Feature: The Berlin Stories (Slow Travel Berlin)

Christopher Isherwood's 'The Berlin Stories' remains vital reading for anyone looking to get beneath Berlin's skin. Read my piece for Slow Travel Berlin here.

"Those who've spent time in cafes people-watching or working will understand barman Bobby's complaint about customers who 'order a beer and think they've got the right to sit here the whole evening'..."

Feature: The Berlin Stories (Slow Travel Berlin)

Album Review: Micah P Hinson 'And The Pioneer Saboteurs' (BBC Music)

My first review for the BBC Music site concerns Micah P. Hinson, his "weather-beaten baritone" and "his powerfully ominous reshaping of old-school Americana". Read it here.

Album Review: Micah P Hinson 'And The Pioneer Saboteurs' (BBC Music)

Feature: The New Sound Of Southern Rock (Electronic Beats)

And so, as the World Cup rumbles on, here's a look at the emerging indie rock scene within the host nation's borders, including interviews with Dear Reader and BLK JKS.

"Interest in South Africa’s ‘alternative’ musical scene hasn’t just been absent the last few years: it never even existed. Naming bands from Australia to Iceland is little challenge, but coming up with even one from South Africa whose roots lie in what we recognise as ‘alternative’ music was, until now, next to impossible."

Feature: The New Sound Of Southern Rock (Electronic Beats)

Feature: Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed Part 2 - Notes From The Aldrei Festival (The Quietus)

Kid rappers, Astrakhan coats, 'Pink Ladies' and Oscar nominated directors: my adventures at Iceland's Aldrei Festival continue on The Quietus here.

Feature: Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed Part 2 - Notes From The Aldrei Festival (The Quietus)

Feature: Solid Gold (Slow Travel Berlin)

A short piece on Berlin's Solid Gold store, THE place to buy band t-shirts and assorted oddities:
http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/2010/06/07/solid-gold/

Feature: Solid Gold (Slow Travel Berlin)

Feature: Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed - Notes From The Aldrei Festival Part 1 (The Quietus)

Part One of my epic report from the remote Aldrei Festival in Iceland's West Fjords, home to "Balkan polka, sunshine pop, thunderous electronica, Icelandic blues, death metal, folk, indie rock and, this year, a new form of bling bling hip hop that will be delivered by a chubby cheeked kid who looks like he probably only mastered his ABC a few short years earlier..."

Read it here (but perhaps put the kettle on first!):
http://thequietus.com/articles/04355-mugison-s-aldrei-f-r-g-su-ur-festival-iceland

Feature: Don't Be Afraid, You Have Just Got Your Eyes Closed - Notes From The Aldrei Festival Part 1 (The Quietus)

Feature: 25 Years On: Remembering The Colourfield's 'Virgins & Philistines' (The Quietus)

Summer arrives, and with it the time to look back at Terry Hall's fantastic debut album with The Colourfield, Virgins & Philistines, whose "overwhelming mood is, true to form, that of imminent regret, the foreshadowing of things going wrong or at the very least not working out as hoped..."

It's all here:
http://thequietus.com/articles/04378-25-years-on-terry-hall-remembering-the-colourfield-s-virgins-philistines

'Virgins & Philistines', whose "overwhelming mood is, true to form, that of imminent regret, the foreshadowing of things going wrong or at the very least not working out as hoped if, indeed, it's not already too late..."

Feature: 25 Years On: Remembering The Colourfield's 'Virgins & Philistines' (The Quietus)

Feature: In Praise Of Edgar Reitz's 'Heimat' (Slow Travel Berlin)

An ex-pat's take on the wonderful first season of the evergreen 1980's German TV series, Heimat:
http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/2010/06/02/in-praise-of-edgar-reitzs-heimat/

Feature: In Praise Of Edgar Reitz's 'Heimat' (Slow Travel Berlin)