Daniel Dylan Wray traces nearly seven decades of Sheffield’s independent music in Groovy, Laidback and Nasty, a sweeping account of a city whose creativity has always thrived on the margins. From electronic futurism and post-punk to pop, metal, bassline and bleep techno, Sheffield has consistently produced era-defining sounds shaped by isolation, economic struggle and a fierce DIY ethos.
The book explores how this understated city became home to visionaries who reshaped British music. Drawing on more than 150 interviews with figures including Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Self Esteem and Richard Hawley, Wray builds a rich portrait of scenes that evolved through determination rather than civic swagger.
Positioning Sheffield alongside – and often ahead of – more documented UK music hubs, Wray offers both cultural history and a heartfelt tribute to the people who forged the city’s singular sound. As a writer embedded in Sheffield’s creative community for over two decades, he brings rare insight to a story that has long deserved this depth of attention.
Groovy, Laidback and Nasty stands as the definitive celebration of Sheffield’s independent musical legacy.
In April 2019 I had the experience of heading for New York. We were going to go for my daughter's 21st but decided to go a year earlier - and it was just as well that we did.
It's just as well that we did, as if we had waited for the following year, COVID would have cancelled it.
Angine de Poitrine are described as a experimental or math-rock band, who produce compositions featuring micro-tonal changes and progressions in their music.
They wear papier-mache masks with large noses and are covered in spots and perform anonymously under pseudonyms.
When you search for them in Google, see what happens... it's fun.
It translates from the term for 'angina pectoris' or 'chest pains'.
They have released two albums.
The group describes itself as a "mantra-rock Dada Pythago-Cubist orchestra" composed of "space-time voyagers", reflecting their fusion of technical complexity, hypnotic repetition, and absurdist aesthetics.
For the Heima concert film, Sigur Rós came home and performed in a park close to the city centre - the first time a concert had been held there of that kind.
A performance from that concert of the song Popplagið which builds to an epic crescendo...
"Klambratún looks very impressive. A large, sloping, grassy site, a few hundred metres away from the centre of town, it has never staged a large-scale music event before and the hope is Sigur Rós could set some sort of precedent. Finni, our film producer from the immaculate True North production company, tells me he has managed to blag a helicopter to take some aerial shots of the event. Also in the air is the PA, which is hanging from two enormous cranes on either side of a stage specially imported from the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Jónsi turns up on his shopper bike from his apartment downtown, while Georg parks his caravan round the back of the art museum that will today serve as our dressing room and place where we will later shake hands with the great and the good of Reykjavík who have contributed funding to make this unique event financially feasible. I meet the folks from Reykjavík city council who put their money where their mouths were, while Craig, the Word journalist, tells me he’s been introduced to no fewer than half the current cabinet. Later, the President himself will turn up, but, despite urging from the band, his First Lady will refuse to parade across the stage with the brass band at the climax of ‘Se Lest’." - John Best
In the mid-1970s, David Bowie’s life had become increasingly unstable, dominated by cocaine addiction, paranoia and creative exhaustion. Seeking anonymity and recovery, Bowie relocated to Berlin, then a divided city marked by Cold War tension and artistic experimentation. Berlin offered Bowie distance from celebrity culture and a sense of anonymity that allowed him to rebuild both personally and creatively.
Public Service Broadcasting's "Bright Magic" was the band's "Berlin" album.
The Guardian review described it as "a selective history of Berlin, split into three distinct movements: the city’s rise, a celebration of Weimar-era hedonism and a more abstract three-track requiem."
The final track on the album is an interesting one as it features a Kurt Tucholsky poem atop an ambient background.
Back in June 2019 my youngest daughter shocked me by informing she’d bought a ticket to see the BTS show at London’s Wembley Stadium, costing a little north of £100. She wasn’t asking for a contribution as her job at Waitrose covered the cost but even so, a hundred quid for a South Korean pop band!
BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단; RR: Bangtan sonyeondan; lit. 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts')
I was left scratching my head.
She went and she loved it.
I should have realised there was something more to this teenage fandom because now she has lived and worked in South Korea for almost two years. She is learning Korean and can negotiate her way through the social mores and culinary challenges of a society that is both familiar but intrinsically different from anything in Europe.
