It’s funny how music can evoke one thing at a particular point in your life, then take on an entirely different meaning later on. Pearl Jam’s epic song Black does that for me. In the early nineties, my best friend B moved near Seattle from Scotland and got a job as an au pair. SheContinue reading “Lost In Music: Pearl Jam- Black”
Tag Archives: Music
A Contorted Tribute
James Chance passed away on June 18th ,and I wanted to pay tribute here with his trademark song. Part of the teenage No Wave scene in the late 70s in New York, alongside the likes of Lydia Lunch, DNA and Mars, he and The Contortions were a forward thinking squall of punk, funk and noise.Continue reading “A Contorted Tribute”
Lambrini Girls Rule!
Who are Wet Leg anyway? The Last Dinner… what? Lambrini Girls are the real thing, spitting out home truths as their guitars buzz and drums clatter. It’s music as electric shocks, little pinches of reality that remind us that not all indie is made by PR -hyped, radio playlist seeking poshos. Iggy Pop is aContinue reading “Lambrini Girls Rule!”
Lost In Music: Cocteau Twins – Treasure
Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie may have said to the British music press, “Treasure was such an abortion. I hated it”, but the 1984 classic is still one of the band’s best-selling, best-loved studio albums. Originally, this, their third studio album, was to be produced by Brian Eno, but the band’s Robin Guthrie took thatContinue reading “Lost In Music: Cocteau Twins – Treasure”
Lost In Music: Will Gregory Moog Ensemble
While his singing half treads a more commercial path these days, Will Gregory from Goldfrapp has a project that’s experimental, doffing a hat to pioneers like Stockhausen and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It’s wonderfully out of step with current trends in modern music, like the recent jazz revival and hyperpop. Will Gregory Moog Ensemble isContinue reading “Lost In Music: Will Gregory Moog Ensemble”
Album Review: Marcel Wave- Something Looming
This is a hell of a debut. Featuring members of Sauna Youth and CoId Pumas, Marcel Wave are a promising lot. Singer Maike Hale- Jones delivers witty, gobby vignettes on the state of Britain, flanked by Oliver Fisher and his bruising guitar, and organ from Lindsay Corstorphine. It’s in the grand tradition of UK post-punkContinue reading “Album Review: Marcel Wave- Something Looming”
Overlooked Classics: Marc Almond With The Willing Sinners- Mother Fist
Much more than just beautifully crafted filth, Marc Almond’s third studio album from April 1987, created with backing band The Willing Sinners, is a doozie. Taking inspiration from Jean Genet, Judy Garland and the Weimar republic, Almond ‘s musical palette was ever widening, full of left turns and his trademark bon mots- he’s always hadContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Marc Almond With The Willing Sinners- Mother Fist”
Overlooked Classics: Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band-Safe As Milk
Running the gamut of genres- from Delta blues to experimental psych- the magnificent debut album from Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band is all about the inimitable singer songwriter and musical fruitloop, aka Don Van Vliet, finding his feet after an attempt at popularity with the swampy hit, the cover of Bo Diddley’s Diddy WahContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band-Safe As Milk”
Album Review: Xiaowang-Kachakacha
What an exciting debut from this young Bejing band. Xiaowang make music that’s as unexpected as it’s exhilarating. They’re described as “kawaiicore” and that’s a perfect term, as their music is often pitched between the fun and the terrifying. Steal vacillates between deadpan choppy postpunk and death metal roars, whereas Duck Song is slicing, staccatoContinue reading “Album Review: Xiaowang-Kachakacha”
Congratulations Switzerland!
Amid a political storm (Palestinian supporters were vocal in their protests outside the venue) and controversy (Netherlands artist Joost Klein was disqualified after allegedly “inappropriate behaviour” towards a camerawoman) Nemo, Switzerland ‘s entry, won with a great song and heartfelt, energetic performance. The Code, which tackles Nemo’s non -binary identity, won public and cross-continental votesContinue reading “Congratulations Switzerland!”
Hit The North 