It’s because I can imagine buying the album – fresh, crisp and new – unheard – putting it on for the first time and the music starting, “Alsatian Cousin”; a new beginning, a phenomenally strong track which was Morrissey truly announcing “WORLD, I AM STILL HERE”. This launches, without a pause, into “Little Man, What Now?”, the story of a child star become irrelevant and insignificant, confined to re-living his glory days through daytime chat shows, a true marvel of songwriting finesse. [...]

What is it about a good local parody that brings out the (virtual) crowds? Uploaded to Youtube on Tuesday, it is now Friday and already there are features in the Metro, talk about it on Welsh TV and endorsements from local celebrities like Rob Brydon. I am of course talking about “Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)”, a cover of Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”, replacing “New York” with the Welsh city “Newport”. Like the Goldie Lookin’ Chain [...]

My obsession with trying to time portal back to the Hacienda on July 6th 1983 is seemingly endless. Clwb Ifor Bach was taken over by quiff-sporting addicts looking for a way to get back, just like me. A Smiths tribute band is an odd phenomenon, the good ones will emulate particular eras of the bands brief history, using dress to map the time-line. The Smiths Indeed did not disappoint in this. The first half of the show, “Morrissey” sported a [...]

Dear Morrissey, Thank you for all the joy that you have brought to me and countless others over the past 26 years. Can you believe it has been so long? I can’t. I’m very worried about you at the moment, Steven. You seem to be pushing yourself to do things that you do not want to do, primarily performing on a stage. Correct me if I am mistaken, but you are clearly not enjoying it right now. You need to [...]

Is there anything that hasn’t been said about the decision made by Radiohead to release their latest album download only, and to apply a psuedo-honesty box programme to the payment system? I will say, however, that I don’t believe that it is an honesty box in it’s true form, as many pundits have been declaring. As in essence there is no set price, it isn’t relied upon that people use their concience to decide whether or not to short change [...]