New Music: Easy

           

Graham Norton, legendary Blur's guitarist released "Castle Park" his 9th., studio album and also shares the single "Easy", an adorable tune in which Coxon has been shot wandering typical English streets while playing their guitars, the akbym was recorded during the "A+E" sessions but then Coxon return to Blur and began to touring, after that, another two great projects, the WAEVE band alongside his partner Rose Elinor, so that's the reason behing this album finally saw the lights nearly 15 years after it was recorded. 

New Music: Spin

           

Johnny Marr has shared "Spin" the first single taken from his forthcoming and 5th., album "The Age Of Everything" due out October 2. Marr describes the 10 songs as the most cathartic of his entire career, written in London a developped live during his tour across USA, then recorded in Manchester to capture the joy, energy and tensions of the city, "There is a pressure in today's culture due technology, but seeing it from another perspetiva also could be a sort of possibility, the tune is pretty intense with certain reminds of Electronic. 

Books: Still In A Dream "Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock 1984-1994"

The definitive story of the slackers and shoegazers who reinvented rock. Twenty years after his acclaimed postpunk best-seller, Rip It Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds tells the tale of what happened next: the underground explosion of noisepop, shoegaze, slacker rock and grunge that reverberated through the mid-Eighties into the early Nineties.

Capturing the musical exhilaration of the era along with the alienation of youth during a period of ascendant conservative politics and glitzy mainstream pop, Still in a Dream celebrates a golden age of guitar reinvention, a second psychedelia of mind-blowing sounds pioneered by bands like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. In Britain, groups like Cocteau Twins and Slowdive escaped into shimmering dreamworlds while American underground rockers like Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement blended apathy and urgency into thrilling noise.

A propulsive and personal account from a journalist who covered this music in real time from the frontlines, Still in a Dream vividly recreates a period that was the last blast for the analogue culture of vinyl records and music papers, before the Internet changed everything. 

 

Title: Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock 1984-1994

Pages: 464

Author: Simon Reynolds

Publisher: White Rabbit

Format: Hardcover 

 
 

New Music: Whippings And Apologies (Live)

          

Sparks have announced their first full concert LP, Live on the Moon, recorded, they say, during a one-off performance at the Taruntius Crater near Mare Fecunditatis - on the moon. The 20-track album arrives 14 August via Transgressive Records, with Cate Blanchett providing intro and outro as lunar emcee. The album's first taster, "Whippings and Apologies (Live on the Moon)" – taken from their 1972 record A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing – is out now. According to the band – Ron and Russell Mael – the lunar concert followed an invitation after their 2025 world tour. They don't specify who invited them. We can guess NASA, or aliens. “Honoured to be the first band to perform on the moon, let alone at the beautiful Taruntius Crater. We couldn’t have imagined the lunar fan interest, with all tickets being grabbed up within an hour, Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT),” the brothers said in a statement. “Thank you, Moon!”

New Music: Concept Of Love

           

The London collective Ibibio Sound Machine has made a dizzy, cross-cultural form of party music, rooted both in disco and in the Afrobeat that frontwoman Eno Williams grew up with. Now, the collective are ready to announce Chopping Mountain, a new album that's coming later this summer. Ibibio Sound Machine recorded the follow-up to 2024's Pull The Rope at their own South London studios. After they worked with outside collaborators on their last couple of LPs, this one sees band member Max Grunhard once again acting as producer, a role he last occupied on 2019's Doko Mien. Their new single "Concept Of Love" is a dizzy, joyous, robo-funk celebration in which Eno Williams switches back and forth between the English and Ibibio languages. She says that the song "went through many different stages and ended with a soulful, electronic Afro-disco feel. 

Primicia: Otherside (live)

           

Beth Orton has shared her new song "Otherside". The acclaimed songwriter's new album "The Ground Above" represents Beth Orton's first full length endeavour in a number of years, and it's a very special release. Previewing the material at an intimate UK tour – including London’s St Pancras Old Church – Beth Orton served signal of her intent. With "Otherside," what began as a not so simple tale of sleeplessness went on to have me turning over bigger themes, those of resilience in the face of loss, what freedom means to the individual and the collective; the ability to start again and make beautiful a life when it has been torn apart. An embodiment of what it feels like to implore a loved one home, to make it through the night, or to make it through a day, to make good what we dare to dream.” the track comes with a performance clip video directed by Iain and Jane Pollard & Joseph Lynn introducing her live band in the process.

New Music: Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost

           

Kelsey Lu a singer-songwriter from Charlotte, North Carolina, has been raised with the technical precision of a classical cellist, she floats between avant-pop, R&B, and experimental classical, and after seven years of deep-diving into experimental scoring, performance art, and visual storytelling, she shares her new single, "Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost" is the heartbeat of her sophomore album, So Help Me God, a bold reminder that she’s never been one to play by the industry’s rule

New Music: Ugly

           

Manchester-based songwriter Chloe Slater has shared a new single "Ugly". The singer has offered up another astute, powerful offering that tackles social issues head-on; this time, it’s capitalism and consumerism in her crosshairs. "I wrote 'Ugly' after watching a documentary on Netflix called Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy, which looks at where away actually is when we throw things out, Chloe has said of the track, which follows her 2025 single ‘War Crimes’. “The song centres around this almost religious compulsion we have towards consumerism. Our ads are full of commandments, buy now, don't miss out, and we’re promised heaven in the form of status and wealth if we follow the right path.

