Okay to begin with is a bit of writing I’ve been meaning to write up and post for a while. Skip to the end if […]
Author: Danny Smith
DHP at TGE – Its been a while
Ahh the sinfully wasteful decadence of sitting in some dark corner of a dark pub on a sunny day in England. I’m typing this looking […]
End of Albion: notes from the Molly Coast I
I’m in one of the many theme pubs we’re blessed with here on the Molly Coast, the theme being “nice little boozer with weird shit […]
Drama, Destiny, and Diarrhea: notes from the night shift just past the edge
Before memories of the Summer turn into those sweet dreams that get us through the cold truths of Winter I wanted to share this. Its […]
Hag Stones On Brighton Beach
It’s shocking how quickly Summer in Brighton dies. Autumn blows in a cold breeze and the only sound on the beach is the waves hitting […]
Down the Rabbit hole – Tokfest ’22
The morning breaks with the UK logging on and catching the internet waves, the great swell from over the Atlantic is that Taylor Hawkins was […]
a 1, a 2, a 1,2,3,4 – The 5,6,7,8’s at the Night Owl
Brushing off my dancing trousers and smearing kohl around my eyes, I’m nervous. This is technically my first gig in two or so years. Thoughts […]
Music promoters have hitherto only interpreted Birmingham in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.
“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” Danny went to speak to someone who thinks the new boss doesn’t have to be the […]
Hi, wire acts
There are eight million stories in the naked city. Danny Smith is always up for naked stories, so we sent him to the city. Turns out that […]
There Will Be Blood (In My Blood)
CW: blood, bleeding, needles, hospitals basically – Old blood tastes like sucking on dirty copper coins, it’s […]
Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here
Do people still blog? Is this still a thing? Look at the guy who still wears a wallet chain caring about being current. Fuck it […]
Danny Smith: The seven wonders of Birmingham Christmas
Christmas comes but once a year, apart from for Roy Wood, who must have a terrible time getting his bins collected. Like everyone else in […]
Danny Smith: Shiny cappy people
At Paradise Circus we try our hardest to compete for web clicks, and we’ve noticed that glowing reviews of bars in the city centre must […]
Danny Smith: Danny does Digbeth
We normally use this intro to set up the article, to tell you why Danny is writing about what he’s writing about, but this time […]
Deep Impact?
We last visited Digbeth’s Impact Hub as it launched a few years ago when hardly anyone knew what it was, and those that had a […]
Danny Smith: Non-essential
Something something largest unsafe reopening of a Primark in Europe. We sent Danny Smith to die for capitalism. Her voice is mournful, an acapella lament […]
101 Things Birmingham Gave the World. No. 99: Gynaecology
I can’t speak for other social strata or areas, but in a working class home in Birmingham if you ever start a sentence “I’m not […]
Birmingham: It’s Not Shit – The Book – Order Now
We all know that Birmingham isn’t shit. We’ve spent nearly 20 years telling people, showing the world, and often undermining our case. We lay out […]
Welcome to Freedonia
Mask on, gloves off. As covid restrictions drop, and we head into ‘normal’ (whatever that is), we wanted to see if normal was, normal. We […]
Jim Lea – The BBC Sessions
It’s getting to that time of year again, where in every shop, on every advert, and on every compilation album you hear the thick raspy […]
Sleepless in Venice – 24hrs in the City of Masks
I’m definitely going to pass out – it’s not the most helpful thought to have as you’re barreling through the crowds and vaulting the drag […]
John Lydon – Someone Rotten On The State Of Brexit, Music As Therapy, and More
John Lydon’s voice is exactly how you’d expect; echoes of his sneering turn as the frontman of the most famous punk band in the world, […]
My Brother Was Hit By A Truck
My brother was hit by a truck. We don’t know much more than that because all he remembers is being cut out of the tiny […]
Things I did, and didnt, say to Clint Mansell (And Almost Nothing He Said Back)
Having found that his phone didn’t record his interview with CLINT MANSELL, guitarist from legendary greebo band POP WILL EAT ITSELF and now hollywood composer, […]
“I’m Totally Allowed To Sit Here – Don’t Check, But I AM” – Dogsitting and Class War In Oxford
Called as a last minute dog sitting replacement to the the city of the dreaming spires Danny Smith looks for his place in the town […]
NCS Penguin Together
“I’m not going any further” she’s serious, her tone is flat. “Well you can’t go back that’s where you went in” I try to say […]
Richard Hawley – a Big Fucking Bowl From B&Q
As one-time guitarist for classic brit-pop underdogs Longpigs and the seminal Pulp, you get the feeling that Richard Hawley didn’t really start loving what he […]
I Am A Jelly Donut
In an Irish pub at a German airport, it’s god knows in the morning. Actually, it’s close to seven, because if there’s one thing working […]
Luke Haines – A Refusal To Be Put In Any Box
Much like Pasihae, Dr Frankenstein, and Sharon Osborne before him, Luke Haines, in his band The Auteurs, would create a monster he would later disown […]
Politeness And Nodding – On the Chap Trail ’14
Getting up in the morning isn’t easy. Waking up is simplicity itself, especially for someone like me who spends most of the night only half […]
Genesis P’Orridge – Different Cultural Universe
In the early nineties avant garde performance artist, musician, and cultural force to be reckoned with, Genesis P’Orridge met Lady Jayne Breyer and they […]
Colonial Ghosts Of Popular Alchemy
I’m on a plane, I’m settled and watching a film so bland I—hand on heart—cannot remember what it was now. “Would you like a drink?” […]
Death Valley Thrills In A Wet Thursday Room
It always happens right? You work a bunch, so much in fact your days off start to seem like the surface. Holding your breath buried […]
Big Big Big Love and Smashed Crab
I’m in the back of my parents Citroen Picasso near buried in quilts, watching the motorway flick past my feet which are pressed against the […]
Batman & Me
I don’t remember when I first encountered Batman, he’s always just been there; like McDonald’s or Jesus. One of those permanent features in the cultural […]
Albion Ends
The derelict pier is probably my favourite part of Brighton. Haunting and skeletal, it manages to be so unreal and loaded with brooding symbolism. Yet […]
A Burn Up With A Bird On My Bike Is What I Like – Brighton Burn Up ’16
Hangovers are inevitable, but under the right circumstances not too hard to endure. Living next to a main road to the sea front where one […]
Grubby Round The Edges Rock And Fucking Roll In The City With No Cars
Smoke is billowing from the crushed cigarette on the empty dance floor. Beside it a long and pointed foot is twisting in time with rock […]
That Car Isn’t Waving, Its Drowning – notes from time travel on the West Coast
Nearly two months after my goodbye party and due to lawyers, mortgages, and other headaches I’m still here. Birmingham, it seems, is sticky. A […]
Danny Smith: Primark and prejudice
When we heard there was a big new shop opening in town, we called Danny and asked ‘Are you free?’ He was. We can’t remember […]
Danny Smith: Inn Dependance day
A pint without the boys in a pub full of not much noise because loudness increases the chances of shouting and more droplets of virus […]