There's no sophomore slump for Monkey Bizzle; prolific in their art, these rural chav-choppers return with a second album, Agricultural Appropriation, only five years and a kazillion bongs after their debut, Idiot Music, and it be gurt lush, shagger…. Not on the guesstimate I've passed a thousand plays of Oi Mate, their tune from Idiot Music about the ultimate scrounger, and figured these guys know a blagger when they see one, rather on the grounds I laughed out loud more times at the opening tune than I've laughed at any comedy song, ever, possibly combined, I brought this album rather than requested a review copy; it's going in my personal collection, even if you can't skin up on an mp3.

Featured Image:@jenimeadephotography Just another rainy Saturday afternoon in Devizes, whereby I watched a profound fellow dramatically sacrifice himself to the devil, then popped to Morrisons for a Toblerone! The supermarket felt insignificant and plastic after the epic conclusion of Doctor Faustus at the Wharf Theatre, which opens on Monday 26th and runs until Saturday 31st January….. Treated to the final dress rehearsal, as our regular theatrical scribe Ian Diddams is stuffing a bucketload of Rice Krispies in this one, of which one couldn’t fail to notice!

Being a singer in a tribute or covers band is nerve-wracking. Though tributes can hide behind a mask, a cover band frontperson can be reassured only by the notion that friends are backing them; blame the drummer! But a soloist, singing their mind acoustically is in another ballpark. Stripped back, alone, exposing your innermost thoughts, desires or even personal issues to an audience takes some bottle.

Usually I just write what I think, but if I had a point-scoring system this new single from Bristol-based indie-pop outfit Chandra would tick every box. It’s called Heaven on Earth; if Belinda Carlise made it, Chandra rocked it! Punchy, tick. Find that perfect hook, tick. Subtly righteous narrative, tick. Balance pithy narrative with equal amount of carefree fun, tick.

Peter Gabriel - ‘Live At WOMAD 1982’ will be released on 8th May 2026. It was a simple idea; to create a festival out of all the brilliant music and art made all over the world, stuff made outside of the mainstream – music that wasn’t getting on the radio and was even harder to find in record stores… The very first WOMAD Festival took place at the 240-acre Bath and West Showground, Somerset over the weekend of 16–18 July, 1982.

Now in its seventh year, and at its new and better venue, Park Farm on the edge of Devizes, it’s full steam ahead for The Fulltone Festival ‘26. From the 11th–12th July Fulltone is set to ignite Wiltshire with an epic weekend of live music….. Promising a “spectacular, joy-filled weekend of live music which brings together orchestral power, iconic artists and a true summer festival atmosphere in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside,” The Fulltone Festival is a uniquely magnificent show.

Stone Circle Music Events announced today that all proceeds of CrownFest will be donated to Wiltshire Hope & Harmony’s Dementia Choir. CrownFest is an all-day family festival, happening on 4th July 2026 at The Crown, Bishops Cannings, Devizes..... Due to perform over two stages will be Kinisha’s renowned Simply the Best Tina Turner Tribute, Adam & The Ants tribute Ant Trouble, Wiltshire’s premier indie-pop favourites and winners of six Wiltshire Music Awards , Talk in Code, purveyors of Irish & Celtic folk The Publicans, Salisbury’s rock cover band Innovator, rock covers band Tipsy Gypsies, George Wilding, Ruby Darbyshire, Mother Ukes, and Lucas Hardy, with more acts to be confirmed.

Out of my comfort zone on this one; being aging punk-ish, emo is a subgenre post my better days. Though the ever-reliable Wikipedia suggests, as a term, it was coined in the late eighties. It either travelled leisurely by airship across the pond, or I’ve had my head up my arse…. If I’m probably best left in a dark corner, crying about my lack of knowledge on the subject, that creates many reasons for me not to like…

If Devizes Scooter Rally has already established its base at Whistley Road’s Park Farm and Full-Tone are moving to these new pastures, last year the site saw a superb inaugural festival of its own making, Park Farm Music Festival, with the expert knowledge of the good folk who brought us Mantonfest. It’s happening again this year and looks set to be even better than last year; I kid you not!

Dubiously biased and ruled with an iron fist, the mighty admin of the once popular Devizes Facebook group, Devizes Issues, is using the iconic Great War “Lord Kitchener Wants You” recruitment poster by Alfred Leete to plead for volunteer moderators; jump to it, comrades! Why? Wouldn’t a picture of some Care Bears, or an AI image of some mugs with frustrated expressions be more suitable?

Poor Joyrobber, got his car broken into, on his birthday too, but avenged them in song! Requiem for my Car Window is this mysterious character’s third single to date. I loved the first couple for some strange reason, no point in changing my mind now….. “Have you ever had a really terrible birthday?” Joyrobber asks, presuming none could be as catastrophic as his 25th, in which the back window of his Ford KA was smashed in, and all his possessions taken.

