I was starting to worry that The Cords debut LP couldn't live up to expectations, and dear me if it doesn't end up going way beyond. Utterly perfect pop music backed up by a blindingly good set at the Betsey Trotwood tonight, genuinely very special. Would-be-Goods were excellent as support too.

Clara Mann was superb in the Royal Albert Hall's Elgar Room tonight. Rift has been one of the very best albums of the year and songs from it were beautifully performed with perfect accompaniment from Owen Spafford. Great to have a handful of new songs too. Lovely support from Watch Paint Dry.

Saw Black Country, New Road at the Albert Hall last night. What a fantastic venue with a great audience completely into things including Titanic who were excellent as support. BCNR were wonderful live, inventive and engaging. Forever Howlong is an LP that repays regular listening.

Ben Watt & Tracey Thorn at the Moth Club were magical last night. A deep dive into their solo and EBTG songbooks, beautifully performed with Rex Horan and son, Blake. Seems unfair to pick highlights but Winter's Eve and Bridget St John's Song To Keep You Company were superb. Just a lovely night.

Great Lost Map records showcase at the Shacklewell Arms last night as part of Label Mates festival. Sara Wolff's solo set was fantastic, and Dominie Hooper was excellent, looking forward to the LP to be released on Halloween and full band show at the Moth Club. Both promise to be rather special.

Heavenly were on excellent form at Islington Assembly Hall tonight, a cracking set with a sprinkling of great sounding new songs which went down a storm. Very much enjoyed Lightheaded's set too. Coming home with a couple of fanzines and a 7" feels pleasingly familiar too.

Blown away by how good Poor Creature were this evening at Rough Trade East. Spellbinding performances of songs from their fantastic debut LP 'All Smiles Tonight. They have a beautiful but slightly out of focus quality which is quite magical. @poorcreaturemusic.bsky.social

Hugely enjoyable Daylight Music show at St John's in Leytonstone. Wonderful performance from Faith Eliott, beautiful, wry, deeply affecting songs, far to say I absolutely adore them. Dryas is a truly brilliant LP. Fell were great and Owen & The Eyeballs the party band I didn't know I needed.

Kassi Valazza was utterly magical at St Pancras Old Church this evening, a wonderful band performance and an amazing voice. Highlights were Kassi performing solo accompanied by the 10pm church bells and an exceptional version of Matty Groves in the encore. Magnificent stuff.

Really enjoyed Cassandra Jenkins at Koko tonight, a great band all round but I particularly liked Adam Brusbin's stellar guitar work, equally good when gentle and angular. Magical support set from Anna B Savage, who is a phenomenal live performer.

What a night at Signature Brew Haggerston! Kristin Hersh was totally mesmeric, an absolute privilege to see her so close up. Memorials are my favourite live band right now, skronky kraut pop, right up my street. Graham Reynolds mix of unhinged percussion and cinematic piano an excellent start too.

Did someone mention Patchwork? youtube.com/watch?v=IgEo...

Where to start with Wide Awake, so many highlights. Daniel Avery, Marie Davidson, Gurriers, Acopia, English Teacher all superb. Emotionally though Jasmine.4.t, particularly a beautiful and utterly poignant rendition of 'Woman' hit hard. Great day out, long may it continue.

Lovely to catch up with the super talented Fran, now performing as Mezanmi at SJQ this evening. Great short set supporting Mariam The Believer, new song sounded brilliant. Tickets for what promises to be a special headline show at the same venue in October released today.

Massively enjoyed Jenny Hval at Islington Assembly Hall last night. Loved the stripped back presentation which really allowed the songs and Jenny's incredible voice to take centre stage. Both in her own right and as Lost Girls, she's put together a stellar run of albums over the last five years.

In terms of overstuffing a 1of100 Modern Musette, I can't say I'd recommend trying to carry home seven LPs and four back issues of Disco Pogo from the Independent Record Market, but here we are... 😬 @weare1of100.bsky.social @discopogo.bsky.social

Absolutely absorbed by the Necks performance at Cafe Oto this afternoon, incredible to watch the interplay between three remarkable musicians building layer upon layer of their two long pieces.

The Pogues were joyous at Brixton Academy for the 40th anniversary of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash (and of my first seeing them at the Leadmill). Guest vocalists were all fab, highlight for me Iona Zajac's superb performance of I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday. Lots of aching bodies in the morning.

A magical evening with the incomparable Rich(ard) Dawson at Clapham Grand. I'm not at all ashamed to say I've started to cry at gigs in a manner not dissimilar to Keith on the Pottery Throw Down, Gondola setting off my third gig blub in a week.

