I wasn't aware of Colosseum until after they'd ended, becoming only vaguely aware of their successor Colosseum II, who seemed a bit to jazz for my delicate teenage ears. But a chance to pick this up for a few quid on a recent visit to Milton Keynes wasn't to be passed up (and yes, while my wallet was out, more followed). This is very much an album of two halves - the first half is far more bluesy, with four vocal compositions. The Kettle is the one Colosseum piece you might r

This is the last of the boot fair haul from last month, and I've only just got round to listening. I enjoyed Badly Drawn Boy's (Damon Gough) debut album but didn't feel anything subsequently appealed as much. This album hasn't changed my view. It's heavy in gentle piano based songs, most of which are eminently listenable, lyrically thoughtful, but in the end, not really my thing. There's a grandiose opening with Swimming Pool / Born In The UK, a bright song on growing up in

One more from the boot fair haul of a couple of weeks ago, I remember hearing the album at the time of release (probably on CD from the library), and quite enjoying it, but not enough to want to follow it up too closely. The androgynous image of the cover and Brett Anderson's deliberately ambiguous statements didn't really appeal, but as a happily married man in his thirties, I probably wasn't the confused teenager market they were after. However, I enjoyed some of the songs.

This is an album I picked up for less than a quid at a boot fair, although I suspect I could have had it for a quid at any time in the last 20 years, such is its frequent appearance in the charity shops. The Seahorses were a short lived band, formed by guitarist John Squire, after the Stone Roses split, with a group of hitherto unknown musicians, mostly from York. The feeling from a distance seems to be that the band rode their luck on John Squire's reputation, with the album

Long recognised as one of the stronger albums in the 'live recordings' section of rock, I was delighted to pick up (Oxfam, Market Harborough, £2.99) this 2CD set from Neil and the Horse, recorded during the 1990 tour promoting the Ragged Glory album. Of course, it's fantastic - one of the best live albums I've heard. The performance is tight, yet unrestrained. Lots of noise, lots of feedback, distortion and atmosphere, and a superb collection of Young's finest from the back c

Stewart Lee does a routine, about being the sort of comedian people think they ought to see, rather than want to see, likening this to visiting the site of a wartime atrocity near a European holiday destination. That's what I feel about this album. I enjoyed U2's early albums, and bought the live Under A Blood Red Sky (and probably will again if I see it cheap), but by 1987 I'd tired of Bongo's earnestness, and the all-conquering superstar status that he, The Hedge and the ot

I've massively enjoyed Richard Dawson's music, ever since hearing him on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone a few years ago. So, imagine my delight on finding one of his albums that I didn't already own in the Oxfam shop a couple of weeks ago. Peasant is set in the kingdom of Bryneich, now the Tyne/Tweed area which Dawson hails from, at some time in the dark ages, telling stories from characters in that landscape. It's the first in a trilogy of such narrative albums (2020 being set

This eighties Liverpool curiosity was a chance purchase at Oxfam a couple of weeks ago . I vaguely remember the Pale Fountains as one of the bands who might have been from the city around then, just following on from the Eric's scene, but founder Michael Head is probably far better known for Shack and his solo work, much of which has been recommended to me. My initial thoughts are that this feels like perfectly good, eighties pop music, redolent with shades of Lloyd Cole and

I picked this up for pennies at a boot fair, but to be honest, there have been numerous occasions over the years where I could have got it for a quid in charity shops. Such is the fate of squillion selling albums, whose status as classics never quite materialises. It's noticeable, thirty years on, that when people revisit classic REM, very little from this album arises. This much awaited follow up to 1992's Automatic For The People entered the UK and US charts at number 1, ce

I've mentioned before my fondness for Paul Weller's post-Jam combo, The Style Council, despite the cynical scorn flung at them at the time, so I had no issues parting with pennies to pick up this, their second and no 1 hit album from 1985. It's as enjoyable as I remembered it, with Weller indulging his soul boy ambitions, tempered by keyboardist Mick Talbot's jazz and swing influences. All with a political edge which is and was very much in line with my political thinking. Op