In Memoriam: The Actress Who Played Mon In Alf "Ann Schedeen" Dies At 77

Anne Schedeen, the actrees who famously played Kate Tanner in "ALF," has died at 77. Her family announced her peaceful passing on Sunday, remembering her as a "force" with "whip smart humor," a "burning hatred for Trump," and deep love for family and dogs. 

 

Schedeen starred in "ALF" from 1986 to 1990. Her extensive career included guest roles on "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Emergency," "Three's Company," "Cheers" and "Murder, She Wrote." She made her final screen appearance in the 2023 reunion special "ALF on ALF." Schedeen is survived by her husband Christopher Barrett, daughter Tay, and other beloved family member. Schedeen’s death was announced by her family in a Facebook post on Sunday. She was 77.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully," the post reads. "She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of creative energy, whip smart humor, delight in her family, adoration for little dogs, burning hatred for Trump, passion for second-hand thrifting, and love for a good story. We are bereft without her. We loved her so so much, as did all who met her.

She was a force. And it is unimaginable to think about life without her in it,” the post continues. “But as she said, ‘I’m always with you.’ And she’s right. The memories, artwork, belly laughter, handmade jewelry, oil paintings, sculptures, costumes, and all around joie de vivre live on. Raise a margarita in her honor.”

Schedeen starred opposite Max Wright, who played her husband, Willie Tanner, in ALF, an acronym for Alien Life Form. Adopted by the Tanner family, ALF was a fuzzy character voiced and puppeteered by Paul Fusco, who co-created the sitcom with Tom Patchett. Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros occasionally appeared as ALF in costume when full body shots were needed. The character's full name was Gordon "ALF" Shumway.

Born Luanne Ruth Schedeen on Jan. 8, 1949, in Portland, Oregon., Anne Schedeen made her screen debut in a guest role on Lee Majors' sci-fi action series The Six Million Dollar Man in 1974. Schedeen played guest roles on a half-dozen series, including Get Christie Love!, Ironside and McCloud. She also guest-starred in three different roles over 12 episodes in the hit medical series Marcus Welby, MD, from 1974 to 1976. During the same time period, Schedeen also appeared in guest roles in six episodes of the action drama Emergency!

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Schedeen also appeared in guest roles on such TV shows as Bionic Woman, Family, Baretta and The Incredible Hulk. From 1978 to 1982, the actress appeared in various guest roles on five episodes of the hit sitcom Three’s Company.

In the 1980s, Schedeen also appeared in several more TV guest roles on such shows as Cheers, E/R, Simon & Simon, Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote. In 1984, Schedeen starred as Sarah Frank on the TV drama Paper Dolls. Schedeen appeared in all 13 episodes of the series about the modeling and cosmetic industries, which only ran for one season.

But then, her most well-remember role came from 1986 to 1990, Schedeen starred as Kate Tanner on 103 episodes over four seasons on ALF. Schedeen´s last screen appearance came in the 2023 reunion special ALF on ALF, which also featured Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett, as well as Andrea Elson and Benji Gregory, who played the Tanner children Lynn and Brian. Also featured in the special were Max Wright, who died in 2019 at age 75, and Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros, who died in 2016 at 76.

According to her family's Facebook post, she is survived by beloved friends and family including her husband of 55 years Christopher Barrett, darling daughter Tay Barrett, daughter-in-law, Hilary Flynn, sister Sarabeth Schedeen, niece Minnie Land, brother Roland ‘Tony’ Schedeen, sister in-law Julieann Schedeen, and her beloved rescue dogs Roo and Red.

News/Albums: Sparks To Release First Live Album

Sparks have announced their first full concert LP, Live on the Moon, recorded, they say, during a one-off performance at the Taruntius Crater near Mare Fecunditatis - on the moon. The 20-track album arrives 14 August via Transgressive Records, with Cate Blanchett providing intro and outro as lunar emcee.

"Honoured to be the first band to perform on the moon, let alone at the beautiful Taruntius Crater. We couldn’t have imagined the lunar fan interest, with all tickets being grabbed up within an hour, Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT)," the brothers said in a statement. "Thank you, Moon!"

They also noted Blanchett's off-stage contributions during the four-day flight to the moon. "What a riot Cate was on the mission's 4-day flight, helping us pass the time with hours of gravitational-pull jokes and the like!"

Supposedly recorded in front of a sold-out lunar crowd, the setlist spans the duo's five-decade career, from early cuts like "Beat the Clock" and "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" to more recent material such as "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte". The band's current live lineup includes guitarists Eli Pearl and Evan Weiss, bassist Max Whipple, and drummer Darren Weiss.

Back on Earth, Sparks continue a run of summer dates. Following recent performances at London's Live At Chelsea and Glasgow's Kelvingrove Bandstand, remaining 2026 shows include Blackpool Opera House (15 June), Bournemouth International Centre (17 June), Bristol Beacon (18 June) and a spot as special guests of Gorillaz at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (20 June). Festival appearances include Green Man and Rock En Seine, with additional UK dates in York and Southend-on-Sea later in August.

Sparks Live On The Moon Tracklist

“So May We Start”
“Do Things My Own Way”
“Reinforcements”
“Academy Award Performance”
“Goofing Off”
“Beat the Clock”
“Please Don't Fuck Up My World”
“Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab”
“Suburban Homeboy ("Ron Speaks" Version)”
“All You Ever Think About Is Sex”
“Drowned In A Sea Of Tears”
“JanSport Backpack”
“Music That You Can Dance To”
“When Do I Get To Sing "My Way"”
“The Number One Song In Heaven”
“This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us”
“Whippings and Apologies”
“Lord Have Mercy”
“The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte”
“All That”