@mikepress.bsky.social
Writer - about music, about London, often both together. Sometimes about design. One half of the Walk on the Wild Side project. https://walkonthewildside.substack.com We write, take photos and organise walks.
Our guided walk on 13 December will explore how Soho shaped the sound of Christmas. From wassailing to Wham!, the puritans to The Pogues, the streets of Soho tell a story of how Christmas songs have celebrated, offended, satirised and glorified in equal measure. Join us!
04.11.2025 15:32 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Photo of Nic Jones from the Penguin Eggs album cover
NEW post:
In 2001, ‘Penguin Eggs’ by Nic Jones was voted into 2nd place "Best Folk Album of all Time" on the Mike Harding show on BBC Radio 2 (just behind Fairport's ‘Liege & Lief’)
@pangurdubh3.bsky.social picks 10 tracks from the albums of #NicJones
www.toppermost.co.uk/jones-nic/
Our guided walk on 13 December will explore how Soho shaped the sound of Christmas. From wassailing to Wham!, the puritans to The Pogues, the streets of Soho tell a story of how Christmas songs have celebrated, offended, satirised and glorified in equal measure. Join us!
04.11.2025 15:32 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Sandy Denny photo
Recents: Sandy Denny, Penny & Sparrow, Marcus Miller, Leo Kottke, Rain Parade, Stray Cats, Billy Mackenzie, Death Cab, East River Pipe
@rusky.bsky.social @paulwonvinyl.bsky.social @marcfagel.bsky.social @dlew919.bsky.social @pangurdubh3.bsky.social @mikepress.bsky.social
www.toppermost.co.uk
Sandy Denny second solo album cover 'Sandy'
NEW post: "Listen, Listen (from 1972's 'Sandy') - something timeless about its stately rhythm and lyrical restraint, it could just as easily be a 17th-century lament as a 1970s ballad."
@mikepress.bsky.social picks 10 from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny
www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/
Album cover of The North Sea Grassman and the Ravens
NEW post: "Late November (from 1971’s 'The North Star Grassman and the Ravens') is perhaps her most cinematic song - full of streams, temples and phosphorous sands."
@mikepress.bsky.social picks his 10 best songs from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny
www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/
Photo of Sandy Denny from her first solo album
NEW post: Sandy Denny ... "Her voice and vision still resonate: a reminder that the most profound melancholy can also be luminous, alive and simply beautiful."
@mikepress.bsky.social picks 10 from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny (photo Keith 'Keef' MacMillan)
www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/
Lily Allen - West End Girl album cover. Painting of the artist wearing a puffy blue and white spotted jacket.
The Hammersmith-born singer-songwriter phone hacks herself, resulting in an album of unvarnished rawness with more in common with Kirsty MacColl or Squeeze than any of her pop contemporaries
#LilyAllen - West End Girl
buff.ly/N6Kt2kQ
Radio Caroline, the Pirate Radio Ship That Rocked the British Music World (1965)
27.10.2025 01:53 — 👍 82 🔁 19 💬 1 📌 1
Join us on Saturday 13 December for a festive guided walk through London’s Soho. From Georgian masquerade balls to Fairytale of New York, we’ll trace how Soho shaped the soundtrack of Christmas. From wassailing to Wham!, it’s a walk that will make you hear Christmas — and Soho — in a whole new way.
24.10.2025 08:56 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Very good!
21.10.2025 20:07 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Talking of which (XTC) a good interview in The Guardian a few days back with Todd Rundgren and his experience of trying to produce the band. I think AP tried to do him some physical damage!
21.10.2025 20:00 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Ok so I’ve listened to the Kiss cover and my vote is firmly for the original! I’m a bit biased though. The band’s from my hometown.
15.10.2025 17:37 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Never heard it! But I will!
14.10.2025 21:29 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Argent and Edison Lighthouse. I saw the former perform it once. Very good.
14.10.2025 19:34 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0weird isn't it? Once you fall or slip the fear of doing it again is always there for a time. Anyway, what did you sing?
14.10.2025 18:44 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Leo Kottke album cover 'My Feet Are Smiling'
NEW post: Leo Kottke – “the richness of his work means that this selection can only represent the tip of the iceberg”
@pangurdubh3.bsky.social picks his #LeoKottke top 10
www.toppermost.co.uk/kottke-leo/
Waterstones advert saying "25% off on upcoming books. 14-17 October. Online only. Pre-order now with code OCTOBER25"
So, I wrote a book. It's out in February but there's an offer on this week if you pre-order it from Waterstones. www.waterstones.com/book/atypica...
14.10.2025 08:38 — 👍 15 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
The new David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse is a remarkable experience, and a unique archive.
10.10.2025 15:32 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I do now!
09.10.2025 16:19 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse is rather remarkable. The Storehouse itself is awesome.
09.10.2025 15:44 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Our guided walk of the musical history of London's Soho this Saturday - 11 Oct - takes in Bowie, Beatles, punk, jazz, Pulp and much else. Free to attend, but donations invited for Centrepoint homeless charity.
08.10.2025 08:27 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0Find out my Top Ten Badly Drawn Boy tracks here. Or don't. Or do.
07.10.2025 13:27 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Toppermost website logo
Coming Soon - to the Music Site with a difference ...
Rain Parade, Vulfpeck, Leo Kottke, Penny & Sparrow, Marcus Miller, Hot Chocolate, Sandy Denny, Nic Jones, Tuck & Patti, Cathal Coughlan, Chet Atkins, Betty Davis, Lush, Popguns ...
"That's (not) all Folks"
www.toppermost.co.uk
A book cover in the middle with short teaser of the stories inside with yellow arrows pointing to the book.
🎉Exactly four years ago I published my short story collection which is quite fitting for the hallowe'en season. Once I've published my vampire novel next year, I'll be writing another collection. Obligatory link for any curious folk. books2read.com/b/VIFOF1
03.10.2025 11:37 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Stuart Maconie's With a little help from their friends.
This week's Book Choice.
@mikepress.bsky.social reviews @stuartmaconie.bsky.social new Beatles book:
“A vivid portrait of a rich, diverse creative ecosystem. Maconie writes with his trademark wit, warmth, and unerring eye for human detail, a labour of love, a joy to read”
www.toppermost.co.uk
