Catalonia moves towards independence

The voters of Catalonia took part in an historic election yesterday that could signal the beginning of independence for the region from Spain in a move that will radically shake up the map and the politics of Europe. The winning parties, collectively under the banner of Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) captured 62 of the seats in the Catalonian Parliament, and along with pro-independence CUP, who won a further 10 seats, there will be a majority of members in favour of secession when the — Read more →

CHVRCHES – Every Open Eye: Review

The Bones of What You Believe is comfortably one of my favourite albums of all-time.  Not many other records capture that singular sense of a band, one of drama and one of musical enchantment in the way that Bones did. CHVRCHES sophomore album Every Open Eye shows that the spirit of 80s is still alive and well in the 21st century and that they are a dynamic band that can do something different and still pull it off.  It’s not Bones, but in many ways — Read more →

A year on from the referendum

Last year was easily the most exciting that politics in this country will ever get, and the run up to the referendum was one of the most fascinating displays of public engagement ever.  Scotland came alive during the campaign, and the energy that was created back then hasn’t died down yet. It’s hard to believe, but a year ago today that Scotland went to the polls to reject the proposal of independence.  55% of Scots preferred to stay within the UK on that day and — Read more →

Nero – Between II Worlds: Review

Nero are champions of a dark, electronic sound and are one of the most distinctive acts in British music of recent years.  Between II Worlds is the long-awaited follow-up to their hit album Welcome Reality of 2011, with it being a long four years to wait for a fresh slice of their particular brand of dance music.  It was worth the wait. This album does a great job of evolving slightly beyond what Nero had done before but keeping the familiar tones of old.  It’s — Read more →

Tom & Jerry will put on a show

So it’s happened, Jeremy Corbyn – perennial back-bencher and left-wing stalwart – has won the leadership of the Labour party with a decisive and overwhelming victory amongst his party’s membership.  That very well may be the easy part. Corbyn has now had his first day in office, and from the off it seems like it will be an uphill battle for Corbyn to unite the Labour Party that is now his and direct them towards fighting their real enemy, the seemingly untouchable Tories. Getting some — Read more →