“Heatwave, Alien Tentacles and a Guitar Sacrifice” – Empire Of The Sun at Alexandra Palace, London: Live Review
The last time I was at Alexandra Palace, it was for The Hives, and the room felt like it had been hijacked by chaos in matching suits.
Football Songs England: Essential Records and Fan-Favourite Anthems
It’s all kicking off! Football songs in England tend to get a bad press, not just World Cup ones. Yet there is a rich batch of highly entertaining examples. The best of these celebrate soccer’s more positive elements: vim, self-deprecating wit, and a sense of occasion.Steve Burniston picks football songs in England and odes to the beautiful gam…
The Engine Room
April Stevens
Descended from full-blooded Sicilian stock, Caroline Vincinette LoTempio was born in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1929. Between the pasta and meatballs, con sardi with olive oil and anchovies, music was the most important ingredient in the family household. All were blessed with an ability to sing, and Caroline had a voice to die for.
Bob Stanley
Quite a few major acts have a song in their catalogue that sets my teeth on edge, not particularly because I don’t like it but because I don’t trust the motives behind it. It’s the song where they play to the balcony, one that’s written intentionally as an encore. It’s the song that presses the right buttons for the kind of people that Ma…
Under The Radar
Amy Rigby
Amy Rigby never stops rocking and rolling and, as the title of her most recent album says, Hang In There With Me. Or, rather, try and keep up. From childhood in less-than-lively Pittsburgh, she moved to art college in the Big Apple and music took over. The New York punk scene alongside the likes of Richard Hell (although playing in a curious folk g…
Shoegaze Bands: From My Bloody Valentine to Slowdive
Originally a snarky term coined by the British music press and aimed at a handful of bands, shoegaze has evolved into one of alternative music’s most influential movements. Through interviews with original pioneers and today’s new wave of artists, in Record Collector June 2026 issue, Wesley Doyle tells us how a handful of experimental 90s bands…
anchoressaway
Catherine Anne Davies
As The Anchoress, I’ve been soundtracking other people’s bad decisions for 10 years now. Hollyoaks breakups. Made In Chelsea meltdowns. Apparently, if you need someone to cry to, my musical back catalogue is at your service.
Under The Radar
The Dancing Did
The Dancing Did formed in the Worcestershire market town of Evesham in 1979 and released only one album: 1982’s And Did Those Feet. That LP remains a spectral wonder, informed in equal parts by punk, prog, folklore and quintessentially English eccentricity.
The Engine Room
Ray Russell
A member of The John Barry Seven, The Graham Bond Organisation and Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames in the 60s, Ray Russell became a pioneer of jazz-rock fusion in the 70s, pushing the boundaries with The Ray Russell Quartet and Sextet and his 12-piece ensemble, Rock Workshop, featuring Alex Harvey.
Musical Youth and “Pass the Dutchie” No. 1 Hit Story
When they first topped the charts in 1982, young Birmingham reggae outfit Musical Youth were a sensation, in demand everywhere from John Peel to Pebble Mill At One. But they were no manufactured boy band – they’d been playing the clubs for some time. Success took its toll and by the mid-80s they’d split, but several members are still playing …