“It's not all that glitter is gold,” Bob Marley sung, “half the story has never been told.” Okay, he was referring to 400 years of institutionalised slave trading on an international and industrial scale, whereas we’re on about a Trowbridge multistorey carpark….. And anyway, the story is there for all to see; Wiltshire Council meetings are videoed and published on YouTube…

We are saddened to hear Westbury Town Council had to make the difficult decision to postpone the Westbury White Horse Soap Box Derby this week. Planned for May, the decision follows careful and detailed consideration of public safety, regulatory obligations, and the long-term sustainability of this much-valued community event…. Since the first Soap Box Derby in 2022, visitor numbers have increased year on year by approximately 1,000 to 2,000 people.

Dry January, anyone? Well, Lady Nade just plunged into an outdoor 4°C eucalyptus sauna for a social media reel. But whilst I'd require a stiff drink to do such, our beloved Somerset soul singer says she's swapping ice-cold cocktails for ice-cold baths. There must be warmer ways to promote a January single?! Sober is that apt single, out now, seriously catchy.

If past years seem to be racing by me on roller-skates, now they’re in Formula 1 cars! 2025, in a word, was “average,” though the Devizine annual stats fell for a second year, at 6% lower than 2024; you lot still here?! I’m not concerned about that, you filthy traitors; you’ve been digesting the clickbait of that Gazelle & Herod again, haven’t you?!!

Ah, let's talk about Talk in Code one more time this year, because we're secret Talkers here, and everything has been awesome this year for them, but now they're being immortalised as Lego minifigures! Surely, the piece of resistance of local merch, it doesn't get better than this! Lego minifigures have become something of a collectors item over the years, and the finest local indie popsters have a Lego inspired fan reward scheme they're calling TICBRIX; genuine awesomeness!

read part 1 read part 2 Oramics and its Place in the Progression of Electronic Music In 1997 I was a 24 year-old factory worker, keen to learn all tasks on the production line to work my way up, but suddenly the run of the ladder was pulled too high for me to reach. Shift managers who had were axed, were replaced by “team leaders,” that of precisely the same duties and responsibilities, though you needed a diploma to apply.

Ah, I hope you've all had a great Christmas, now it's time for New Year's Eve, and here's what we've found to do. Wishing everyone a happy New Year and all the best for 2026. Don't forget our event calendar lists much more and everything going on this weekend, into January and beyond! Blue Moon Band @ Devizes Conservative Club…

Christmas has come early for foxes and normal humans with any slither of compassion remaining, as the government announced the righteous move to ban trial hunts. As an impartial media outlet, we say….let's laugh at those saddened hunters wallowing in their own self-pity, right through Christmas and beyond! Keir Starmer's cabinet, a far cry from the ideal government, but the best we've had after fourteen long years of that Conservative clown school of thieves, occasionally wakes up and realises they're supposed to be leftwing, and this was one such bizarre occasion where they delivered a popular promise off their manifesto; miracles do happen at Christmas, pass the overpriced Quality Street and celebrate!

Chippenham folk singer-songwriter, M3G (because she likes a backward “E”) has a new single out tomorrow, Friday 19th December. Put your jingly bell cheesy tunes on hold for a moment, because this is a beautiful, epic journey…. M3G’s seventh release, Rooks, poignantly pulls on the heartstrings when presented by the rise and fall of a romance, rooks often being a slang for cheating someone.

Wiltshire Music Centre Unveils Star-Studded New Season with BBC Big Band, Ute Lemper, Sir Willard White and comedians Chris Addison and Alistair McGowan revealing their classical music talents..... Wiltshire Music Centre announces new Spring season with some extraordinary listening experiences on offer in the new year. Wiltshire Music Centre is a unique and contemporary 300-seated concert hall in Bradford on Avon. 

read the first part here Daphne’s Family & Childhood Connection to Devizes Celebrations of Daphne Oram have been building in London since the beginning of December, for those in the sphere of electronic music and music technology. On the first Thursday of the month The Barbican held a concert commemorating Daphne's centenary, where sound and music fair access partner, Nonclassical, in partnership with…

Highest season of goodwill praises must go to Chrissy Chapman today, who raised over £500 (at the last count) for His Grace Children’s Centre in Uganda, with a little help from talented friends…. Years back as soloist singer-songwriter One Trick Pony, Chrissy organised annual fundraising gigs at the Southgate around Christmas time, but now tuned up a notch with her incredible Americana band Burn the Midnight Oil behind her it was a high noon lock up and load for a Sunday afternoon hoedown at the Muck and Dunder rum bar in Devizes.

Part 1: An Introduction March 1936: newlywed French telecommunications engineer Pierre Schaeffer relocates to Paris from Strasbourg and finds work in radio broadcasting. He embarks on early radiophonic experiments. Fifteen years of his research, his inventions of various electronic instruments, and collaborations with Pierre Henry would lead them to found Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète. Musique concrète would be the root of the utilisation of modified recorded sound through audio signal processing and tape techniques.

Yesterday Wiltshire Council published an “update” on the lane closure on Northgate Street in Devizes as the fire which caused it reaches its first anniversary. Only, it's more a “reminder” than an “update!” It begins, “the fire, in November 2024, caused significant damage to the Grade II-listed property and since then the council has had to install a single lane closure to keep people safe.