Author: Lizz
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SZA; Ctrl – Audible Growing Pains.
When Ctrl dropped in 2017, I was 19—but I didn’t find it until years later, stuck in a genre rut. It came at the perfect time. I was in my twenties, learning to enjoy my own company and redefine my self-worth outside of relationships. It turned out I wasn’t alone in those feelings. I was…
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Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones Cassette.
Cover Art Andy Warhol created the cover, and Craig Braun designed it. It features a close-up of a man’s groin in tight jeans, with the outline of the penis clearly visible through the fabric. Although no one has confirmed the model’s identity, several men in Warhol’s circle claimed to be the well-endowed figure featured. Early…
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I Have Been a 13-Year-Old Girl. The Virgin Suicides – A Sound Track.
TRIGGER WARNING – This essay openly discusses suicide. If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, please know you’re not alone, call 116 123 for the UK’s suicide helpline, every lost life is a tragedy. The Virgin Suicides is a cautionary tale, the book, written by Jeffery Eugenides in 1993 and later adapted into a film directed by…
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An Album Passed Through Generations – Revenge, Eurythmics.
In 1975, Dave Stewart met Annie Lennox in the restaurant she was working at, together with other artists, they became Catch, later evolving into The Tourists. They would achieve mild success throughout the ’70s with tracks such as ‘So Good’ and ‘Blind Among’, but this was relatively short-lived. By 1980, Stewart and Lennox would break…
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Born in The USA – Bruce Springsteen Cassette Tape.
Cover Art Historical Context Track List Side A – Side B – Lyrics are enclosed in the J card which also features black and white images of Springsteen’s other albums with track lists. My Favourite Track ‘I’m on Fire’ it’s repeating beat drives the moody, almost melancholy sound, brimming with poetic desire – ‘sometimes its…
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Frank Sinatra? No Thank You. – Rolling Stones Unseen Exhibition.
Please allow them to introduce themselves. Hosted at London’s Dockside Vaults Rolling Stones Unseen 63′ will give audiences insight to the early days of the band until 10th September 2025. Immortalised by Gus Coral, the shots have finally found their stage after the documentary they were snapped for went unfinished over 60 years ago. Before…
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Wolf Alice Teases New Album with Two Dynamic Singles.
Ten years after the release of their debut album ‘My Love is Cool’, Wolf Alice teases us with two singles from The Clearing, produced by Greg Kurstin, which is set to be released 22nd August. We’re confronted by ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ with a commanding, jazz piano driven, bassy melody supports Rowsell’s erratic vocals, ranging from…
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Why Placebo’s Debut Album Remains an Angsty Masterpiece.
Placebo came onto the scene with their self-titled album in 1996, a time when Britpop had the UK up against a wall by its Adidas collar and although their lead singer and guitarist Brian Molko has British heritage, their sound didn’t echo the like of Oasis and Blur, regardless of this, the album peaked at…
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I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. – Sinéad O’Connor.
‘If we could talk about music, we wouldn’t need music.’ – Sinéad O’Connor. This Saturday (26/06/25) marks the two-year anniversary of musician, producer, activist and one of my personal heroes, Sinéad O’Connor’s passing. In her honour, I’m revisiting her second album – ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’, this release would propel her…
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Unlocking Empowerment in Deap Vally’s ‘Marriage’ Album – A Review.
2011 LA saw the coming together of what could arguably be one of the best female Punk / Rock groups since Bikini Kill. Lindsey Troy’s growling guitar riffs and Julie Edwards’ Bass driven drum beats, along with their combined Steven Tyler-esc wailing vocals would become Deap Vally. Their debut single ‘Make My Own Money.’ would…
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Wet Leg Continue to Butter Our Muffins – Moisturizer, A Review.
Call the police, Wet Leg are in love! Oh wait, they already have, never mind! Their 2022 self-titled, Grammy winning album read like a note to shitty men but Moisturizer is a love letter. We’re introduced to some new bandmates, Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chamber are joined by Ellis Durand on bass, Henry Homes on…
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Taking a Break With Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation – Review.
Many of us have grown up with Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, later shocking the world with her ‘rebellious’ era as she went through the growing pains so many child actors who embark on the quest for their own identity face. If you look into her discography, she’s been consistently releasing albums releases since as…
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Blaming Our Ex’s With The Beaches – A Review.
Forming in 2013, The Beaches are an all-girl Rock group from Canada, featuring Jordan Miller, lead vocals and guitar, her sister, Kylie Miller on guitar and backing vocals, Leandra Earl on Keyboard and Eliza Enman keeping everyone in time on drums. The energetic quad released their crashing sixth album ‘Blame My Ex’ in 2024, taking…
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Jack White – No Name.
Jack White, member of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, the Dead Weather and The Upholsterers, founder of Third Man Records in 2001 and acclaimed solo artist, surprised everyone when unnamed, blank sleeved records started being given out in branches of Third Man Records for free. The record just so happened to be White’s sixth solo…
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We Are Rewind Cassette Player.
When I was about 5 or 6, my grandparents gifted me a green Panasonic RQ-CW02 Walkman Cassette player. I didn’t have many cassette tapes, my dad gave me his copy of ‘Revenge’ by The Eurhythmics, one of the two cassettes from Now ’84, and I have vague memories of an Abba album, maybe their greatest…
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Royal College of Music London – Kurt Cobain Unplugged.
In 1989, MTV began the Unplugged series, presented by Jules Shear, it was a chance to hear popular music performed acoustic, think of it as the Tiny Desk sessions of the 90’s. Many of these performances were later brought out as albums usually titled the band’s name followed by ‘Unplugged’. November of 1993 saw Nirvana…
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Exploring Themes in Garbage’s Latest Album: Love, Grief, and Rebellion.
When I think 90s music, I think Garbage, the original four-piece line up with icon Shirley Manson on lead vocals and guitar, Steve Marker on guitar and keyboard, Butch Vig on drums and percussion and Duke Erikson on Bass have released their eighth studio album, written and recorded while Manson was recovering from a hip…
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Pulp’s ‘More’: A Journey Through Life.
I remember the first time I read the novel IT by Stephen King, the moment hit me that the story wasn’t just a bloodthirsty clown on a rampage, but a coming-of-age story, it gave the book so much body once the penny had dropped. PULP are the Stephen King of music for me, their commentary…