Earlier this year she was unable to get a ticket for BTS’s huge open air shows in front of at least 100,000 people outside Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung Palace in the heart of the megacity’s downtown area. The free tickets disappeared instantly they became available, with most of the rest of the crowd strung out along the linear Gwanghwamun Square connected by huge video screens that projected the highly choreographed hour-long show.
It was clearly the hottest ticket in town, or Asia for that matter, for that weekend probably the World.
When I visited Seoul in 2025 this square was the focal point of political demonstrations connected with the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol for insurrection as a result of his illegal attempt to impose martial law in December 2024. Highly amplified chanting was echoing around the high-rise offices that line its sides from both supporters of Yeol and his opponents.
The show’s backdrop was Gwanghwamun Gate built in 1396 in the reign of King Taejo, the first king of the Korean Joseon dynasty, although as is often the case with such culturally significant physical symbols of nationhood that monumental gate has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries, the last time as recently as 2010.
There is no doubt that BTS are a global phenomenon.
Since their inception in 2010, and first album, Dark & Wild in 2014, the seven clean cut boys of BTS have danced and sung their way across the world to 140 million album sales and billions of streams. BTS’s clean-cut projection is often carefully curated against a more transgressive vibe with song titles such as ‘Hooligan’, and the track Normal with its lyrics.
“Kerosene, dopamine, chemical induced
fantasy and fame, yeah, the things we choose
Show me hate, show me love, make me bulletproof
Yeah we call this shit normal”
In a high trust, and still socially conservative society such as South Korea this is verging on fighting talk and is a long way from the more traditional folk sounds, although I suspect singing mostly in English rather dilutes its impact in a society where English is still not that widely spoken amongst older generations - even after more than half a century of partial occupation by US military forces.
Singing in English does however enable the global reach that has turned BTS into a multi-billion dollar economic phenomenon that can support a 70 date global tour crossing North and South America, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Their latest album Arirang, their first since they had a military-service enforced hiatus, sold just shy of four million copies on the day of its release. Arirang is the name of a Korean folk song that is so ingrained in Korean culture, north and south, that it has obtained UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. It is song of departure, longing and regret.
It is a melancholy music, a lyrical style that appears perennially popular across the world whether Portuguese Fado or the blues of America’s deep south.
As the lyrics of Arirang state:
“The trees and the flowers will bloom for aye
But the glories of youth will soon fade away”
In the wake of BTS a host of other K-Pop acts have followed with BlackPink, Stray Kids and Seventeen leading the charge. This is a global dynamic that isn’t going anywhere other than upwards.
Critically you might be drawn towards arguing that K-Pop is derivative and formulaic and if you watched the BBC series “Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience”you’d probably have such a perception confirmed, although it is worth watching if only for the scary record company bosses who cast their dismissive eyes over the five likely lads from Britain and their attempts to ply their melodies under the name ‘Dear Alice’. It borrows heavily from US hip-hop and rap, and European electro-pop.
Yet what is undoubtedly true is that the enthusiasm of these five British lads to emulate a band likes BTS is confirmation that K-Pop is an integral part of Hallyu, as the ‘Korean cultural wave’ is called, that has found has a sound foot-hold in the UK and elsewhere with food, cosmetics, fashion and film all playing their part. This is a textbook example of the concept of ‘soft-power’.
However, I think my daughter will prefer the authentic South Korea for some time more. She said to me recently “Dad, I love the place, it is so liveable”. I guess another visit out east is on the cards sometime soon.
P.S:
The most accessible book on the history of South Korea is ‘Shrimp to Whale' by Ramon Pacheco Pardo who is a Professor of International Relations at Kings College London.
Looks like a book worth reading...
Carl Lee is retired but was a lecturer at The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, taught A level Geography for 20 years at Sheffield College, is the author of five books about geography and has a PhD in economic geography. He has been nuts about music since buying his first single in 1973: 10cc’s 'Rubber Bullets' if you were wondering.
There was also recent success at the Oscar's for K-Pop Demon Hunters, and the song that features in the film also won an Oscar.
