PRESSURE DROP: a deep dive into reggae’s explosive 1970s evolution
John Masouri’s Pressure Drop charts reggae’s journey from Jamaican roots to global acclaim, with insights into legends like Lee Perry.
Noel Gardner
MELT-BANANA make ferocious yet familiar return with 3+5 after 11 years
Anyone discovering Melt-Banana for the first time on latest album 3+5 will doubtless have their wig knocked asunder by their sheer intensity.
New Welsh music you may have missed in August, gore & guttural vocals to post-death brain activity
The crannies of Wales keep on leaking out radioactively good sound for Noel Gardner's best new Welsh music column, with the last month or so yielding the following 10 releases.
Crypto horror short stories galore in debut collection, YOU WILL GROW INTO THEM
Malcolm Devlin's debut short story collection You Will Grow Into Them has been recirculated, much to the delight o crypto-horror fans.
DESTROY BOYS’ FUNERAL SOUNDTRACK #4: a punk rock triumph with depth
Destroy Boys combine spiky punk energy, oversized alt-rock riffs and more contemplative-sounding sections on new album Funeral Soundtrack #4.
MAMMOTH: quarter-life crisis & absurdity runs through EVA BALTASAR’s final trilogy instalment
Catalan writer Eva Baltasar's last novel in a triptych, Mammoth features a mid-twenties crisis in uproarious in incorrigible fashion.
DIRECT-TO-DUB: SCIENTIST drops a heavy dose of vintage reggae
Drawing on the sounds of the late 70s, dub-reggae group Scientist's latest album, Direct-To-Dub, is a sonic dream.
Chris Kohler captivates with magical realist debut novel PHANTOM LIMB
A magical realist debut novel, Phantom Limb’s most striking grand visions are those of Chris Kohler as a novelist.
THE BOOK OF DISAPPEARANCE: a graceful but anger-inducing novel from Palestine
Painting a fantastical scenario with a deeply authentic basis, The Book Of Disappearance proceeds gracefully but harbours righteous anger, and should induce something similar in its readers.
Orlaine McDonald’s debut novel NO SMALL THING: an intergenerational saga of London women
A strong teller of human stories with social and historical contexts, Orlaine McDonald's No Small Thing rewards perseverance.
New Welsh music you may have missed in July, from shivery experiments to agonised sludge metal
Tracks from RWCMD to dark dungeons is on the cards this July in our usual roundup of the best new Welsh music.
SOTE’S SOUND SYSTEM PERSEPOLIS: a thrilling blend of electro beats & Middle Eastern melodies
Sound System Persepolis is an exhilarating new album from Sote, combing shatteringly crisp rhythms with Middle Eastern melodies.