8 d. ago BC Camplight: A Sober Conversation review – an eccentric rock opera confronting childhood abuse

(Bella Union)The US singer’s seventh album takes his meta-theatrical style almost into showtune territory, with songs about repression, depression and anger‘Some people face the music,” Brian Christinzio sings on The Tent. “Some people face the floor.” On this outlandish seventh album, the Manchester-based US singer-songwriter makes a bold bid for the former. That song alone excavates childhood memories, with Christinzio crunching leaves and finding caterpillars, cutely illustrated by twinkling piano, only for abrupt tonal shifts (siren-like drones, distorted vocals, heavenly choirs) to crash in like intrusive thoughts. It’s a queasy, visceral introduction to a record which confronts the summer he was abused, as a child, by an adult camp counsellor.A Sober Conversation is an eccentric rock opera about repression, depression and anger told with the meta-theatrical, tragicomic style that has won Christinzio a cult following. The title track veers into showtune territory, shimmying in ...

Events

2 w. ago Ole & Steen posts stronger profits after efforts to ‘win back more customers’

The Danish-owned bakery and coffee chain reported that underlying profits grew by 25% to £4.89 million for 2024.

Economics

2 w. ago Popular bakery chain closes third store as shoppers 'sad to see them go'

It comes after the bakery shut its Westbourne and Wimborne branches earlier this year, with customers taking to social media to react to the latest closure

Politics

3 w. ago Greggs launch new front in the Pasty Wars: Bakery chain bids for seventh Cornish store in county where locals have dubbed it 'the Devil's Spawn'

Greggs had long struggled to establish itself in the home of the pasty with past attempts being abandoned due to the strength of local opposition.

Events

3 w. ago The most expensive postcodes in EVERY county in Britain revealed: The prestige pockets in each local area where house prices are considerably higher than average...

Postcodes matter. Whether it's the company insuring your car or the home buyer you hope to impress. So, with help from property experts Yopa, here are the most premium spots in Britain.

Politics

3 w. ago The Spin | Chipboard and carpet: refugee cricket tournament brings a moment of happiness

In the current wild and fragmented landscape, there is comfort in the sport’s ability to bring hope and communityNext week in Caen, at a baseball practice ground, on a pitch made out of two pieces of chipboard with some carpet stapled on top, a cricket tournament will unroll. Nine teams of refugees, mostly based in Normandy, will fight it out over two days in a series of round-robin T5 tape-ballgames.The battles will be fierce, the bowling often fast, with added jeopardy if the ball hits the not-very-well-disguised join between the two bits of chipboard. Chris Drew, a Guardian reader who lives locally, will umpire. “You watch county cricket and there is time,” he says via video call from France. “Time is one thing that you don’t have here. It is hit, it is whack, it is run, it is bowl – it is quite something. When they whack the ball, it stays whacked. There are no defensive shots. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Former Dumfries and County player records first DP World Tour win at KLM Open

Connor Syme took victory by two shots after mastering the tricky conditions at The International.

Sport