Real Gone’s picks for Record Store Day 2020

Love it or hate it, Record Store Day has become an important fixture on the music-related calendar. From humble beginnings with a few bits and bobs to entice people into independent record shops, it’s now become a huge business tool, giving major labels an excuse to reissue all kinds of stuff. While it now seems more about a money making venture than to highlight small business, there’s still some cool stuff to be found. Never more so than for the 2020 event, where there are a truckload of artificially created rarities that look like lovely items for the keener fan.

Continue reading

Real Gone’s End of Year Round-Up, 2019

It’s been a great year at Real Gone. Not only did the website celebrate its tenth birthday, but we got more requests and submissions for review than ever! This year, everything felt like it had truly come together and paved the way for the next phase of the website’s lifespan.

This year, Real Gone received hundreds upon hundreds of review items and digital streams. Obviously, there isn’t enough time to review everything…but from the mountain of stuff we got to listen to and review, there was a lot of great music.

Continue reading

MY LIFE STORY – World Citizen

Making any kind of successful comeback after a long absence can be a tricky prospect. Time can be cruel. All too often, we’ve encountered bands returning to the spotlight after a long absence and wished they’d left their legacy as a rose-tinted memory. For British baroque pop band My Life Story – a cult band from the fringes of Britpop – a full time return to touring in 2012 didn’t just remind the old fans how good they were back at their 90s peak, but high profile gigs at the Star Shaped Festival and a few other places helped to bring them a whole bunch of new supporters.

Continue reading

My Life Story added to London Star Shaped Festival bill

The 2017 Star Shaped Festival events were special.  In London, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham, the all-day events allowed Britpop lovers to come together in a wave of nostalgia, watching great bands and forging new friendships.

While the big draw for many was the four shows by the unexpectedly reformed Sleeper, The Bluetones were on great and funny form, Space showed everyone how great they are in the live setting – a band much deeper than a couple of overplayed singles – and My Life Story’s Jake Shillingford demonstrated a fantastic command of a crowd.

Continue reading