MARK TURNER holds on tight for a mesmerising display of Neath-born ragtime virtuosity
Hardship Starship by No Hot Ashes
ALAN MORRISON introduces a UK poet whose despised daytime occupation provides the subject for his writing
MARK TURNER wallows in the virtuosity of Swansea Jazz Festival openers, Simon Spillett and Pete Long
PAUL DONOVAN recommends three new books that explore the human relationship with nature
Doomed adolescents, when the missing person is you, classic whodunnit, and an anti-capitalist eco-thriller
WILL STONE takes a ticket to indie disco heaven, but misses the rarely performed tunes
No Hot Ashes
Hardship Starship
(Modern Sky UK)
NO HOT ASHES hail, like 10cc, from Stockport and although a generation apart they share an approach to music unbeholden to any genre in particular.
Intelligent and inventive arrangements deliver a studio sound that’s far richer and more complex than the band’s live act.
Isaac Taylor and Luigi Di Vuono’s guitars are intricate one minute and blasting their way through the next, while Jack Walsh on bass and Matthew Buckley on drums keep the adrenaline flowing.
There’s existential rather than political angst in their songs. “There’s not much more that I can take, Oh I’m sick of all these bellyaches,” sings Taylor in Bellyaches.
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