Today, let’s pay tribute to Dave Ball, sleazy keyboard king, taken from us too soon.I was fortunate enough to review Soft Cell a few years ago in Glasgow for The Wee Review. They still sounded majestic, transgressive and sexy. Here’s to the stoic musical sidekick, providing the pulse alongside the diva. Rest in peace Dave.Continue reading “Lost In Music: Soft Cell- The Bedsitter”
Tag Archives: Classic albums
Lost In Music: The Cure- Lovesong
Ooooh, Disintegration. As any Cure fan will tell you, there are few finer words in the English language. I was reminded of this masterpiece of a song from said album when binge -watching the latest BBC drama Mix Tape. The poignant series, focussing on a rekindled love afair between two indie kids thirty years later,Continue reading “Lost In Music: The Cure- Lovesong”
Archive Review: Julia Holter- Aviary
Julia HolterAviary Uneasy listening from LA multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter In a sea of twee folksy singer songwriters, it’s reassuring that we are blessed with some genuinely unique and gifted artists who occupy their own sonic territory: singular women like Annie Clark, aka St Vincent; Kathryn Joseph, Solange, Jane Weaver, FKA Twigs, and Mary Epworth. Los Angeles based multi instrumentalist and singer-songwriter JuliaContinue reading “Archive Review: Julia Holter- Aviary”
Lost In Music: Adam and the Ants- Kings Of the Wild Frontier
Two decades before Meg and Jack, there was only one white stripe that mattered: the warpaint over the nose of Britain’s biggest pop star: Adam Ant. His look was so iconic that kids copied him everywhere: indeed, me and my cousin Audrey, inspired by his style, attempted to emulate said stripe one summer, using tennisContinue reading “Lost In Music: Adam and the Ants- Kings Of the Wild Frontier”
Overlooked Classics: Betty Davis – They Say I’m Different
In her spacesuit collars, hot pants and big boots,prowling around the stage, Betty Davis made Tina Turner look something of a shrinking violet. With her wild, hard -living reputation and unrestrained presence, Davis was allegedly too much for husband Miles, from whom she divorced after just one tempestuous year in 1969. This second studio album,Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: Betty Davis – They Say I’m Different”
Overlooked Classics: The Cure- Disintegration
People often forget this album, and I don’t know why. Possibly it’s the ubiquity of curated playlists, or the attention span of the 21st century- so many people don’t have time to listen to whole albums anymore. It’s a masterpiece, either way. The eighth studio album saw the band losing Lol Tolhurst and Robert SmithContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Cure- Disintegration”
Overlooked Classics: The Cure – Faith
Pornography is often referred to in The Cure’s early eighties trilogy (which also includes Seventeen Seconds) as a classic, but I think their third album, Faith, is absolutely divine, and overlooked. Far from being as miserable as painted, it’s actually pretty diverse in scope. There’s the anthemic ‘Primary ‘, shimmering majesty of ‘The Funeral Party’Continue reading “Overlooked Classics: The Cure – Faith”
Grace at 30
I remember the first time I heard Jeff Buckley singing. I was hanging out at my then boyfriend Paul ‘s flat. He’d just bought the album. I sat frozen in my seat, jaw dropping. I perused the album cover: the impossibly beautiful man in a sequinned coat, looking soulful and untouchable, clutching an old-fashioned microphone.Continue reading “Grace at 30”
Overlooked Classics: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – From Her To Eternity
Debut albums rarely feel as raw as From Her To Eternity. The Birthday Party had dissolved pretty messily, amid drug abuse and ego problems, so Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds could have toned things down a little in order to hit that commercial paydirt. Ha, as if. Cave was far too independent, too contrarianContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – From Her To Eternity”
Lost In Music: This Mortal Coil
Formed by 4AD bosses Ivo Watts-Russell and John Fryer, This Mortal Coil made some of the most sublime, prescient music ever. Not everyone was keen. AR Kane dismissed them as simply “people in black clothes with shaved heads” and the second album by the collective , the dense,sprawling Filigree and Shadow (also my favourite) wasContinue reading “Lost In Music: This Mortal Coil”
Hit The North 