review by Damon Boughen Nestlings Vol. 1, the debut compilation from Oxfordโs Young Womenโs Music Project (YWMP), is a celebration of local musical talent and the importance of grassroots music spaces. Released to mark the first anniversary of The Nest, the projectโs venue, the twelve-track collection brings together established artists, emerging musicians and bands that…
scene photographer extraordinaire Ian Hanham takes us through his pic of the monthโฆ (Ed: I love it when he pushes the format) It is perhaps pushing the boundaries of the format to create a triptych for a ‘photo of the month’. However, it feels right to share the before, during and after of the moment…
live @ Truck Store 24/10/26 Amongst this decade’s folk revivers, Clara Mann is one of the newest and best. Anyone who hears her voice will be immediately reminded of Bridget St. John, with whom she shares a clear, soft and rich tone. Of her contemporaries, her sound bears a resemblance to that of Elanor Moss.…
SUNDAY 1st The Proclaimers; Transphobic twins bring their new album You May Offend to Oxford – OK Boomer (the show is sold out in any case); New Theatre; 7:30 ; Rabidfest Day 2: N0trixx + Lesbian Bed Death + The Crawling, Maatkare + Swarm6ix + Dacara + Spared An Endless Orbit + Omegathrone + The…
10/10/26, OCM presents at The Nest Anglo-Turkish harp and electronics duos arenโt exactly ten-a-kuruล so Masal are intriguing from the outset. Although the opening number gives us the abstraction of pitched radio static, most of Alastair Johnsonโs beats tend towards the fuzzy warmth of the less bloody-minded side of Warpโs pioneering Artificial Intelligence compilations (who…
review by Damon Boughen Stornoway’s fifth album, the second after their unexpected reunion in 2022, Beyonder feels like the beloved Oxford band stretching their sound without losing what made them distinctive in the first place. The harmonies, warmth and fascination with the natural world are still unmistakably theirs, but this time everything feels a little…
The Library, 8th October 2026 In the week that Glastonbury once again sold out in half an hour at ยฃ400 a pop, allowing lucky ticketholders the chance to see their favourite bands from the far side of a field through a sea of flags and influencers, Divine Schism host a sold-out show in Oxfordโs most…
scene photographer extraodinaire Ian Hanham takes us through his pic of the month… As Carmen Redeker, the lead singer of Die Anstalt, left the stage and headed for the Bullingdon’s bar, my main thought was ‘I should probably follow her’. As she climbed up the metal beam and, still singing, hung upside down by her…
THURSDAY 1ST Emily Portman: beautiful, beguiling, slightly witchy contemporary folk music from Glastonburyโs Emily Portman, but then again her new album is called Dominion Of Spells; The North Wall; 7pm FRIDAY 2ND The Balkan Wanderers + The Mighty Redox + The HorMONES + Gulag Walrus: Oxford institution Klub Kakofanney celebrates its 35th anniversary with a…
All Will Be Wired, The Library, 4/9/26 Ravers of a certain vintage might recall Trance Europe Express, a compilation series that surveyed the electronica sounds of the mid-nineties. BST, a new project from Ian โTiger Mendozaโ De Quadros, feels like bingeing on all of these comps at once, the set perfectly capturing a clutch of…