Interview: Tift Merritt
“I’m gonna be Molotov !” (none of the images contained in this article were shot in my house…) It’s just as well that Tift Merritt came round for dinner. Worrying about the cooking stopped me being so nervous about talking to her. How did this come about ? Well, it’s a tale of jetlag, Oliver’s …
Tift Merritt and Simone Dinnerstein: Live at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Tonight I’m at the Purcell Room in London to see Tift Merritt and Simone Dinnerstein playing their 2013 album “Night” (plus some additional tracks that we were lucky enough to hear). I don’t know that there’s a duff arts venue in the whole of the Southbank Centre. The BFI quickly became the only place I …
From an old record box: Then Jerico – Big Area
On 4 February 1989, the brief career of British rock band, Then Jerico, shone its brightest when “Big Area” reached its highest chart position of 13. The recording I have is catalogue number 886-366 7 and is a 1989 pressing of the 7″. There’s a touch of the Johnny Hates Jazz’s about Then Jerico. They …
Album review: The Lonely H – The Lonely H
This is good-time music. It’s got everything that you need: bendy, blues- and rock’n’roll-infused guitars, confident brass, an unobtrusive but muscular rhythm section, a strong and soulful vocalist, and a good understanding of how to write coherent, tuneful, ass-shaking, country rock. This five-piece, who have been together for around a decade, hail from Port Angeles, …
From an old record box: the Cure – The Head on the Door
It’s something like 1994, probably late winter or early spring judging by the chill factor of sleeping “on the floor of the night before/with a stranger lying next to me”. I’ve got my overcoat for a duvet and shirt for a pillow. The stranger isn’t a hook-up, just a fellow teen-age pass-out. We’re in Newmarket …
Interview: Matt Reid – Documentary Director
It is becoming increasingly apparent to me as Backseat Mafia develops that one thing keeps on leading excitingly to another and that the enjoyment won’t stop building. In this case, a dream of an opportunity, namely to put questions to New Model Army’s Justin Sullivan, has turned out not to be the end of that …
See: Laura Welsh releases new video for Cold Front
You read about the song in our piece earlier in June, now watch the video for Laura Welsh’s “Cold Front” (single out on 15 July). Erotic, sensual and enticing, the video opens with the neat conceit of a dancer being manipulated by silhouetted puppet masters. But it doesn’t overplay the idea, the video developing through …
See: Editors reveal new video for ‘The Weight’
Ahead of the release of their fourth studio album, “The Weight of Your Love”, and as a counterpart to the lead single from the album, “A Ton Of Love”, Editors have also released a video to accompany the opening track from the album “The Weight”. The black and white video was shot in Nashville, Tennessee …
O Emperor – Vitreous: Album Review
Back in April I got lost on bandcamp and wandered into O Emperor‘s house. They had facial hair so it was a pretty happy accidental meeting plus, as you could not doubt tell from my breathless review of the video for “Holy Fool” I also liked what I found. Now they’re releasing albums, and it’s …
Little Triggers – St.Bernard (part 2 of Backseat Mafia on Tour: York)
After a little while browsing the record stacks in the aforementioned Inkwell, I came across some, er, Stax. It was one of those record label-issued compilations of their great artists – combining a big hit with a relative ‘flop’ by each. I managed to persuade myself that no matter how brilliant the combination, I already …