Picture yourself tied to a bed in a motel room in downtown New York in a motley but strangely erotic get-up of rubber and black leather. You might be a director. A movie star. A private detective. A voyeur of sorts. And lying there you are beset by a swarm of pounding, heavy wrist action guitars and hammer beats. The blinds are down and the rain curls like the veins of a neighboring psycho from the ceiling. You are in Continue Reading
Sometimes they appear out of the blue, directionless: untried and true. These are Curt Kirkwood’s words from the song ‘Untried’, but they just as ably summarise the lightning strike success of Novoselic’s former band, Nirvana. And it’s inevitable that we start here, as this is surely what everyone wants to be talking about. But lets end it here too: lightning rarely strikes twice, if at all in exactly the same location. It’s an imponderable task asking oneself where Kurt Cobain Continue Reading
Originally from Nashville, Tenn, Bullets of Orange have acquired rapid CMJ chart success. With this achievement, the alternative rock band sign with Larkspur, California-based 33rd Street Records and prepare to nationally release their self-titled album on January 28, 2003. Bullets of Orange unite a post-grunge attitude with a Brit Pop sensitivity that has become so popular in the wake of such groups as Coldplay, Oasis, and Travis. However, Bullets have a unique way of constructing songs, which sets them apart Continue Reading
Elvis Costello is quite possibly one of the most prolific artists to emerge from the punk/new wave scene in the late 70’s. While his earlier work was angst driven with a pop enthusiasm, Costello has experimented with literally every genre throughout his career. From the Country influenced Almost Blue, the R&B flavor of Kojak Variety to classical music on The Juliet Letters, it seems there is nothing this Elvis won’t try. After his collaboration with Burt Bacharach, Painted From Memory, Continue Reading
The ‘shambolic’ subtext of nu acoustic guru, Damon Gough, a.k.a Badly Drawn Boy was an affectionate enough tribute one would have thought. But think again. This is a man who holds court with one hand and plays beautifully realised music with the other. Northern Crud plays host to Northern Man. Damon Gough is almost invisible as he wanders onto the stage at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia on a warm October night. Shuffling in from the wings, he Continue Reading
Well – it wouldn’t be Christmas without Del Boy Trotter, Harry Potter or Lord of The Bloody Rings now would it? And though it’s arguable which is likely to be the more remarkable resurrection in 2005 – the bringing back to life of J.R.R Tolkien or the elusive comic faculties of ‘Fools’ creator, John Sullivan – it’s likely to keep on going for years to come – whether we like it or not. Howard Shore’s music for the hugely successful first Continue Reading
Agent provocateur to the ‘quiet is the new loud’ of 2001 and tall, bespectacled one half of Kings of Covenience, Erlend Oye. Whilst the results of his whimsical nordic science are due out in earnest next Spring with the release of his first serious solo effort, ‘Unrest’ the crossover electronic world of indie-spock can be gently prepared by the 12“ vinyl only release of ‘Symptom of Disease’. Soft, spooky and crackling along like a small yuletide fire,’Symptom of Disease’ is not Continue Reading
Hip-hop. Built entirely on bling-blings and bang-bangs. Or so it would sometimes seem. Of course it isn’t entirely, but that doesn’t stop the majority aspect seeping like spilt blood under the toes of those that do still see it as an art-form, rather than a survival-of-the-luckiest lifestyle choice (still sore case in point, Jam Master Jay). But there must be those out there that have evolved past a primal, Neanderthal urge for territorial scrappings, and developed instincts beyond those of Continue Reading
In 1981 there were thousands of kids holed up in their bedrooms just killing themselves over the android, analogue beeps and battery acid spills of ‘synth’ music. Today those kids are holed up in the studio and just killing themselves all over again: but this time it’s called Electro-clash. Ladytron initially existed as a concept dreamed up by founder members Danny Hunt and Reuben Wu, two friends from Liverpool who shared a love of music and djing. This rather simple Continue Reading
Says Kweli of ‘Rush’, the second track on the album: “I wanted to call this song ‘Heroin’, but C. Smyth wouldn’t let me. He kept saying something about kids getting the wrong idea. Maybe he’s right. I would never use herion, but doesn’t it sound like a great name for a rock song?“ It’s an intriguing duality that sizeably sums up the ambitious nature of this record: it has all the allure and excitement of the street but with the Continue Reading