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British soldiers – heroes or victims?
I’ve recently been reading Laurie Lee’s account of his travelling through England and Spain, during the 1930s. Reading the book reminded me that British society has historically betrayed and neglected ex-service men. Furthermore the
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As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee
Laurie Lee, by his own account, had some balls. In June 1934, after having lived in a sleepy Gloucestershire village called Slad for nineteen years, he took a bag, a few bits and bobs,
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An English review of ‘A Vivir Que Son Dos Dias’
A Vivir Que Son Dos Dias is a weekend Spanish radio programme hosted by Javier Del Pino. I recently came across this description of the programme, provided on the programme’s podcast site: A Vivir,
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Fabled Shore by Rose MacAulay
In 1949 an English woman named Rose, with an extraordinary knowledge of history and architecture, hired a car and traced a journey around the east and south coasts of Spain and Portugal. Her primary
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Roy Ayers is back
Roy Ayers is a legend of 1970s American soul. His signature tune is ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’. My personal experience of Roy Ayers’ work came through the play he got on Giles Peterson’s WorldWide
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Ten years ago, on Vanguard Online
Ten years ago on Vanguard Online we were going a bit Duke Special bonkers. We reviewed one of his albums, interviewed him twice in the space of a month and reviewed a show of
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Mark Radcliffe, recently recovered from cancer, writes a folk epic on England in the times of coronavirus
Mark Radcliffe, Radio 1 DJ, who has recently recovered from cancer, has released an epic sixteen minute song about England under the times of coronavirus. Its an incredibly poetic piece, a brilliant attempt at
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JahWobble and co. produce a stunner for 2020
I’ve missed the boat here a little, but judging from the number of views Jah Wobble’s single has received on YouTube so have you. In early 2020 a collaboration of artists led by Jah
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Twee Scottish indie with a twist (of a knife)
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans is an album drawing on two traditions. First, the stripped back lo-fi early 90s indie. You know, casio keyboards, lightweight guitar and strongly foregrounded lyrics.
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Uncertain but flavourful: The Strokes are back
I first became aware of The Strokes in 2001 when they made a big splash in the UK with Is This It and their signature tune Last Nite. The whole alternative rock scene, which
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