- Sep 11, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: A FILM ABOUT A BAND
From Amadeus to Walk the Line, Bohemian Rhapsody to Sid & Nancy, musician biopics tend to go in and out of vogue; a big one comes along...
- Sep 4, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: THE PARLEMENT OF FOULES
With apologies to The Fast Show’s Jesse, this week I have been mostly pondering collective nouns for birds. Our winged friends do have...
- Aug 28, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: HOW WAS YOUR LOCKDOWN?
As we approach the corner of the calendar that leads into autumn, there does seem to be one dividend of living through a pandemic; there...
- Aug 21, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Whether it’s that time-honoured artistic desire to hide behind a persona, an absence of affection for the birth name or just plain...
- Aug 14, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: CHRISTMAS IS COMING
It wasn’t all that long ago that people used to sidle up to you and say “winter is coming” and, fully armed with the expectation that you...
- Aug 11, 2020
IT’S CROPREDY BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT
This rather dumb headline, channelling as it does a Star Trek misquote – I blame The Firm – heralds a rather splendid event curated by...
- Aug 7, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: TELLING THE STORY
Local lockdowns and concerns about a second wave of coronavirus have scuppered plans to slowly reintroduce live music in front of...
- Jul 31, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: RECOMMEND A FRIEND
As one with an innate suspicion about algorithms and their effects on modern living, I usually don’t pay too much attention to...
- Jul 24, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: OUTRANKING
The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ proudly set out to ‘celebrate and promote the best of British music, recognising artistic...
- Jul 23, 2020
A TRACK BY TRACK GUIDE TO HOPEFULS BY THE HARRIETS
Hopefuls is the keenly awaited debut long player from Leeds four-piece, The Harriets. As regular readers will know, I first encountered...
- Jul 17, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: THE TRAIN ARRIVING
‘Highly anticipated’ might easily rank alongside ‘critically acclaimed’ in the lexicon of over-used music PR phrases. However, both seem...
- Jul 10, 2020
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: MONEY FOR NOTHING
You stop and give a homeless man a fiver. Does he: a). thank you kindly. b). appreciate it but ask if you could run to a tenner. c). say...