Album review: Wire – 10:20
Wire have been producing scratchy abrasive arty intelligent pop/punk since the late 70s, and have therefore an impressive and formidable back-catalogue. With that inevitably comes an equally impressive cutting-room floor, where songs that didn’t make it to the disc in question languish, and in the wrong hands could’ve been lost forever. No so with Wire, …
Track : Brian Bordello – Boris Johnson Massacre
Brian Bordello’s been making music for decades, both with his band ‘The Bordellos’ and more recently as a solo artist. Highly prolific, fiercely indie, uncompromising and lo-fi to the nth degree, his often comic cynicism is tempered with a real passion for new music. Like most musical outsiders, writing songs is an urge he can’t …
NEWS: Larry Pink the Human release debut single ‘Love You, Bye’.
Larry Pink the Human consists of Laurie Vincent from the band Slaves and producer Jolyon Thomas. Thomas, whose production credits include M83, U2 and Royal Blood, is exchanging the studio for the stage, and the project is Vincent’s first stab as a lyricist. The idea is to create a space for expression, and exploration of …
SEE: Odina releases video for ‘1,2,3,4’
London-based Catalan pop sensation Odina has released her new video ‘1,2,3,4’. It’s a twisted treatise of Love as a double-edged sword and relationships on a knife-edge. Filmed in London and self-directed, it plays with the glamour, glitter and grime of romance at the sharp end.
News: Gregory Porter releases single, ‘Phoenix’
Gregory Porter has released the single ‘Phoenix’ from his forthcoming album ‘All Rise’ due in August. It’s a life-affirming sunny affair, drenched in Bacharach-style orchestration, breezy trumpets and soothing strings. Add to that Gregory’s honey-rich vocals and a euphoric summertime vibe is guaranteed. Phoenix is available on Decca/Blue Note Records now.
Obituary – Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider was co-founder of Kraftwerk with Ralf Hutter. Originally a flautist and violinist, he began experimenting with effects such as echo and reverb to expand the instruments’ capabilities. Flute was predominantly used on the rare album ‘Ralf and Florian’. After their breakthrough album ‘Autobahn’, (that also featured the flute on its B-side), the duo …
Obituary – Dave Greenfield of The Stranglers 29.3.49 – 3.5.20
Dave Greenfield was keyboard player in The Stranglers, frontrunners in the Punk movement. In a genre where lack of musicality was sometimes seen as a badge of honour, his virtuosity stood out from the very beginning, giving the band a sound that set them apart from their contemporaries. Often compared to Ray Manzarek from The …
Obituary – Tony Allen
Tony Olidapo Allen was born in Nigeria in 1940, and is regarded as the one of the principal founders of Juju and Afrobeat. A self-taught musician, being around Lagos at the right time meant he was engaged by Fela Kuti for his band Africa ’70. A natural percussive genius, Allen had the rare ability to …
SEE: DUB PISTOLS RELEASE NEW VIDEO FOR ‘BANKROBBER’
Big-beat sonic pranksters Dub Pistols are back with a cover of The Clash classic ‘Bankrobber’. The clip was made from individual band member contributions under lockdown, using their mobile phones, the final result only coming together at the mix in an editing suite. It’s a riot of reggae-dancehall vibes, bleeps and ragga rhymes; a perfect …
Not Forgotten: Madness – The Dangermen Sessions Vol 1
In the eighties Madness were massive; kids loved ’em, your gran loved ’em. They scored hit after hit. While The Specials were personifying the grim zeitgeist of Thatcherite Britain in a parked car, Madness were dressing as garden gnomes and swinging from high wires. They were the nutty boys who became the lost boys, and …