Yet another bargain boot fair purchase. This is supposed to be the Small Faces' finest hour, their 1968 classic crossover of music hall style songs, pop and psychedelia, yet an album I hadn't previously heard. This was the band's third and final studio album, before Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton, and the rest of the band (Ronnie Lane, Kenny Jones and Ian McLagan) dropped the 'Small', and brought in Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood from Jeff Beck's grou

The usual story. Boot fair, cheap stall, a complete punt. I'd heard the name Sebadoh, but had little idea what to expect. This is a 1990 compilation, consisting of 42 tracks - the whole of their second album, Weed Forestin' as well as half the tracks from their debut, The Freed Man. In music recording, there's hi-fi, there's lo-fi and then there's this. Short, unformed, minimal, often repetitive songs possibly recorded on a 1970s cassette recorder, in a muffled dustbin. Part

I picked this up for next to nothing at Holcot boot fair a couple of weeks ago, but only just got round to listening recently. It was welcomed in 2013, since many, knowing of Bowie's failing health, had assumed he'd retired from making music, so anything released by him (and it was ten years since his previous studio album) was going to be an event. Would it be harsh of me to suggest that the long wait, and the sense of relief at Bowie's return led to this being received less

Another boot fair punt here, and one I really had little idea on The name And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead ... gives some hint as to the sound. Wikipedia merely describes the band as 'alternative rock', but I can help thinking that this has much more of the post-punk sound I'd hoped for (and been disappointed not to get) from the power-pop trio Green Day, a couple of albums ago. I've really enjoyed this album. It's loud, raucous at times, with many more considered mo

When the man's offering 3 CDs for £2 at the boot fair, this is the sort of thing you end up taking home. I'd heard of Yello, but had no idea what they sounded like, apart from an appearance on the NME Mighty Reel cassette with Sensation. But there's nothing on this album which interests me as much as that 1982 release did. This is an uninteresting procession of rhythm heavy electronic dance style tunes and songs, and after three songs, I'm bored. Blazing Saddles hints at a bi

Twenty years too late to the party, that's me. After hearing about this uncompromising US "punk" band (sorry, kids, punk was a 1970s phenomenon and we've moved on now), and learning to play one of their songs at geriatric guitar classes, I thought it was worth 50p at the boot fair for this artifact. It starts great. American idiot is a rousing anthem, well delivered and a fantastic start to the album, and we're quickly into the extended five-parter Jesus Of Suburbia, which is

Just before my recent holiday, I took a visit to the local Saturday Boot Fair in Holcot, and stumbled over a nice bloke selling loads and loads of CDs for £1 each, or 3 for £2, and it was quite a profitable haul, as readers will see over the next few reviews. This was a CD I knew nothing about, but thought from the cover it might be a bit 'spacerock', certainly worth a quid. Finding out what it actually is proved a bit of a puzzle, but I eventually discovered that it's a comp

I suspect this was bought well over 20 years ago in a closing Our Price store (the last of which closed in 2003). In a closing down sale, I picked up about 20 CDs without boxes/covers for £1 each, and this one has a very low resolution home made cover, which I'm tempted to upgrade! Berlin is Reed's third solo album, and it's a tale of unrelenting gloom, a series of songs following the cycle of drug abuse and violence in Jim and Caroline's doomed relationship. Rolling Stone, a

The band's second album, is in essence a Steven Wilson solo album, with guest appearances by future permanent members Colin Edwin, Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison on a couple of tracks. I bought it online a couple of months ago, but figured we'd been a bit Wilson/PT heavy on this blog, and only got round to it now. This is the band's second album, but this is an updated version released in 2018, remixed and remastered by Wilson, also with the drum machine parts rerecorded

I've long had a soft spot for African Music, while realising that the continent is huge, and the term covers such a broad swathe of cultures as to be meaningless. This one, from a charity shop, is a classic, "it's a quid and it has a nice cover, it might be OK" to go alongside a number of such compilations I possess. Like so many of the others, it's a pleasant enough listen without too much that makes me sit up and take notice. By 1999 African pop music had far more exposure