Halloween weekend is here, the thin veil between the dead and the living. Come stroke the red velvet interior of your worst nightmares. A hundred snakes constrict, a hundred shark mouths consume. There’s an infinite karaoke held by Nigel Farage. Directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, the wonderful creative duo behind the stunning Nick CaveContinue reading “Lost In Music: Gazelle Twin &NYX- Deep England”
Category Archives: Music
Album Review: Parquet Courts- Sympathy For Life
You could be forgiven for thinking this is just another ebullient, scrappy album from the New York indie stoners, or however we’re stereotyping them this week. After all, the irresistible bounce of Walking At A Downtown Pace seems to personify this, with Max Savage’s rollicking rhythm and their trademark shouty refrain. But album seven isContinue reading “Album Review: Parquet Courts- Sympathy For Life”
Album Review: Lotic- Water
MusIc that knocks you sideways and rearranges vital organs is rare these days, but occasionally, something appears that sounds so otherworldly that you feel quite changed. Water by Lotic does this to me. It’s like experiencing an infatuation. It’s experimental electronica, future- soul, with bewitching, hard to fathom sounds that are impossible to shake off.Continue reading “Album Review: Lotic- Water”
Film Review: Here To Be Heard (2017)
There was no one quite like The Slits, and there never will be again. It’s eleven years since lead singer and force of nature Ari Up passed away from cancer at just 48 William E Badgley’s documentary charts the first all-female punk band and their formation in 1976, featuring interviews with Kate Korris, the originalContinue reading “Film Review: Here To Be Heard (2017)”
Divine Pop Intervention
Everybody knows Divine from her John Waters films. But the icon, who didn’t really want to be known as a drag queen, had another successful career in pop. Harris Glenn Milstead, who would have been 76 yesterday, fell into recording kind of by accident, as her outrageous live shows led to producer Bobby Orlando seeingContinue reading “Divine Pop Intervention”
Felt: You Say Jangly Like It’s A Bad Thing
Before indie became somewhat homogenised, there was Felt. Eccentric lead singer Lawrence didn’t allow journalists to use his loo, mumbled a lot and acquired something of an awkward reputation, often hiding behind his hat. He was often portrayed by the NME like an indie Howard Hughes, which seems a tad reductive. Maurice Deebank, meanwhile, wasContinue reading “Felt: You Say Jangly Like It’s A Bad Thing”
Teleman- Simple Like Us
Teleman have always, in their own unassuming way, crafted perfect Day-glo pop since they formed from the ashes of Pete and the Pirates. As with other low- key UK indie bands like Metronomy, Field Music and Hot Chip, they seamlessly meld electronics with slightly playful, occasionally melancholic songwriting. The new single, Simple Like Us ,Continue reading “Teleman- Simple Like Us”
Book Review: Genesis P-Orridge- NON BINARY
For anyone interested in transgressive art, the name Genesis P-Orridge needs no introduction. An artist interested in pushing societal boundaries of gender, sex, religion and politics, their art always provoked. In the seventies, as part of the noise/visual collective COUM Transmissions, and industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle, they were met with resistance from establishment figures, censored,Continue reading “Book Review: Genesis P-Orridge- NON BINARY”
The Future’s Here Today: Lala Lala
Pop is a dish best served cold, to paraphrase the Bard. And the platinum blond sprite Lala Lala, also known as Chicago based singer Lillie West, has been floating around the ether for the last couple of years. Eighties- inflected music doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. But she does it wellContinue reading “The Future’s Here Today: Lala Lala”
Lost In Music: Nightmares On Wax ft OSHUN- Breathe In
Three years in the making, the new Nightmares On Wax album Shout Out! To Freedom is getting good and spiritual on your ass. Exactly what we need, methinks, when times are uncertain and fraught. And any projects including the wondrous Shabaka Hutchings and Greentea Peng has to be worthy of your time. The new single,Continue reading “Lost In Music: Nightmares On Wax ft OSHUN- Breathe In”
Hit The North 