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
May 13: Roman Roads
Roman Roads is an album by Land Observations.
Land Observations is a solo project by artist and musician James Scott Brooks.
The music explores warm, repetitive minimalism via electric and acoustic VI and XII string guitar, to create instrumentals around ideas of landscape, architecture and place.
The tracks are named after Roman Roads (naturally).
Via the publisher:
Attempts to develop a new project alongside the visual art meant that Brooks did a lot of home recording at his flat in Hackney, East London. Land Observations, developed out of an interest in the former Roman roads that lay just a short walk from his front door - roads of communication and conquest that stretch from the old City of London and out across parts of Britain, Europe and beyond.
Land Observations sees Brooks exploring the power of minimalism via layered, repetitive electric VI string guitar to create warm, evocative instrumentals. Although Brooks spent considerable time researching Roman Roads - with each of the compositions responding to the psychogeography of an individual road - this isn't just an historical project, or an attempt to look only into the past. There is an obvious fascination with Roman Roads as man made structures, with their bold lines carving through the landscape, creating an album that's a reflection on the broader ideas of travel, momentum and progress.
Roman Roads IV - XI is released on Mute on CD, vinyl and download, with packaging featuring original drawings by Brooks. The album was recorded at the Bridge and Tunnel Mobile, Berlin and engineered and mixed by Mark Bihler and James Brooks.
Before the Kingsland Road Aurelian Way From Nero's Palace Via Flaminia Appian Way The Chester Road Portway Battle Of Watling Street
This year's competition is hosted by Austria and will take place in Vienna on the 16th of May, with earlier semi finals taking place to slim down the entries. The first of those is tonight.
It has previously led to quite a bit of political controversy over who is invited or not, and who boycotts the event.
The main website offers a chance to scroll back through Eurovision history, and download the apps ready for voting, as well as stock up on merchandise (although the P&P cost will make that unlikely).
Over the years of watching Eurovision, there are a few recent songs which stand out for me.
And here's Iceland's Daði Freyr: Think about Things....
Daði Freyr (Daði & Gagnamagnið) were in the COVID-hit competition.
Years ago, the creative geographer Tony Cassidy produced an annual resource on the politics of Eurovision to show how many countries just voted for each other.
There is also the controversy over the inclusion of Israel which has led to boycotts from several countries.
Monday, 11 May 2026
May 11: Ticket Stub #7: Tori Amos
This ticket was from one of the relatively early Tori Amos gigs that I attended when she still played relatively small venues. She returned to the Sheffield City Hall last month to kick off the tour in support of her new album "In Times of Dragons" as it happens. My sister went and said it was excellent.
We were up in the Grand Circle which is where I preferred to be for gigs at the City Hall. I saw so many different bands from up there - including some stubs I've already posted, such as Big Country. I also saw her down at the Ipswich Regent and elsewhere.
My first Tori Amos gig was actually very much smaller than that.
I traced it back using this tours archive, and it was on February 19, 1992 at Norwich Arts Centre. There were only about 30-40 of us there and we were actually stood around the piano rather than sat down.
Two days previously she had played Manchester University and the set list was:
Little Earthquakes Crucify Silent All These Years Whole Lotta Love/Thank You Precious Things Happy Phantom Leather Girl Upside Down Sentimental Journey Me and a Gun Winter
Encore 1 A Case of You Killing Me Softly China
Encore 2 Tear In Your Hand Angie
As her style developed, I saw her in various other formats, and with other musicians.
This is from Harry Chapin, whose family had strong musical heritage.
From Wikipedia: "Cat's in the Cradle" is narrated by a man who becomes a father in the first stanza. He is constantly too busy with his work to spend time with his son, despite his son looking up to him and promising he will grow up to be just like him. When the son graduates from college, he declines his father's offer to relax with him and instead asks for the car keys. In the final stanza, the now-retired father calls his adult son and asks to spend some time together, but the son is now too busy with his own work and family to spend time with his dad, and the father realizes his son has indeed grown up to be just like him.
And speaking of family, here's a track from Mike Oldfield that then became a hit for Hall and Oates.
