My guest this week is Steve Hodgkins

If you listened to the John Doran episode, you may remember Steve being mentioned, as he curated a Scott Walker playlist for me (of which John heartily approved).

Anyone who takes the time to do such a thing is obviously due an invitation to come and choose a mix of their own...

My guest this week is Astrid Williamson

Astrid was the singer and guitarist in Goya Dress (which also featured previous guest Terry de Castro on bass) whose 1996 album Rooms was produced by John Cale. 

Since then, she has released nine solo albums, as well as collaborating with artists such as Arthur Baker, Dead Can Dance, Electronic and The Stereophonics. 

Astrid was - as Terry suggested she would be - a hoot, and we had tremendous fun recording this!

My guest this week is John Doran

John  is a writer, journalist and occasional DJ who, in 2008, along with Luke Turner founded the online music and culture magazine The Quietus. He has also published a (highly recommended) book about his life, career and struggles with alcoholism, Jolly Lad.

John, like me, likes an expansive tune, so because his was a lengthy playlist (over an hour and a half), several of the songs had to be truncated to make the episode a manageable length. Make sure you check out all of the full-length versions via the Spotify playlist on the website!

My guest this week is Rob Pursey

In a 2023 Guardian article, Rob (along with his wife Amelia Fletcher) were described as ‘British indie royalty’.

A founder member of indie legends Talulah Gosh and Heavenly, he has gone on to form several other bands, including The Catenary Wires, who released a 2025 album called Sounds Made By Humans,  featured vocals from Brian Bilston, one of the UK’s most popular poets.

As well as co-founding the Skep Wax label with Amelia, he is also a TV producer, who founded a company called Touchpaper Television, responsible for series such as Being Human, Single-Handed and Murderland.

My guest this week is Martin Stephenson

I was particularly delighted to have Martin on the show, not least because Gladsome, Humour and Blue is one of my favourite albums of all time.

Martin is, like me, a native of Durham, and so you might find my accent a little more prominent than usual!

Martin's playlist is focused on artists that are up and coming / not yet well known, so make sure you check out the 'Buy Online' links on stevesmixtapes.com

Something a little different this week...

This week's show is dedicated to the memory of my most excellent friend Chris McAvoy (star of episode #035).

Regular listeners may recall me making frequent references to Chris in previous episodes as someone who provided me with a multitude of  mix tapes/CDs over the years.  Sadly, Chris died a couple of months ago, and this is a tribute to him. 

It ignores the usual parameters of the podcast - something of which he would doubtless have approved - and features contributions from several of his friends who, like me, are completely devastated that he is no longer with us.

And for those of you who didn't know him, I hope you'll still appreciate a fine set of tunes.

Goodbye friend, RIP.

My guest this week is Craig Walker

Craig is the singer, guitarist and songwriter of Dublin band Power of Dreams, whose 1989 debut release ‘A Little Piece of God’ was single of the week in both Melody Maker and Sounds and in the same year were named by the NME as one of their ‘stars of tomorrow’.

He has released a single under the name Pharmacy, played with avant-garde/electronica group Archive and released a solo album called Siamese. His latest project, Spoon Speaker Man, is a duo featuring Dan Worton of Ned's Atomic Dustbin.

He was also once ejected from a party for throwing up on Simon Cowell's shoes!

My guest this week is Stephin Merritt

Stephin  is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has, over the last 35 years, produced some truly remarkable music; in particular, he was the man behind what is, in my estimation, one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, 69 Love Songs.

He has also recorded soundtracks under his own name, as well as producing music as the 6ths, the Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes.

My guest this week is Niall Quinn

Niall was the drummer and main songwriter in The Hitchers - whose 1997 song ‘Strachan’ was a John Peel favourite and has regularly been voted as one of the best football-related songs of all time. You may also have heard it quite recently on this podcast, as Steve Hill chose it for his mix in episode #76.

My guest this week is David Rose

I was introduced to David via previous guest Paul Garrett. David describes himself as 'a punk/ post-punk/ indie music fan and inveterate gig-goer of 45 years standing, currently with over 1,400 gigs under my belt' and has blogged about his experiences at http://www.gigbook.blogspot.com/