This is the fourth album from the Tuareg desert blues innovators from Algeria, and this time they’ve introduced electronic textures to their sound, as well as a newfound intimacy. It’s a release that saw local artists and friends join the sessions, result…

Stealing Sheep are the Liverpool three-piece whose live shows are real avant-pop raves, and they’ll be bringing their sonic party-poppers when they visit Newcastle in early February. Stealing Sheep haven’t troubled the charts all that much, but for th…

The Irish singer-songwriter (and actor) Niall McNamee is an incredibly exciting prospect and he’ll be holding audience members rapt when he appears at the Cumberland Arms at the back end of January. Niall McNamee is a genuinely exciting prospect on the…

Smoky jazz and sensual secrets permeate the ARC in Stockton this January when The Monocle comes to town to weave a strange kind of magic. Nothing is impossible and everything is unbelievable down at The Monocle, where women are free to laugh loudly and…

Baltic are presenting the first solo exhibition in the UK from artist and filmmaker Saodat Ismailova, a leading voice in Central Asian art. Working between Paris and Tashkent, Ismailova came of age in the post-Soviet era Uzbekistan. Her work interweave…

Set in the 50s, but audaciously soundtracked to choice 80s pop, Josh Safdie’s picture is a deliriously freewheeling, anarchic and kinetic sports picture meets screwball comedy. Chalamet is Marty Mauser, a young Jewish New Yorker who we meet in 1952, charm…

The force of nature that is Gav Easby is leading the charge when the next inU Sessions comes to Middlesbrough’s famous Empire this January. Deep Progressive House is at the heart of Gav Easby’s sound, working with the likes of Kamilo Sanclemente, Gai B…

Erin White scored a hit with her non-fiction work ‘Memoir of Love, Belonging, and Belief’ in which she discussed reconciling faith and sexuality as she grappled with her desire for both divine love and romantic love (she spent time with her girlfriend whi…

Hut on the Green in Gosforth (pictured) is the place you need to head if you fancy trying your hand at something new in 2026. From woodwork to printing to dress making, they’ve got you covered. Since launching in 2024, Hut on the Green has gone from st…

This pic is of the wondrous Frankie Archer who is playing a gig in Sunderland this January along with ATFK (and if that pic could talk, I’d reckon she’d say: “Come along to see this show as I reckon it’ll be the best thing you do all month). Well! This…

Russell Hicks is one of the UK’s most razor-sharp and exciting comedy talents and, after a stint on the big-screen, he’s bursting back onto the stage with his new show: ‘This Time It’s Personal’. See him in Durham this January. The big-screen? Yep – th…

That – if I’m not very much mistaken – is The Woman in Black, and she’s coming to scare the bejesus out of Darlington Hippodrome audiences this January. Susan Hill’s gothic horror ‘The Woman in Black’ became one of the most feted novels of its kind dur…

There are few things better than when fashion collides with some serious good in the world, which is why we’re all over Neuthread, the brand-new initiative from Daisy Chain. If you’re unfamiliar with Daisy Chain’s work, it grew from a small community …

December is here, which means it’s time for presents, giving, good will and the obligatory Christmas jumper you wheel out once a year. But this year why not just combine them all in one fell swoop? Illustrator Laura Fisher has teamed up with Guide Dogs…

The western vibe continues to weave its way through trends as we head into the end of 2025, and London footwear brand Duke & Dexter are still leaders of the pack when it comes to a more subtle way of wearing the trend. Think more driving a pick-up truc…

Newcastle Wood Recycling is a not-for-profit social enterprise on a mission to divert wood from the local waste stream while creating inclusive opportunities for employment, training and volunteering in the community. Newcastle Wood Recycling collect w…

Would it be Christmas without a spin around the ice-rink at the Life Science Centre? (Answer: no, it wouldn’t.) It’s back! My annual trip to this wonderful ice-rink is now as much a part of my Christmas as standing in the queue outside Fenwick window. …

Ding, ding! Keep politics out of music? Keep music out of politics. In 2025 too many featherweight politicians arrogantly bounced into the musical/political ring with modern heavyweights like Kneecap and Bob Vylan and were swiftly left on the ropes. The a…