Sweet Billy Pilgrim: Twice Born Men

Into the breach with my inaugural review – Twice Born Men by Sweet Billy Pilgrim. A few things I'd heard about this album

• recorded in a shed
• sounds a bit like Elbow
• maudlin

None of them out-and-out bad, but none giving any real clue about the contents of the album.

Mercury Prize 2009

I've decided to publish a short series of reviews of the albums nominated for the 2009 Mercury Prize. I love the Mercurys (Mercuries?) for introducing me to stuff I'd otherwise not listen to; in particular I fell deeply in love with last year's winner: Elbow's majestic The Seldom Seen Kid. In the spirit of honest aural exploration I'm going to give all the albums a proper listen and share my thoughts with you.

Open ears, open mind

Last year I blogged about attending the hcmf, more or less so I wouldn't forget what I'd heard. Since then I've been thinking about blogging but I've been loathe to do so purely to blether about myself; mainly because I can't think of anything less interesting. After listening to a podcast of John Gruber & Merlin Mann's Blogging Panel at SxSW I decided to select my passion.