1978 was my first full year in Nottingham, where I was studying English Literature and American Studies at the old university and found myself editing the students’ union newspaper, Gongster. I often used to visit the Midland Group gallery on Carlton St in Hockley. Two exhibitions from that time stick in my mind: drawings by Kevin Coyne, who also gave a poetry reading/performance and a showcase for the Nottingham artist Paul Waplington, which I returned to more than once. Of course I couldn’t afford to buy anything at either one. A postcard of Waplongton’s Basford Hill Silver Prize Band (do have a look at the full slide show on this link) stood on my mantelpiece for years, until it became worn out, and I was delighted to…

Here are my top thirty albums of the year. Tracks from many of them are in the post below. 1          John Murry – The Graceless Age 2          Prefab Sprout – Crimson/Red 3          Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City 4          Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle 5          Kanye West – Yeezus 6          Arctic Monkeys – AM 7          Daft Punk – Random Access Memories 8          Arcade Fire – Reflektor 9          Tamikrest – Chatma 10         David Bowie – The Next Day 11 Roy Harper – Man And Myth 12 Slaid Cleaves – Still Fighting The War 13 Kurt Vile – Wakin’ On A Sunny Day 14 Jason Isbell – South Eastern 15 Rod Stewart – Time…

  Every year since 1988, we’ve made a best of year music compilation for our friends, and this year is no exception. In recent years, I’ve put the songs up on here for readers to enjoy. Our cd is intended to promote the artists featured and the songs will only remain on this site for a short time, but if copyright holders are concerned, just email me on the link above and the relevant song will be removed. This post will be updated once a day or thereabouts, until New Year’s Eve. Those of you lucky enough to receive a copy in the post may want to look away until yours arrives. I haven’t actually started burning them yet, but once this big pile of…

Every year there seems to be what I think of as a big gig week, with a gig most nights. This year’s started unexpectedly, at a private party in Northumberland, where the rain cleared to allow a late night bonfire. Splendid music was provided by the host’s daughter and a friend, plus two short sets by the great Northumbrian folk singer (and storyteller) Mike Tickell (Yes, father of Kathryn). I posted the second one, with a traditional song and a snatch of Auden, on YouTube with Mike’s permission. A well known Nottingham born poet and playwright can be heard breaking a glass during it. No prizes for guessing who. Then, on Monday, we saw a terrific gig by Tamikrest, the Tuareg band with strong echoes…

I’ll be back to plugging eBooks next month but, before that, and as a prequel to my annual summer reading diary (the Easter review is here), a brief nod to the fantastic summer of gigs I’ve enjoyed. Generally the gigs I like most are the small ones, at venues like The Maze (where the great Slaid Cleaves returns in September) or The Jam Cafe, where I watched two Nottingham acts, Gallery 47 and Georgie Rose last week (bit chatty, mind). For more on Nottingham’s great music scene, visit the excellent new Music Nottingham news blog that my old mate Mike runs. But the big gigs of the summer have all been in arenas. First, there was Neil Young and Crazy Horse playing what may their…