This weekend marks twenty years since we lost the wonderful singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Of course, it’s horrible to lose someone so young and gifted. But what really grinds my gears is the clickbaity use of “tragic”. We all do it, we’re none of us immune to doom scrolling. It’s just… Amy, Billie, Sinead, Janis, Richey,Continue reading “Reframing Elliott Smith”
Tag Archives: Singer songwriter
Lost In Music: Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling- The Water
I was pretty mean about Johnny Flynn in Stardust recently, but to be fair, he wasn’t so bad: it was just a poor script, really. To redress this, I’d like to point out that he’s often a great songwriter and has a gorgeous husky voice. This beautiful song, penned by him, also features that goddessContinue reading “Lost In Music: Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling- The Water”
Overlooked Classics: Ezra Furman- Day Of The Dog (2013)
What a doozie. Ezra Furman ‘s second studio album after her work with The Harpoons is absolutely sublime. Inspired as much by punk rock as gospel, doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll, the song writing was kicked up several notches into something really special. Fusing her spiritual side with And Maybe God Is A Train, withContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Ezra Furman- Day Of The Dog (2013)”
EP Review: Patrick Wolf- The Night Safari
Ever the shapeshifter, it’s hard to believe Patrick Wolf has been making solo music for two decades now, so youthful does his appearance seem. Yet, here he stands having weathered many storms, both personal and professional. Indeed, thunderstorms as metaphor feature in this, his most recent EP. In many ways, The Night Safari feels likeContinue reading “EP Review: Patrick Wolf- The Night Safari”
Album Review: Anna Secret Poet- Shoutin’ Into The Void
“You can learn a lot from dead things “, Anna Secret Poet sings in ‘Dead Things’, “including how to live”. This is a very Anna line: seemingly throwaway, but really profound. The canny Scots singer-songwriter, drag performer and weaver of pithy tales returns with an album that meditates on the darkest corners of our psyche,Continue reading “Album Review: Anna Secret Poet- Shoutin’ Into The Void”
I Blame Robert Smith…
At fourteen, I was a bona fide Goth. Black of eyeliner, crimped of hair, and with a tendency towards a shyness and melancholy. Small-town life in rural Perthshire just wasn’t cutting it for me. I wanted to see bands, dance and theatre, but there was nothing within the vicinity and we were a working classContinue reading “I Blame Robert Smith…”
Overlooked Classics: Opal – Early Recordings
Emerging from the Paisley Underground, a neo- psychedelic scene from the 1980s, Opal predate Mazzy Star by a few years. Singer songwriter and musician Kendra Smith, also a founding member of The Dream Syndicate, made some EPs, left the band and was replaced by Hope Sandoval, but Opal’s beautiful collection Early Recordings should definitely beContinue reading “Overlooked Classics: Opal – Early Recordings”
Hit The North 