Reviews

Look, let’s try and keep this even briefer. Steve Reid is still the legendary drummer who in 1964 at 19 years of age played on Martha Reeves & the Vandellas’ ‘Dancing In The Street’ before moving on to play with Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, James Brown, Fats Domino, Sun Ra, Peggy Lee, Chaka Khan, Dexter Gordon, Dionne Warwick and a big, broad, lolloping spectrum of other legends. And Kieran Hebden still considers his life to have changed since meeting him. Continue Reading

It’s art-rock time with The Blue Aeroplanes again. The ‘Planes first appeared on the indie scene in the 90’s – a spirited collective of musicians (and I seem to recall, a dancer who came across as a posh Bez) creating soundtracks over which poet Gerard Langley chanted and almost-sang his spiked, left-field lyrics. And while this may all sound like a geeky Happy Mondays, there was a verve and ambition to it all that earned them both critical acclaim and Continue Reading

On 28 June 2006 the surviving members of The Triffids – Rob McComb, Alsy MacDonald, Martyn Casey, Jill Birt and Graham Lee intend to make a special visit to London to fix a commemorative plague to the wall of a Warehouse next to a pretty Dickensian office building in the EC1 area of London in recognition of the recording of The Triffid’s quietly monumental release, ‘Born Sandy Devotional’ in August 1986. The gesture is made all the more poignant because Continue Reading

What I know about reggae you could write on the back of a very, very small matchbox indeed. In fact you could write it on the fat, rosy head of matchstick for that matter. Reggae for me is Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker and Gregory Isaacs. Strike that (not the match, but the statement). Reggae for me is Aswad, Musical Youth and an anonymous roll-call of spliff rolling, hat wearing scary people. Very, very scary black people who like to smoke Continue Reading

First we had daft punks. Now we have daft buggers. Why does the French take on pop always manage to find a none too modest vein of hilarity and piss-take in its artists? Ever since Plastic Bertrand adopted his ludicrous punk rock posturing on 1977’s Top Of The Pops, French music has always arrived with either a funny dance, a wardrobe of garish suits, an unusual stage-prop or a camp expression. And just occasionally all four. Which is a shame, Continue Reading

According to the press release, Neimo’s album ‘From Scratch’ is the sound of ‘a Parisian underground dosed up on raging hormones, feverish enthusiasm and amphetamine-quaffing synth-punk beats’ and it’s a pretty fair description, although added to the mix is just a hint of a band trying too hard to not care all,  a kind of Pete Doherty-esque ‘Everyone look at me not giving a fuck’ approach that is going to grate with some people. ‘From Scratch’ is a collection of Continue Reading

“ I’m hear to testify that Hank Williams’ Lost Highway and AC/DC’s Highway to Hell are the same roads,” snarls frontman, Barley Scotch. “And I’m hear to testify that the journey is still no joke”, say I. Not even after three rebel rousing albums and a full-length DVD of their poop spreading shenanigans. You may have thought the joke was likely to have worn off by now, but the first live DVD ‘No Sleep ‘Til Liverpool’ proves the punchline extends Continue Reading

Her FOURTH album! ‘Son’ is the ex-Argentine sitcom comedienne’s FOURTH album and you still haven’t put your hand in your bloody pocket and forked out to see what this hypnotic, experimental, melancholy little sourpuss is all about. Like ‘Astrud Gilbert on magic mushrooms’ I said the last time – and I’m happy to reiterate that same throwaway, slapstick observation now only with this postscript: she’s completely bonkers with it.  If you enjoyed the murmuring loops, buzzes and sultry downtempo polyrhythms Continue Reading

Cracker have fought tooth and nail to get here. After a brief flirtation with chart success in the 90’s on the coattails of grunge, they endured wilderness years compounded by deep frustrations with their label, then after a less than amicable split they released an album of rerecorded favorites put out by new boss, Cooking Vinyl, thereby preempting a ‘best of’ planned by their former label – which must have felt pretty darned good. We all know that a battered Continue Reading

Wow, this lady really can sing. Not in a Mariah Carey vocal gymnastics way, or a throaty Alanis Morisette way, but in a sultry, seductive sense which forces you to forget the executive stress and chill out. The vocal equivalent of a nice hot cup of tea. Shame it’s wasted on as mediocre a release as this. Hil St. Soul is Hilary Mwelwa, hailing from Zambia, who from an early age had been immersed in soul icons such as Aretha, Continue Reading