Look at that! “During the first half of 2026, CD sales surged 16% to 16.3 million units.” “One explanation may be changing listening habits among younger fans. According to the report, 60% of Gen Z listeners now say they most often listen to music from the 1990s or earlier, a huge increase from 18% in 2021. Whether driven by nostalgia, discovery via streaming, or a wanting to own a tangible piece of an artist’s work, younger audiences appear to be embracing physical formats.” Via Consequence

Our kind of store. Rough Trade Neal’s Yard, October 2001 – one of two Rough Trade stores to get fully taken over by ‘Drukqs’ for release day. The first time Rough Trade did this since 1977, for The Sex Pistols ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’. Warp Records (17th July 2026) Later this year the Aphex Twin double album Drukqs celebrates 25 years since its initial release. Today (17th of July 2026) Warp Records posted a reference to the albums release day on its social media channels with a photograph of…

Kelela “Point Blank” “Point Blank” is a breakup song in medias res, and listening to the lyrics can feel like overhearing an argument in passing and trying to sort out the details on the fly. Some of it is a little confusing – one can only hope that the guns and bullets mentioned are purely metaphorical – but mostly it comes down to a question Kelela sings in the first verse: “Why’s your love so bleak?” She sounds wounded and frustrated but not fully angry, which maybe has something to do with…

In July 1979 Scritti Politti played a benefit for Stevenage Rock Against Racism at Hitchin College, supported by Acme Sewage Company (a punk band from Welwyn Garden City)Advert for the gig, from NME, 7 July 1979As reported in the local paper, the Stevenage Comet, a gang of skindeads 'attacked members of the crowd, charged the band and tried to smash up their equipment'. The trouble apparently started during Scritti's second number and the paper reports that 'lead singer Tom was cut on the head…

So as my Mojave 3 reissue box set winds its way to me in the gentle collective embrace of the United States Postal Service and Canada Post, I have come to terms with the fact that the band, formerly on hiatus, have formally flipped that switch to disbanded and that there will be no more […] The post Mojave 3 / Demos ’97 appeared first on Space Echo.

There was a time when carrying a dedicated music player was the thing to do. The industry was booming, Steve Jobs turned the iPod into a cultural phenomenon, Creative established itself as one of its biggest competitors, and countless other manufacturers fought to earn a place in your pocket. Before smartphones became the center of our digital lives, 'MP3 players' (now more commonly known as Digital Audio Players) came in every shape and size, offering little more than a headphone jack, a few…

CD1: The Original Soundtrack Album 1-1 Steppenwolf– The Pusher 5:511-2 Steppenwolf– Born To Be Wild 3:391-3 Smith – The Weight 4:361-4 The Byrds– Wasn't Born To Follow 2:051-5 The Holy Modal Rounders– If You Want To Be A Bird 2:401-6 The Fraternity Of Man– Don't Bogart Me 3:081-7 The Jimi Hendrix Experience– If 6 Were 9 5:351-8 The Electric Prunes– Kyrie Eleison/Mardi Gras 4:011-9 Roger McGuinn– It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) 3:411-10 Roger McGuinn– The Ballad Of Easy Rider 2:14CD2:…

Let’s fire up the machine and see what the metal gods have for us this week. Hails! Left to Die - death - USADivulsive - death - USALord Gryphus - death - USAAcheron - death - AustraliaFuming Mouth - death/crust - USAPsycroptic - tech death - AustraliaEthereal Rot - blackened tech death - USAEaten by Sharks - tech death/deathcore - CanadaCarbon Tomb - death/deathcore - DenmarkEcliptic - death/noise/drone - USANecrocosm - melodeath - USAInferno - black - CzechiaNiveous - black - USASkjult -…

[1973]Like Chicory Tip gone feral. Scuzzy to the core. Wired Up is a dynamite synth laden fuzz monster to soundtrack the havoc of a teenage riot or as someone said in the comments "music to smash up telephone boxes to" How this didn't storm the charts I don't know.

Today at Crucial Tracks: Monster Ballads, by Josh Ritter I have a live version of this song from Josh’s 2020 Hell Yeah! album that’s so deeply searching and beautiful, with Sam Kassirer performing this delicate piano part that just lifts me up.

On “Scrabo Electric”, The Vendetta Suite pays affectionate tribute to the music of his body-popping, backspinning youth. The track’s title is taken from the nickname for the electrical store where he and his friends, growing up in County Down’s Newtownards, would buy music, cassettes such as Street Sounds’ seminal “Electro” series. There are 4 mixes and the first pays direct homage to classics such as Jay Burnett’s original “Drum Machine”, Cybotron’s “Clear” and Hashim’s “Al Naafiysh”. Showered…

ECM Editions: Even The Price Sounds Great! is a 1991 promotional jazz sampler CD released by Polygram Records to showcase artists from the prestigious ECM Records catalogue. Conceived as an affordable point of entry, it occupies an eccentric corner of the label’s history, somewhere between commercial bait and unauthorized cartography. The ridiculous cover and bargain-bin title seem almost calculated to puncture ECM’s reputation for austere visual refinement. Stranger still, seven of its 15…

Today is the first big smoke day of 2026. The past five years we've had some brutal streaks of smoke days from all the smoke coming south from Canada and northern Minnesota but this one is extra bad.

