A lot can happen in 6 months. It seems like just the other day, I was reviewing Tuath‘s EP release, ‘existence is futile‘ – fast forward 175 days, throw a Brexit, a May and a Trump into the mix, and survival appears ever more volatile.

1987 marked something of a cultural rebirth. Freed from the dysfunctional apron-strings of provincial prevarication, 4 years of architecture school had summoned me to London. It’s filthy streets, were far from paved with gold, but the airwaves on the other hand, resounded to the sturm und drang of METAL!

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Open for Killing Joke – Limelight Belfast 31/10/16 Photo Gallery…

I was hugely disappointed, when I heard about the demise of the band Formes – their, “headfuck of psych vibes rubbing up against extreme metal influence played from a jazz fanatics mindset”, heralded a unique band, who seemed to buck every conceivable trend. At the time, I commented that, “the phoenix will rise again”, and rise it has!

Reassuringly, “Stupid Cosmonaut are a Manchester-based pseudonymous musical entity consisting of Sam Read and Steven McNamara amongst others, experimenting with electronic, ambient and psychedelic soundscapes.” Steven was one-third of Formes and brings with him, an unnerving ability to evoke euphoria and dysphoria in equal measure – the inherent beauty in Stupid Cosmonaut’s debut single, ‘Salvia‘ still affects me to the point of exuberant tears, with each and every listen.