Mental Health - The Ginger Quiff

Be the Best Version of You

November 9, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m about done with 2022. In my head there is more about 2022 to say good riddance to (how polite Neil, say what you really mean) than there is to say bon voyage to – no 2022, I never want to fucking see you again. Yes, of course a lot of it is personal and a lot is to do with the way my bastard of a brain computes things, but nonetheless, 2022 can fucking do one. Let 2023 bring forth all it has, unleash the beast, loose the arrows, I am fucking ready for you (or at least I will be after another couple of CBT sessions…)

Of course not all of 2022 has been a car crash of a year, there have obviously been many highs, but my mental health has probably been on the descent more than it has on the ascent, resulting in me focussing on the negatives above all else.… Read the rest

A Walking Contradiction – an exercise in self sabotage

July 5, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

I currently feel like a walking contradiction. That old physics thing about every action having an equal and opposite reaction, well physics and chemistry seem to have got caught up in a mix somewhere with me and I’m not sure the opposite reaction is supposed to happen automatically after every initial action as a matter of course.

With restrictions (if not COVID itself) a thing of the past, I feel like I should be back in a world of near normality, whatever shape or form that may take, but I still feel far from that. The COVID hangover remains, feeling like a different form of the long COVID everyone talks about, but from a mental health perspective rather than physical.… Read the rest

James Domestic – Carrion Repeating – album review

April 20, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

James Domestic (James Scott) isn’t one to rest on his laurels. The frontman of hardcore punk band, The Domestics, he has a list of other bands/side projects the length of your arm, Carrion Repeating is his first solo offering which he describes as “post-punk pop music for weirdos”.

Swagger

How would I describe this solo project? Let me try… To me the album lives in a place somewhere between the cockney geezer swagger of Ian Dury, living in a world of John Cooper Clarke observational poetry and all bundled up with a soundtrack like the coming together of The Fall and Sleaford Mods.… Read the rest

Prioritise Pleasure (with a nod to Self Esteem)

March 15, 2022 By neilho27@sky.com

Prioritise Pleasure

Contrary to what the title of this blog may suggest, this isn’t a review of the superbly inspirational album from last year, courtesy of the upfront sass of the talented Rebecca Lucy Taylor laying her soul bare for all, with a heavy dose of honesty. (Having said that I did review the album last year and it appeared in my top 5 albums of the year).

The blog does however pickup on some of the themes visited by the album, none more so than that of its title track, Prioritise Pleasure. A mantra that we should all unabashedly live by without feeling guilty, after all if we want to help others, we can’t share from an empty vessel.… Read the rest

A Damaged Christmas Gift For You – Review

December 20, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

There are several Christmas albums that I would consider essential listening for this time of year. The 2000 compilation Its a Cool Cool Christmas for one, with a host of quality songs from the likes of Eels, El Vez, Drugstore no a personal family favourite, Christmas Boogaloo by Big Boss Man. Christmas by Low, whose Just Like Christmas appears on the aforementioned compilation, is another must listen at Christmas, while a modern classic, Ghost Stories fro Christmas (Aidan Moffat and RM Hubert) jumped straight into my all time favourite Christmas albums list on its release a few years ago.

Of course, one of the all time classics is A Christmas Gift for You, featuring the famous wall of sound in contributions from Darlene Love, The Ronettes, Bob B Soxx and the Blue Jeans and The Crystals.… Read the rest

Interview: 5 minutes with silken-voiced Katherine Aly

December 1, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

Silken voiced Katherine Aly released her latest single, Rules, last week. The single is the follow up to her powerful and compelling previous single, and its equally powerful accompanying video, Pariah.

I interviewed Katherine last month following her thoroughly captivating gig in Glasgow’s intimate Hug & Pint venue.

Katherine Aly

The Ginger Quiff: For anyone who doesn’t know about Katherine Aly, tell me a bit about your background, how you first got into playing music, influences and so on.

Katherine Aly: I’m originally from Greece where I started playing and releasing music but I’ve been an Edinburgh-based artist for some time now.… Read the rest

Hanya/The Wife Guys of Reddit – Live – The Hug and Pint

November 9, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

Monday night at the Hug and Pint

Last week my working week was due to be bookended by two gigs, Monday night in the Hug and Pint and Friday night in Nice ‘n’ Sleazy. As things transpired, there was a very different outcome to the end of the week than first expected, encompassing the highs and lows of the Glasgow live music scene from the perspectives of both music fan and performers.

My third gig in as many weeks in The Hug and Pint, and a realisation that perhaps I was out too much when the barman pre-empted my drink order when I approached the upstairs bar.… Read the rest

Self-Esteem-Prioritise-Pleasure-album-artwork-696x696

SELF ESTEEM – Prioritise Pleasure – album review

November 4, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

In a previous incarnation SELF ESTEEM, aka Rebecca Lucy Taylor, was one half of indie/alt folk duo Slow Club. Since the band split in 2017, Taylor has written and recorded under the moniker of SELF ESTEEM. Over the last year or so she has released a series of perfect pop singles, culminating a couple of weeks ago in her second solo album, Prioritise Pleasure. Since it’s release it has rarely been far away from my turntable. I’ve been prioritising my listening pleasure, alternating between this and the new Broken Chanter album, Catastrophe Hits.

Absolute Triumph

Prioritise Pleasure is an absolute triumph from so many perspectives.… Read the rest

Positivity – have you had your plus sign today? The daily battle with your demons

November 3, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

Positivity

The late musical genius who was Prince Rogers Nelson once sang about Positivity on his Lovesexy album.

“Positivity (Yes!)
Have you had your plus sign today?
Positivity (Yes!)
Do we mark you present, or do we mark you late?”

Being Present

Those lyrics mention “do we mark you present”, to most people this may seem like the norm, they may be generally optimistic people, who have a positive outlook on life, they live for the moment, always in the present, not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. For others it might not always be as simple as that.… Read the rest

The First Big Weekend…

September 13, 2021 By neilho27@sky.com

My return to live music kicked off in style last weekend with Hugh Reed & the Velvet Underpants in the Bungalow Bar in Paisley. This weekend was what you could call the First Big Weekend (copyright: Arab Strap) of my 2021 gig calendar with not two but three consecutive nights of live music. Bring it on. (Not sure if I should be apologising to my family or whether they were just glad to see the back of me for three nights…)

I’m not going to deny, it wasn’t without some trepidation that I was returning to gigs, and not just due to COVID and everything that goes along with that, but also the being around people in general, and social anxiety aspect of it all.… Read the rest