Hull; City of Culture 2017

Today, Hull was named as UK City of Culture for 2017. Hull is a large city that's suffered decades of neglect and consequent decline. It's problems are exacerbated by it's relative remoteness and it's size. It's problems are real and visible. As such, it's very easy to snipe, to look down one's nose at the place. The very title 'city of culture' is also easy to sneer at and mixing that with Hull has seen no little amount of condescension towards the place and it's people.

Well bugger that. It's a place with no little charm. There's some lovely architecture and the Old Town is a particular delight. For a city of it's size, it doesn't feel like it. It feels a lot more compact and, as a result, more homely than equivalents. It is, in short, a lot like most other cities, but with more of a readiness to accept and acknowledge the faults of the place without cocking a snook at a supposed rival city.

And for culture, it's got a headstart.

Now, we're all about music here, so I won't go on about Larkin or Godber or any of the other names you already know. Instead, I've put together a 12-track playlist of Hull bands to celebrate the city getting the cultural nod.



Hull, you're sometimes grimy, sometimes cold, almost always wet and occasionally smell of fish. But you're alright, you are.