The Finnish rock band Lodger had a pretty good start, all things considered. Their debut single "Footsteps" was marketed with a quaint Flash animation featuring a one-eyed stick guy having a rough day; a very basic video by modern standards, but a surprising and unexpected choice for the video for an actual band and it rather randomly took off. The "Footsteps" video ended up winning first place in the national music video award/competition and the band's debut Hi-Fi High Lights Down Low (2005)…

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I didn’t realise that Echo & the Bunnymen was still going as a band, but after hearing Brussels is Haunted, I am glad that it is. I remember Ian McCulloch leaving the band in the late 1980s and then there was a resurrection in the late 1990s with Evergreen, but after that I lost track. They are now apparently a two-piece, with original members Will Sergeant on lead guitar and programming and Ian McCulloch on vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards. So, you can tell I’m not a diehard Bunnymen fan,…

. WIELS calls for applications from Canadian artists (Canadian nationals, or those living and working in Canada) for a 6-month residency in Brussels. More info here. .

Echo & The Bunnymen return with “Brussels Is Haunted” The Bunnymen are back with their first new music in over a decade, and I really didn’t expect it to be this good. Reports of the demise of Ian McCulloch’s voice, it turns out, have been much exaggerated. The first single from their forthcoming album Apples For Isaac, the sublime “Brussels Is Haunted,” sees the band defying gravity; this is classic Bunnymen, with Mac and Will Sergeant, and the rest of the band, very much on form. They’ve been…

Robyn Hitchcock - 40 Watt Club, Athen, Georgia, April 24, 2026Robyn Hitchcock — the hardest working man in showbiz? Well, one of ‘em anyway. Now well into his 70s, Hitchcock has a new memoir (Stranded in the Future) and a new album (The Confuser) out this summer, along with his usual heaps of tourdates. He’s also got a well-worth-your-cash Patreon chock full of fascinating writing and unheard demos, rarities and outtakes. And that recent Globe of Frogs redux/remaster/remix? It’s awesome. So…

I have a British lad in my head going "bit bittersweet, innit?" on all these things.

This Thursday Pressing Concerns features four records coming out tomorrow, July 17th: new albums from DUM1, Brian Ennals & Blockhead, and Tiger Bear Wolf, plus an expanded reissue of Franklin‘s debut album. Read ’em below! If you missed Monday’s blog post (featuring Hurry, William Matheny, TIFFY, and Twin Bloom), check that out too. Franklin – Go Kid Go (Expanded) Release date: July 17thRecord label: Solid BrassGenre: Post-hardcore, emo, noise rock, 90s indie rockFormats: Vinyl, digitalPull…

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have five days to record and upload a track in response to the project instructions. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. The Junto is weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when your time and interest align. Tracks are added to…

It's that part of time in my life where I feel very lost. I recently lost a relationship, came to terms with some realities about my sense of self and brokenness, and just feel so uncertain about myself and the future. I have so much I need to figure out and work on. It has been very overwhelming for me in the last few weeks. This also happened to me in 2023, at the back of my first ever relationship breakup. That led to a lot of changes in my life and I am a different person today because of…

Gurley gorgeousnessNice 'n' slinky Ray Keith (+ Nookie) remixin two partsand then the Shades of Rhythm version, the "Hard" halfway through the "Menace" diva sample appears - much closer to its original speed rather than the ooh oohing whipped soul-cream of the Rufige Cru trackBut where oh where is the "Peace Sign (Classic Piano Mix)"?Ah seems it Was reissued by Kniteforcehttps://kniteforcerevolution.com/store/product/peace-sign-ep-12-vinylAr least you can hear the original demo…

Well, it’s still Wednesday, so the weekly post where I run down impending Boston-area rock shows and recent event announcements of (my/your) interest is not technically overdue… BUT it is a little late to be useful for the insane amount of things happening on this very weeknight. Seriously, there’s a lot going on for a […]

Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 10th April 2026 The third album from Swedish post metallers Dimwind is their first to chart their new course as a vocal driven trio, and ‘The Carrion Waltz’ takes a lot from the more atmospheric sludge and post doom scenes of Atlanta, Georgia, as well as their homeland legends Cult of Luna as well. Driven by personal experiences of fighting and surviving cancer, it has the potential to be an intense experience, and the album is out now self released. Opener…

During the 1980s, guitarist Barry Reynolds was a member of Island Records’ legendary Compass All Stars. Together with his colleagues Sticky Thompson, Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar, Mikey Chung and Wally Badarou, he helped create countless ground breaking hits for the label, from their state-of-the-art Nassau-based studios. In the process, the group also created a distinctive and hugely influential – oft copied, never matched – sound. Reynolds collaborated closely with Marianne Faithfull, but…

Released in 2013, this two-disc set is a welcome addition to ECM’s obscure constellation of compilations, not least because it draws generously from the label’s New Series imprint. Such recordings are often omitted when anthologies favor the jazz-oriented catalogue. Here, written music and improvisation pass into one another with scarcely a seam. A year appears through fragments, each marking a different nuance of time. My delight is immediate when the sequence opens with “Un Dia De Noviembre,”…

DOOM is getting closer to my sensitive spot. DOOM Now Runs in R?! Incorrigibly persistent readers of this Crummy Little Blog That Nobody Reads (CLBTNR) know that we’ve followed with some amusement the attempts to port the game DOOM to increasingly absurd hardware platforms (e.g., PDF files with internal Javascript, the Domain Name System, and so on). Up until now, it’s all been good, clean fun. On somebody else’s platform. But now… they’ve made it run (using FFI, which cheating, but only sorta)…

Laurie Johnson's great lost soundtrack for Hammer's original Vampire Slayer - available at last!