I loved this album at the time and played it a lot. There was a disco element to some of it, but also a lot of musicians who played other styles of music including rock and blues
Julian Lloyd Webber – cello Gary Moore – Gibson Les Paul, Rickenbacker electric 12 string & Fender Stratocaster electric guitars, Guild acoustic guitar Rod Argent – grand piano, synthesizers (Minimoog, Roland RS-202, Yamaha CS-80) Don Airey – grand piano, synthesizers (ARP Odyssey, Minimoog, Solina String Ensemble), Fender Rhodes electric piano Barbara Thompson – flute, alto flute, alto and tenor saxophone John Mole – Fender Precision Bass, Hayman fretless bass guitar Jon Hiseman – Arbiter Auto-Tune drums, Paiste cymbals and gongs, percussion
It also featured Phil Collins. Seek it out on Spotify.
Another crossover between rock and orchestral music came out in 1978. This is still going strong almost 50 years on.
Some details of an album which I came across when searching for information about Alex Gifford's 'Morecambe Bay'.
There’s a strong green thread running through the album, too. It’s topped and tailed with different takes on environmental damage: the poignancy of Land and Sea set against the cheerily scathing Coming in Further.
Human damage to the natural world crops up in a number of the songs here, like the concertina-backed whaling chorus song Nantucket Sleighride, with its updated conservation message, or the acapella Do You Remember?, cataloguing 25 years of environmental decline.
The Icelandic band Sigur Rós were invited to perform at the special event at the Royal Albert Hall tonight. I look forward to watching it. I saw them perform live there in October 2025 - a memorable occasion.
On their Facebook page earlier, they said:
"We are deeply honoured to be a part of David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth celebration. He is one of the pillars of nature conservation and has raised awareness of environmental protection all over the world. He has been a part of our lives from early childhood, educating us on the wonders of our planet.
The fight for nature is one of the most important things in our lifetime.
Even in our little Iceland where we still have the largest unspoiled wilderness in Europe, we are facing plans of irreversible damage to our nature in many aspects.
Salmon farming is Iceland's new gold mine. As open-net salmon farming has been heavily taxed in Norway, the Norwegians are now welcomed to Icelandic fjords, destroying the seabed and the ancient breeds of wild salmon in our rivers. The conditions in these farms are absolutely disgusting. The raw sewage coming from fish farming in Iceland is equivalent to an 800 000 population town or city. To produce one kilo of salmon you need three kilos of protein. The salmon is partially bred on soy protein which is grown in faraway places which is another serious matter altogether.
As we speak they are transporting wind turbines to our first wind farm in the unspoilt Icelandic highlands and there are many more planned in the near future. We are told there is an energy shortage in Iceland which is not true. The wind farms will be used to power aluminium smelters, ferro-silicon plants, bitcoin mining and data centres. We don't really have to mention the effect these will have on birdlife and wetlands.
Iceland is also still allowing bottom trawling in certain areas around the island. Bottom trawling is like cutting down all the trees to get their fruits. It is a vulgar disrespectful method, destroying so much more than the species they are hunting for.
Oh, and let us not forget the whales. Iceland is still hunting fin whales, the second largest whale on earth, still listed as a vulnerable species, for no applicable reason at all.
The ongoing greenwashing of our government and the breach against our international commitments of conserving 30% of our seabed is highly alarming.
Iceland should be in the forefront of protecting nature and inspire other nations to follow in its footsteps. Monetary bullying and greed for natural resources is the main fuel in this attack on our country's nature.
These are just a few things happening in our little bubble called Iceland.
The whole world is at stake. Everywhere, we humans are slowly destroying our planet without giving it the slightest thought. We need to save nature to save ourselves.
We should fight for nature as David Attenborough has done all his life. Thank you David."
"Gordon Chapman-Fox impeccably soundtracks the construction and growth of a northern English community from the mid 1970’s to early 1980’s, rendered in shimmering arpeggios and soaring, euphoric leads."
As with several small labels, music is released through Bandcamp, where you can see the variety of releases, many of which have titles themed around a period of house building, when new towns, housing estates and tower blocks were springing up - a period written about by John Grindrod.
There are also some tracks featuring archive audio from a time of great promise and change in urban areas.
