Ach. Too long winded. I am kitty empire six six six (all one word and the numbers are digits) @ gmail dot com. Have you written a children’s book?!

Sure! Bear with me, trying to get to you via non Bluesky channels.

Yo!

GOLLIWOG, by billy woods 19 track album

Great record alert: billy woods' Golliwog LP, released last Friday via Backwoodz Studioz. A gloriously sampledelic, Afro-noir Jordan Peele horror film of a record, all mixed up with firsthand post-colonial blues and woods' usual skewering insights. billywoods.bandcamp.com/album/golliwog

The Pogues: Life after Shane | The Observer Joy, rage, love and succour abound on a wild 40th anniversary tour of the Pogues’ Rum, Sodomy & the Lash as a huge cast of musicians join original band members to roll back the years

Accompanied by a rolling cast of often-female singers, The Pogues were blisteringly good the other night. Or, in the words of Spider Stacy: "Allrightallrighallright!"
observer.co.uk/culture/musi...

Floating Points review – an unclassifiable triumph On the first of a three-night London residency, British dance producer Sam Shepherd conjures up a transcendent set that’s equal parts body-jacking rave and harp-laced, retina-melting art show

Harp, check. "Alive paintings", check. Banging tunes, of course. Ambient passages, bien sur. No one does multi-disciplinary body-jacking quite like Sam Shepherd, aka Floating Points.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Ex-Vöid: In Love Again review – all of indie rock is here This latest iteration of Lan McArdle and Owen Williams’s Joanna Gruesome turns their lush vocals, guitar heroics and recent heartbreaks into melodic gold

WAMP WAMP! Absolutely excellent record klaxon. Indie rock, if you still partake. Ex-Vöid have it all - umlauts, key changes, churn and swoon.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Sorry I only just saw this properly - clearly I should have had a trigger warning! Also Sims is far scarier than Yow I have decided. Hope you went and had a blast.

The best children’s and YA books of 2024 From a boy on a snowy midnight adventure to a gothic family caper via a young offender inspired by poetry, our critics pick their favourite titles of the year

Also - because I have range, I guess? - here are some of the #middlegrade #childrensbooksoftheyear that stood proud on the shelf in 2024. Sleb author-free zone. Includes clockworks, narwhals, neurodiversity and - sob - the late, lovely Jeremy Strong.
www.theguardian.com/books/2024/d...

Music: Kitty Empire’s 10 best albums of 2024 Americana’s classiest duo weather the storm, Kendrick Lamar has the last word, UK jazz soars – and Charli xcx unleashes the power of Brat

I also had the absurd task of whittling down the umpteen rewarding #albumsof2024 down to a frankly skeletal 10. Includes shakuhachis, club classics, orchestral jazz, plunging asymptotes and a folk tune about an awl.
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...

Paul McCartney review – a dizzying, bittersweet, life-encompassing journey through time An eras tour of a different kind finds the 82-year-old former Beatle on tremendous form, packing a three-hour show with hits, flashbacks and real emotion

I had the rather absurd privilege of seeing Paul McCartney's own eras tour for The Observer
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/d...

No apology necessary.

MJ Lenderman review – a shooting star from the American south Showcasing new album Manning Fireworks, the North Carolina indie rising star seals his reputation as a slacker guitar hero who knows exactly what he’s doing

Like Neil Young? Disdain boats as status symbols? Guitarist MJ Lenderman is the US indie darling for you.
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...

Amyl and the Sniffers review – nonstop fireworks The Aussie rockers led by the magnetic Amy Taylor showcase new album Cartoon Darkness with an explosive set that just keeps giving and giving

Just another reminder about how much fun Amyl and The Sniffers are
www.theguardian.com/music/2024/n...

[taps mic] Is this thing on? Pleased to be here.