Sites for sore eyes ears

It's been a long time since I plugged any other blogs (shamefully long, really) - so consider this an attempt to start making amends. It's thanks to Sounding Bored that I've become aware of two music blogs that are not only excellent but also very regularly updated, The Album Wall and Dukla Prague Away Kit.

The Album Wall is run by Cardiff-based Joel Dear, whose recent review of Low's gig at the Tramshed in the city not only captured the magic of the Minnesotans' live show but also revealed that we have a mutual acquaintance, Graf (Spillers employee and Gindrinker guitarist), on whose strong recommendation Joel went along. Joel's own recommendations are well worth taking note of, and he doesn't just review gigs and albums - he's also recently interviewed Kate Jackson (formerly of The Long Blondes and now solo), for instance, and wrote a great post about "the trouble with streaming" that sums up most of my own issues with the format.

Dukla Prague Away Kit - which earns instant brownie points for being named after a Half Man Half Biscuit song - is the brainchild of Belfast-based blogger Phil and was named Blog Of The Week by the Guardian back in 2013. Recent posts have included reviews of Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool and Dinosaur Jr's Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not; a piece on the early '90s "anti-grunge grunge" of Pavement, Polvo and Trumans Water; and the latest in the "Beer vs Album" series that pairs a particular beer with a particular album - in this case, Adnams Dry Hopped Lager vs New Order's Technique.