journalism
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Best albums of 2023: Morning Star round-up
We are now in the era of Spotify Unwrapped. This is the zeitgeist of the streaming giant encouraging users to share which musicians they’ve not been giving their money to the most often over the past twelve months. Out there, away from the algorithms, it’s been a good year. The one overriding theme? Death, best… Read more
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Jim Bob review: Chalk, Brighton 19th November 2023
Jim Bob, former Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine frontman and professional rabble rouser, is on stage in sunglasses and a particularly sparkly jacket. This is a rearranged gig from the summer, postponed when the hotel next to the venue burned down just before showtime. The singer addresses the walrus in the room. “We were gonna… Read more
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Renationalising Dolly Parton
A review of 9-5 – The Musical. This first appeared in The Morning Star. 9-5: The Musical The Polish Theatre, London, 4/7/2023 A lingering life regret: passing up the opportunity to go to Dollywood, the Dolly Parton themed attraction in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains. Driving past the gates, thinking: what madness lies within there? Plastic… Read more
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“2022 comedy highlights with James Walsh”
Note: this article originally appeared in the Morning Star newspaper, and online on their website here Yer generic Friday night upstairs at the Goat & Gangrene in Crapton-on-Brine might still be booking eight white blokes complaining about their divorces, but in the urban centres the alternative scene is as exciting, experimental and inclusive as it’s… Read more
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March for libraries
There were two marches in London last Saturday: the million masks march (widely reported in the press) and a national protest against library closures (less so). A quarter of all libraries have been lost since May 2010. Since then, we’ve seen this venerable and worthy profession hollowed out by austerity and its cheery Cameroonian cover… Read more
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Draughts, London’s first board game cafe: Morning Star column 17/11/2015
For a lot of people, board games either evoke fuzzy nostalgic childhood memories or unfurl anecdotes about how their sister punched a wall while playing Monopoly at Christmas. But in the past half a decade, there has been a revolution in the genre, with beautifully designed and conceived games increasing in popularity. The most popular… Read more
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Rebel Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London’s Radical History: Morning Star column 01/09/2015
IF YOU stand on Great Dover Street across from the Tube in Borough, south London, and look north, you see the historic church of St George the Martyr. It’s overlooked by the new “iconic” skyscrapers of the city across the river, which tower over the old church like drunken teenagers leering over a wall to… Read more
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Arnie all-nighter at the Prince Charles Cinema: Morning Star column 08/09/2015
THE Prince Charles in London’s West End isn’t the only repertory cinema in Britain. There’s the magnificent BFI, for instance, with its lovingly curated seasons and its carefully calibrated programme that balances beautifully between pretension and popularity. But the BFI wouldn’t show Mothra, an infamous Japanese monster film from the 1960s. It’d never arrange a… Read more
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Dirty Rotten Comics: Morning Star column 16/10/2015
A MAN in a bar has antlers grow unexpectedly from his forehead. While you’re digesting that, a woman’s mind wanders as she’s subjected to terrible rock music while taking an MRI scan. A kid can move mountains with his mind but would rather play Playstation, while a cheery piece of marshmallow goes for a doomed walk… Read more
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