneal66.bsky.social www.silentradio.co.uk/03/22/interv...

"an album that radiates dignity and determination to overcome obstacles while most importantly of all making for an energising and uplifting listening experience." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews The Road Is Never Easy by BCUC www.silentradio.co.uk/03/22/album-...

Bhajan Bhoy tour. See him if you can.

"‘Giving Up’ is an album that embraces risk-taking. It celebrates adventure, openness and desire while acknowledging the consequences. Those themes are reflected in its music." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews the debut album from LuxJury www.silentradio.co.uk/03/18/album-...

#5debutalbums8589 King of the Slums - Dandelions Possibly the only indie band of the era to feature a violin so prominently. It gave their sound a distinct quality. I preferred the England's Finest Hopes EP but this is a good, full-length debut.

#5debutalbums8589 Throwing Muses - s/t A definite contender. Kristin Hersh's occasionally out of control vocals & a strikingly odd sense of rhythm makes this vastly different from everything else coming out of America at the time.

"What makes ‘Chasing Shadows’ so impressive is the way that various styles marry seamlessly. It is a record that has variety and cohesiveness" @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews the new album from Nubiyan Twist www.silentradio.co.uk/03/16/album-...

#5debutalbums8589 Pixies - Surfer Rosa One of my all-time favourite albums. Still feels like an enormous adrenaline rush hearing those Black Francis screams & Albini's engineering captures the big, echoing sound.

Enjoyed I Swear. Entertaining, moving & educational about Tourettes.

"magically freezing time, creating a sound world that is unhurried, immersive and simultaneously chilly and rather lovely." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Mother Pearl by Gyda Valtysdottir www.silentradio.co.uk/03/15/album-...

#5debutalbums8589 Walking Seeds - Skullfuck This still sounds incredibly raw: heavy psych & Frank Martin's on the edge vocals.

#5debutalbums8589 Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush The Show Although it was eclipsed by It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, this was a revolutionary introduction to their mix of noise & highly politicised rap.

#5debutalbums8589 My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything A certainty for my top five. I even prefer this to Loveless. Just prior to release, I saw them supporting Pixies which must be the all-time best double bill.

#5debutalbums8589 The Beatnigs - s/t Samples, raps, industrial noise, experimental & political focus. The version of Television is far wilder than the one Michael Franti later released in his Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy guise.

#5DebutAlbums8589 Shop Assistants - s/t Pretty much the ultimate album of fuzzy indie pop. Still sounds great.

#5DebutAlbums8589 AR Kane - 69 A highly original mix of dream pop, dub & noise. Side Two is more experimental than I remembered.

"Like all the best country influenced music, it confronts those moments where life can feel especially cruel but does so in an empathetic way." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews True by Tenderness - www.silentradio.co.uk/03/09/album-...

Been trying to ration episodes but finished Small Prophets today. Six little slices of delight. There's an indication of another series & am intrigued to see the direction in which Mackenzie Crook takes it.

#5DebutAlbums8589 Bog-Shed - Step On It I was obsessed with this band from the first time I saw them (28/08/85 at Preston Caribbean Club). I wish Let Them Eat Bog-Shed qualified for this chart but, even though badly produced, their full-length debut is still a contender

"Squeeze bring these long-forgotten demos to life with pizzazz." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Trixies by #Squeeze www.silentradio.co.uk/03/06/album-...

"A joy to read." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Atypical Girl by @pennykiley.bsky.social www.silentradio.co.uk/03/02/book-r...

Andrew Bird with the Britten Sinfonia at the Barbican last night was absolutely divine.

Interesting to read this 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel in which a fascist dictator is elected President of the USA. Startling to see little details that parallel contemporary events.

"It is storytelling at its finest, the characters are often betrayed by their actions but retain the listener’s sympathies. The musical arrangements... give ‘The Set Up’ a magnificently cinematic scope. @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews #Delines www.silentradio.co.uk/02/23/album-...

"Musically, it takes from darkwave, freak folk, avant pop, electronic and baroque music to produce a tapestry of sounds that are emotional and have a slightly twisted beauty." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews Bibi Club's Amaro: www.silentradio.co.uk/02/22/album-...

#5DebutAlbums0509 Self titled debut from band who would prove to be the most consistently excellent group of the following 20 years. At this stage, their sound was a mix of post-punk's shifting energy with baroque pop.

"Their music has always been colourful but this sees them operating with an even wider palette. ‘Garip’ is their best album yet." @andrewneal66.bsky.social reviews the new album from Altın Gün www.silentradio.co.uk/02/16/album-...

#5DebutAlbums0509 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - s/t Terrible name, great record.

#5DebutAlbums0509 Trembling Bells - Carbeth An epic but experimental debut & a great introduction to the spiralling vocals of Lavinia Blackwall.

#5DebutAlbums0509 My sadness over The Delgados splitting up was eased by this. An entire album with their best vocalist singing. Great lyrics & melodies too. A definite for my top five.

Fascinated by the Netflix documentary, Queen of Chess, about Judit Polgar, long-running number one player who even beat Garry Kasparov. Bonus music buff fans for the film's use of music by Girls At Our Best & Delta 5 to accompany sexist comments by male players.