Not Forgotten: Elton John – Tumbleweed Connection
There are some who will always view Elton John with suspicion, or even disdain. With his stocky frame, his bad wigs and a reputation for over-reacting when things don’t go his way. Add to this his predilection for writing musicals, bank-rolling films about garden gnomes and his all too public love of all things monarchy …
Reissues: Tyrannosaurus Rex
Marc Bolan’s reputation as one of the 20th Century’s greatest pop stars is forever tied to the material he released as the frontman of T.Rex, one of the finest glam rock bands of the 70s. Of course, much like his contemporary, David Bowie, Bolan’s journey to the crown prince of sequinned pop stardom had been …
Not Forgotten – The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
Just from the pencil-crayon artwork of the CD cover, you sort of know that Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? is going to be a chaotically shambolic album, with lots of scratchy sounds, off-kilter keyboards, a generous serving of indie harmonies and an almost non-existent production job. Although firmly rooted in shabby indie territory, Who Will …
Not Forgotten – Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Arcade Fire’s debut Funeral was the sound of a band coming out of nowhere to claim their place as the next big thing in a manner no one had quite experienced before. Neon Bible was a doom-laden and apocalyptic state-of-the-modern-world address which affirmed that Arcade Fire were big on concepts but short on laughs. So where does The Suburbs take us? …
Not Forgotten – Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
The rules for being a successful prog rock act were seemingly set in stone. You had to be a band, predominantly male, you were not allowed to have hit singles after 1974 and the majority of your songs had to clock in at at least twice the length of the average pop single. …And then …
Not Forgotten: Julian Cope – Fried
Recorded at a point where the popular music press were largely of the opinion that Julian Cope was struggling to relocate his muse following the detonation of The Teardrop Explodes, Fried is the album that found the Arch-Drude at the mid-point between the music industry’s realisation that he wasn’t going to be the easily mouldable popstar that they wanted …
Album Review: Gov’t Mule – Dark Side of the Mule
“By the way, which one’s The Mule?” Recorded Halloween 2008, Dark Side of the Mule finds one of America’s greatest rock bands covering the material of one of the great English rock bands. On first hearing of this album, I at first wondered just who this archive release was aimed at, beyond fans that …
Meet: Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule
Warren Haynes is one of those musicians that everyone that meets him holds in high esteem. Joining the reformed Allman Brothers Band in the 80s he’s built a formidable reputation and list of credits to his name, not least fronting Gov’t Mule since the mid 90s. 2014 has been Gov’t Mule’s 20th anniversary and January …
Album Review: BC Camplight – How to Die in the North
Okay, confession time. Prior to hearing How to Die in the North, I was utterly ignorant of the work of BC Camplight. Simply put, his was not a name that I was familiar with and it was the fact that he was signed to Bella Union that caught my eye more than anything else. Home …
A Buyers Guide to Warren Zevon – The Asylum Years
Warren Zevon is one of those songwriters who is unfortunately best remembered for one song which overshadowed the rest of his career. This is a great shame, as Zevon’s output is one of considerable depth which underwent repeated twists and turns in terms of commercial success which lead to a relatively stop-start career punctuated by …