- Paul Pledger
Profile
I have been collecting records since 1979. First records bought were Gene Chandler "Get Down" and Jean Michel Jarre "Equinoxe" but don't let that put you off! I have thousands of albums and singles, mainly of an eclectic nature - XTC, Dubstep, Durutti Column, Factory, 4AD, Crepuscule, Talk Talk and Reggae - the list goes on really.
I enjoy gigs and a decent pot of beer. See you there!!
Recent Articles
- Antlered Man, We Are Knuckle Dragger and Romans to headline triple-bill for autumn 2012 tour
- The keen-eyed regular Allgigs visitors amongst you might have spotted this band's name pop up in our reviews last year, once with the single 'Surrounded by White Men' (described by this writer as "......
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- 2012 Festival Guide - a round-up of UK, Ireland and International festivals
Image: allgigs ltd - An exciting summer looms for UK festivals, with many unveiling more key names as part of their line-ups. Please note that the Secret Garden Party has now sold out - what a success! We have also updat...
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- Dave Stewart returns as Ringmaster General for autumn 2012 tour
- Where on Earth do you start with a summary of Dave Stewart's music career. The man may not be the most prolific songwriter in the world, or the most easily recognizable behind beard, glasses and guita...
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- Special Offer: Book Crystal Palace Garden Party rock festival and get 30% off!
- London's choice of festivals in parks is unprecedented this year, with some of the biggest names in pop, rock and dance music performing their own aural Olympics across the capital. One genre that see...
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- Dreadzone announce their second coming with more 2012 shows in not-so-Little Britain
- In the mid '90s, as the final flickers of rave's dying embers burned out like the proverbial herbal 'remedy', music was a sorry mess of Britpop, Camden and the emergence of (ugh) pop-punk. But for tho...
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Reviews:
Gabby Young & Other Animals - The Band Called Out For More Album Review- From the opening rousing moments of new single and lead-track “In Your Head”, you get the feeling that you’re in for a special forty minutes by sprightly self-proclaimed ‘circus-sw...
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Otis Gibbs - Hard As Hammered Hell Album Review- There’s a song on Gibbs’ 6th album entitled “Big Whiskers” which, after glancing at PR pictures of the gravel-voiced blues-peddlin’ bushwhackin’ ‘fifth-grade’ yo-yo champion (it sa...
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Kevin Hewick - All Was Numbered Album Review- This year marks the 30th anniversary of the well-documented opening of Manchester’s world-renowned nightclub (and financial albatross) The Hacienda. As you might have expected, the...
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Project Trio - Random Roads Collection Album Review- For those unfamiliar with this Cleveland-born jazz-funk-beatboxing trio, where have you been since 2005? Probably the same place that I have, seeing as The Project Trio are a relat...
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The Hut People - Picnic Album Review- They say you should never judge a CD by its sleeve, but taking one look at the humorous pair of chaps on the front of “Picnic”, armed with jolly grins and a picnic basket, provided...
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Tom Williams and the Boat - Teenage Blood Album Review- Within sixty seconds of the opening title-track, I’m reminded of Broken Records, The Waterboys and Shearwater, three exponents of folk-rock who seem set to be joined by Kent-based ...
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Singles round-up featuring The Ghosts, Theme Park, The Mars Volta, Ane brun, The Milk and more... Singles Review- Release schedules have gone a bit crazy of late, so let’s dive into what promises to be the ‘greatest selection of singles I have ever been presented with’. Except that straight fr...
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The Ghosts - The End Album Review- Not to be confused with the BBC Sound of 2007 nominees of almost the same name, THE Ghosts were formed a few years later by Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s occasional contributor Alex St...
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Ozric Tentacles - Paper Monkeys Album Review- Some quarter of a century ago, the swirling psychedelia-electro rock of Ozric Tentacles appeared courtesy of a series of home-produced cassettes, before being slightly fine-tuned f...
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Elvis Costello - The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook Album Review- Some 40 years ago, a bespectacled and scrawny art-punk unleashed the first of what was to be an incredible catalogue of over 30 albums. “My Aim Is True” appeared in 1977 and prompt...
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The Nightingales - No Love Lost Album Review- Ten years ago, two things seemed very unlikely - the premature death of radio-legend John Peel and the reincarnation of one of his all-time favourite bands, The Nightingales. It wo...
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Frankie Rose - Interstellar Album Review- If you’re old enough to remember bands like Curve, Lush and Mercury Rev, you’ll be familiar with the expression, ‘dream-pop’. Whilst it might serve to be a lazy ‘90s term used to d...
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Empirical - Elements of Truth Album Review- Hailed as the poster-boys of British nu-jazz, Empirical have achieved a modest amount of acclaim, sales and awards in their relatively short history. They’ve won a MOBO award for B...
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Ed Vallance - Volcano Album Review- Born in London but now residing in Brooklyn, songwriter Ed Vallance has previously issued the mini-album “The Modern Life” and an EP “The Summer Fire” and, as with the latter, prod...
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Bread - The Very Best Of Album Review- I’d like a pound for every slice (sorry) of Bread I’ve sold during my 20 years in music-retail, yet the band remain a mystery to many, even after an existence of 40 years-plus. Wit...
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Jack McNeill and Charlie Heys - Two Fine Days Album Review- Never judge a CD by its artwork, to paraphrase a well-known saying. In the case of “Two Fine Days”, you’d be forgiven for assuming that the two folk-musicians in the photographs ha...
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Singles Round-up featuring Centre Excuse, Whipping Boy, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bear Driver, Billy Vincent and more Singles Review- Whilst there may be a drought outside, there certainly isn’t one when it comes to this week’s single-releases, all of which are out now – except, that is, for the newie from Bombay...
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Deadbeat Darling - The Angel's Share Album Review- Hailing from Brooklyn can be no bad thing when you’re in a band, since many artists have survived its pitfalls, soaked its gritty beauty and lived to sing the tale. Here’s Deadbeat...
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Kevin Tihista - On This Dark Street Album Review- If the name Kevin Tihista means little to you, it shouldn’t - the experienced American singer-songwriter has been knocking out albums for over a decade now and hasn’t set the world...
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State of the Union - State Of The Union Album Review- As far back as the mid-‘80s, Boo Hewerdine’s name was liberally splashed across sleeves and record-labels that adorned releases by a band called The Bible. Nobody predicted that th...
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Thomas White [Brakes] - Yalla! Album Review- White’s previous album, “The Maximalist”, earned itself many plaudits from across the music-press, but little in the way of beneficial or financial reward – creatively it stretched...
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Alasdair Roberts,Mairi Morrison - Urstan Album Review- This album’s title takes its name from a term used for a personal celebration of new life or a new birth – and it no doubt involves whisky, given the Gaelic and Celtic origins of t...
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The Wedding Present - Valentina Album Review- Eight albums in, The Wedding Present are showing little signs of flagging. The Leeds legends also display very little in the way of change compared to what they’ve been releasing f...
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Singles Round-up featuring Saint Etienne, Esperanza Spalding, Steve Smyth, TeamAvsTeamB and more Singles Review- Even with the sun pouring itself across my desk, I’m still left feeling rather sullied by some of this week’s singles – I mean, why do some artists bother anymore? And why do I? Re...
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Steve Hogarth,Richard Barbieri - Not The Weapon But The Hand Album Review- This lavishly-packaged eight-track set is the long-awaited collaboration of two leading lights from the world of, whisper it, nu-progressive rock – thankfully, for the most part, i...
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