Tag Archives: Music

Bloc Party- Then and Now

Bloc Party’s debut ‘Silent Alarm’ is -bizarrely -twenty five years old this year. For me, it still holds up, because it has that sense of urgency. ‘Helicopter’ is a banger among bangers. And now, their new album, ‘Anatomy Of A Brief Romance’ is out, and they are still worth listening to. They’ve weathered the storms,Continue reading “Bloc Party- Then and Now”

Five Perfect Pavement Songs

I woke up with Spit On A Stranger this morning as an earworm and it’s both caustic and beautiful, so here’s that very song along with four other beauties. Don’t say I’m not good to you.

Skeleton Tree Is A Decade Old

How is it possible? Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ ‘Skeleton Tree’s a decade old. An overwhelming album scrutinising appalling loss, grief and coping through love, it was arguably the most personal album Cave had ever created at that pont. Andrew Dominik’s film, ‘One More Time With Feeling’ that came out to accompany the album,Continue reading “Skeleton Tree Is A Decade Old”

Should’ve Been A Hit: Addis Black Widow- Innocent

There was a period in the mid-nineties when De La Soul’s positive hip hop permeated through to other artists. There was the cheesy but loving (Arrested Development, Dream Warriors’ later era) and the more credible (Jurassic 5). They mined the sunnier side of funk jams and yet the lyrics were still spicy. So it wasContinue reading “Should’ve Been A Hit: Addis Black Widow- Innocent”

Album Review: Arab Strap- Half-Told Tales

This new album, the ninth from the inimitable Falkirk duo, sees Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton on fire. It’s not often that a band gets a new lease of life later into their career, but then, they’ve always been one to buck trends. Few speak to the creeping malaise as accurately as The Strap. FromContinue reading “Album Review: Arab Strap- Half-Told Tales”

Dolly Forever

Dolly has left us. What can we say that hasn’t already been said? Singer, songwriter, philanthropist, icon, champion of LGBTQI rights, Grammy Award winner, Hollywood Star of Fame winner, actor, theme park creator. 100 million records sold worldwide, endlessly quotable, forever recognised, and not bad for a lil gal who grew up- the fourth childContinue reading “Dolly Forever”

Five Cure Gems

I should really be at The Cure Summer Session show in Edinburgh today, but wondered if they’d live up to how I imagine them. I’ve been into the band since around 1984, so it’d be partially nostalgia. Saying that, the last album is wonderful too. £85 for two bands I’d like to see isn’t reallyContinue reading “Five Cure Gems”

Kate Bush’s Influences

Pics of Kate Bush: John Carder Bush J W Waterhouse, ‘The Lady of Shallot’. Kate Bush was always upfront in her literary and artistic influences. She essayed The Brontes of course, but also Tennyson, Shakespeare and John William Waterhouse. Her Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic was unique in a time of punk, prog and so on, but theContinue reading “Kate Bush’s Influences”

The Rise of Sofia Isella

We all like Billie Eilish, but more recently Sofia Isella has taken her soft vocals and avant-pop to the next level. She’s gone stratospheric, a young Mexican-American poet making dark pop that references many facets of the culture wars, and I for one am grateful. Her debut, ‘I Am Camera’, is creepy pop. Take thisContinue reading “The Rise of Sofia Isella”