The world is facing an unprecedented amount of problems, and they won’t be solved by governments that put profit before people. Earlier this year, Boris Johnson told a private meeting of Tory MPs that the (initial) success of the UK’s Covid vaccine progra…

Mahmood Hussein Mattan was a much-travelled former merchant seaman from Somalia who eventually settled in Tiger Bay in the docks district of Cardiff. It was here that me met, and married, Laura Williams – a worker at the local paper factory. This was in t…

The redoubtable BBE Music are celebrating the centenary of recorded Ghanaian Highlife music with this double album reissue of two rare LPs recorded by the late Atakora Manu. Within these grooves you will find a mix of vintage, rootsy ‘palmwine’ blues-styl…

We ask the questions: Ray Spencer Ray Spencer is one of the real stalwarts of the local theatrical scene and he’s currently appearing in Rapunzel at the Customs House in South Shields. Do you ever go by Tommy the Trumpeter these days, or should we just c…

An eighteen-year-old transgender woman has a stormy reunion with her estranged dad in this sensitive and handsomely-rendered Belgian family drama meets road movie. Lola (Bollaers) lives in the city with her best friend Samir (Outalbali from ‘Sex Education…

This Canadian mover and groover caused plenty of people to sit up and pay notice when she released ‘Playing Chess’, her debut album, back in 2018. It was a well-funky, soul-soaked release, and this, the follow-up, is equally as enticing. LeGrow marries re…

Noir City is a magazine dedicated to documenting the seamier side of cinema, from double-crossing dames to desperate fall-guys. It used to be available only as a digital download only, but you can now get it in print too. The first copy of Noir City tha…

If you’re in the market for some superior muck and tat, then The Charlatans are now available in music box form. Imagine! Vinyl? Digital? Flexi-disc? Forget it! You can now enjoy some of your favourite artists’ biggest hits through the wonders of the humb…

Boxing Day always has a feel of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ about it, right? Wrong! Shindig has the kind of line up this December 26 that will make even the most jaded heart zing. Christmas Day is all very well, but there’s only so much Bailey’s I can d…

I mean COP26? Really? COPout26 more like…The Blonde Bombshell looked in the backlit hotel mirror again. Damn! Why wouldn’t his bloody hair stay in place. Ten seconds after finger combing, it looked a damn mess again. Absolute bedhead. The Latest Flame wou…