SpideWriter

Spend Time with Fast Money Music Having made it to The Shacklewell Arms in Hackney in good time for the gig, I was glad of the opportunity to have a brief chat with Nick Hinman , the driving force of Fast Money Music .  It is Hinman’s catalogue of songs which have just been released on the album  Fast Money Music, but he has got a powerful band together to put the meat on the rock and roll skeletons of his lyrics, featuring "gratuitous saxaphone" balanced by really clean, sharp guitar playing laid over some stonking rock.  Fast Money Music getting set up at The Shacklewell Arms, London E8   A gentle-natured man, Hinman strikes me as the sort of songwriter, singer, frontman who needs the occasional gentle reminder that he has written some great tunes and can put on a rocking show.  Only he and his nearest and dearest will know whether I am in the right about this.  Never mind, how he gets to the stage and the studio is his challenge, but I am...

Fast Money Music goes Round and Round Nevermind: The latest single from Fast Money Music's Debut LP   When you punch  Fast Money Music  into your music streaming app, the NYC electro-punks  Suicide   pops up. I love their work, a band who were truly punk, who could spark a punch up in  CBGBs  within a couple of songs.    What they did with their instruments and their lyrics displayed an artistic courage that defined the punk attitude. Suicide were iconoclastic, innovative, left-field.    Not afraid to face off, shake up and incite radical thinking, even the duo name chosen by  Martin Rev  and  Alan Vega  was (and remains) a shocking piece of punk branding.   The song Fast Money Music opens their second and final studio LP.  Electronic keyboard jitters, moving things  up a tech level from the jangling guitars heard in Velvet Underground 's I'm Waiting For My Man, Suicide laid down a track that is, ...

  IST IST and The Youth Play at The Adrian Flux Waterfront, Norwich 9th April, 2026 IST IST all about having a good time, all the time (Pic: Creative Arts Photography)   The IST IST band is back from their extensive European tour and their first UK stop was at The Adrian Flux Waterfront (a UEA Student Union managed venue, sponsored by a locally based specialist vehicle insurance broker) in Norwich.  Ironically, the IST IST journey into the vibrant heart of East Anglia, required them to get a replacement van after a challenge about its suitability for English roads from some uniformed bureaucrats.  The headline act only made the gig with 45 minutes to spare.  This did not unduly phase them, nor the audience, who were all pretty relaxed about things, as is mostly the way in Norfolk. I have mentioned before how supportive the locals are of opening acts, so it was no surprise to see so many people listening attentively to The Youth Play play. ...

New Album: Gavin Bowers' Cheap Therapy Upfront, I have to declare an interest.  I met Gavin Bowers soon after lockdowns became history and we have kept in touch ever since about any new music in town, his projects, always promising to meet soon.  We've both been busy adapting to changing circumstances, just like everybody else, so the 'soon' has been stretched a little.  We both came to Norwich with our respective plans, but Life happens and priorities get reconfigured.  However, we are both still here and keep making that 'catch-up soon' promise, whenever our crazy-paving paths cross.  So, I was delighted to hear from Gavin that he had been working on a solo project, in which he has been relaying his path into some semblance of order, or least trying to make some honest sense of it. His debut solo album Cheap Therapy is the result. It is now available on all digital platforms, as well as in a limited run of vinyl pressings. I reviewed the single release of Our...

To Speak From Experience: Ross Stewart, Live at The Holloway This album was brought to my attention via an Instagram post from @rossstewartofficial  I had not immediately realised that I had heard it all before, but that was no bad thing, as I was in the audience the very, very warm evening when Ross Stewart and his band showcased the launch of the EP Purpose . This latest release from Stewart contains no new material, but it does demonstrate the continuing artistic progress of the Long Stratton based singer-songwriter and is an enjoyable, high quality recording of a great set performed in the sweaty confines of The Holloway, in September, 2025.  This release underlines the developing quality of Stewart's song-writing.  He paints vivid pictures taken from life's joyous and difficult moments.  His poetic lyrics say all that is needed to broad-brush experiences, use imagery sensible to the story and he takes pleasure in working in different song structures. Having cut ...