• Albums of the Year: 2016

    Often, turbulent times can produce the best art. Needless to say, 2016 has been an excellent year for music… Presenting Impact Music’s favourite albums (and mixtapes) of the past twelve months, as voted for by our writers and editors.  15. Frankie Cosmos – Next Thing “Is it cool when I...
  • Akala talks the history of hip hop at UoN

    As part of Black History Month, hip hop artist and writer Akala spoke about the ‘Evolution of the EMCEE’ at the University of Nottingham. The talk covered the history of the art of rapping, of which the modern incarnations are grime, garage, jungle and hip hop. Akala started looking...
  • Nottingham Gig Guide: October 2016

    Nottingham is a special place for live music. For years, the venues of this modestly sized city have booked the most exciting and sought-after artists of the moment. October 2016 is no exception. Don’t miss out – here’s our brief guide to the most unmissable acts of the next few weeks… Babe...
  • Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree / One More Time With Feeling

    This album is bad for your health. I know that because it’s all I’ve listened to since it was released last Friday and I’ve been nothing but melancholy since. There are a few precedents for material this mournful in popular music: Van Morrison’s ‘TB Sheets’, Leonard Cohen’s ‘Famous Blue...
  • Review: Frank Ocean – Blonde / Endless / Boys Don’t Cry

    The long-awaited second studio album from the legendary Frank Ocean is here at last. It’s been four years since his first masterpiece, but the artist makes up for it with a seventeen-track album – Blonde – and two visuals, video album Endless and a zine, Boys Don’t Cry. It has been a...
  • If The Beatles Had One More Album In Them

    Since their break-up in 1970, the individual members of the Beatles have had mixed solo success. Ultimately, they’ve been disappointing. In the ’60s, they combined to reach UK Number One 17 times, yet since their break-up, they’ve only added a few number ones to our musical library. To put...
  • “Who sings this song?”: Why we can’t stop mixing up chart artists

    These days, the accusation that ‘all chart music sounds the same’ has become all too common. It’s a sweeping generalisation that is mainly bandied around by those who aren’t familiar enough with the genre. This is not confined to pop music: those who don’t understand Classical music can’t tell the difference...