Articles by Michael Barron

The Coral’s self-titled debut LP contains the top 20 hit single “Dreaming of You”, which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize turns twenty in August. Ahead of this significant milestone, the Skelly brothers and […]

The last three London shows of The Libertines’ latest tour in December 2021 were unfortunately cancelled owing to Carl Barât testing positive for COVID 19. This was upsetting for both the band and fans, as […]

A band becomes a heritage act when its classic albums are honoured with anniversary reissues. Metronomy has released two tenth anniversary LP issues: their sophomore Nights Out in 2018 and their biggest selling to date: […]

The rise of Palace cannot be attributed to record sales. Their latest LP Shoals entered just outside the top 50, 29 places higher than their 2019 sophomore effort Life After. Palace’s success is down to […]

DJANGO, Hand on Fire, kills two birds with one stone by having a separate mini-biography and a graphic novel. Other comic biographies by nbm have had biographies in between the chapters of the graphic novels, […]

Artists including Radiohead, Kula Shaker, The Charlatans and Fontaines D.C. have played gigs in this intimate venue to promote new material. The ex-Mansun frontman is no exception and has played at Rough Trade East since […]

What makes this double LP interesting is that it’s much more than an early EP compilation; it’s also a pre-history of Beirut and the story as to how Beirut frontman Zachary Condon’s musicology evolved. It […]

Paul Draper returns with his second solo LP, Cult Leader Tactics which includes a fictitious self-help manual that he wrote whilst recording the LP. This satirical LP, his first since Six, details how one reaches […]

The year is 1997, the setting is France in the small French village of Cressy-la-Valoise, and a young lady seeks out an elderly gentleman living in what she describes as a “museum-like mansion”. What does […]

In January 1969, Michael Lindsay-Hogg and his crew filmed The Beatles whilst they recorded in Twickenham Film Studios, Apple Studios on Saville Row in the West End of London and their live performance on top […]

Everyone in the shy of five thousand capacity Brixton Academy was frozen solid. Many were still wearing coats, hats, scarves and gloves. Following a politically charged historical film short, The Levellers then addressed the stage […]

Before this “Let the Bad Times Roll” tour began, The Offspring was caught up with COVID issues. They decided not to invite drummer Pete Parada (who had toured with them since 2007) because he remained […]

In 2005 Seth Lakeman was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for his sophomore LP Kitty Jay.  The following year, Freedom Fields was released, outselling its predecessor. 2021 marks 15 years since Freedom Fields’ release, […]

His last solo LP, Everyday Robots, took Damon Albarn back to Leytonstone in East London to reflect upon his childhood memories there. The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows is by far a […]

Rag’n’Bone Man was one of the first artists’ to return to the live stage as the lockdown restrictions started to ease where an emotional Rory, aka Rag’n’Bone Man, wowed the 300 capacity Jazz Café. When […]

The beginning of Decades: Joy Division + New Order started 45 years ago on 4th June 1976. The venue is the Lesser Free Trade Hall, and the bands playing are the Buzzcocks and the Sex […]

Just three days before Richard Ashcroft’s 50th birthday XS Noize announced that he would release a new LP of his acoustic hits. With The Verve’s Urban Hymns just one year away from its 25th anniversary, […]

It’s hard to believe that this year will mark 20 years since the 2001 Sainsbury’s Christmas advert featuring Chef Jamie Oliver where he goes Christmas shopping with his Nan. Of all the people he buys […]