Breathtaking performances at the Old Church tonight from Pefkin and The Declining Winter. Absolutely adored Pefkin, mesmeric music to get completely lost in. The Declining Winter were utterly compelling too, great to hear songs from the Last April LP presented in a full band setting.

A wonderful performance by Clara Mann at a packed Stoke Newington Old Church tonight, with fantastic accompaniment from the hugely talented Owen Spafford. Rift is an exceptionally good record, I hope it gets the audience it so richly deserves.

Fat White Family and Mozart Estate were both utterly magnificent as supports. First time seeing FWF and blown away by them, energy, mayhem, noise, just exceptional. Mozart Estate were glorious and the songs from the forthcoming LP were heavenly pop hits, one and all. Lawrence looking fab too.

I know it's not fashionable to like Primal Scream anymore, but I snagged a cheap resale ticket for the Hammersmith Apollo tonight and thought they were really good. Andrew Innes on great form and the songs from Come Again sounded much better live than on the LP. That said...

If that was how good the Delines are having just got off a plane, I'm supremely jealous of anyone who has tickets for their tour. An absolutely magnificent hour at Rough Trade West tonight.

Anna Erhard at the Bush Hall was exactly what I needed at the end of the roughest of weeks, she's a wonderfully dry storyteller with a brilliant live band. A lovely reminder of the restorative power of live music.

Magnificent set by Anna B Savage and her exceptional band at the Union Chapel tonight. Particularly loved Joe Taylor's drums, just fantastic. Deeply personal songs, beautifully played (even a stop/start version of Donegal complete with filthy joke diversion whilst retuning...)

Absolutely loved the Ex-Vöid album launch at the George Tavern last night. In Love Again is such a brilliant record and a treat to see it performed live. Really great support from Starter Car and the incomparable Garden Centre, top night all round.

I realise that my sporadic posts here are all slight variations on 'Int Live Music Brilliant', but that's because it is... as proven by doubling up with Nadia Reid's great acoustic set at Rough Trade West and then the mighty Field Music at the Union Chapel, songs from the new LP sounding magnificent

The most joyous celebration of the music of the Kane Gang at Dingwalls tonight, Paul and Martin remain simply great singers and their voices still work so well together 40 years on. You could see how much the audience reception meant to everyone involved and the sheer fun of playing together.

On an absolutely stacked first big release date of the year, Little Oso, Gentle Spring, Jasmine.4.t, Weather Station, Blue Lake, Prism Shores, all sounding really good, but this is the first truly great record of 2025. ex-void.bandcamp.com/album/in-lov...

Great night of Winter Sprinter fun at the Lexington. Sassyhiya were fab, songs that stick in your brain as soon as heard. Autocamper have distilled 40+ years of indie pop into something very much their own. Sacred Paws were a joy, perfect performance to round things off, new songs sound amazing.

Up and running gig wise for the year with a Winter Sprinter night at the Lexington, great to see Holiday Ghosts on the back of their two cracking recent LPs and absolutely loved Suep's fun, infectious set.

Somehow Heavenly have managed to bookend my 2024 gig going, from Rough Trade East in January to the Lexington in December! Add in seeing Swansea Sound twice and it's been quite the year. Both utterly magnificent every time and a great way to finish an incredible year of live music.

I'm coming up for forty years as a fan of Stephen Duffy's music, so a real treat to be at Rough Trade tonight for a hugely entertaining Q&A and a handful of songs. I can cope with not being the most handsome Stephen in this photo...

Three fab performances at the Lexington last night. Annelies Monseré (perfect Autumnal music, slow, close and beguiling) Robert Sotelo & Mary Currie (lovely experimental tunes) and Nightshift (superb spiky pop songs from the Homosapien LP, making a late dash for my top ten albums of the year)

Concluding a run of gigs in larger venues with 2 1/2 magnificent hours of Vampire Weekend at Hammersmith Apollo. I'm not the biggest fan of long sets, but with the exception of Sunflower, I wouldn't have wanted anything dropped. Even enjoyed the wonky covers encore, helped I knew it was coming.

Postie has well and truly been! lnfg.bsky.social

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Nadine Shah was in magnificent form last night at the Forum. Songs of loss, despair and hope performed with such depth and energy by a great band.

I've seen some cracking gigs this year, and tonight Bonny Light Horseman at the Roundhouse was right up with the best of them. Utterly captivating, fantastic songs that manage to sound both familiar and brand new.