Music
From an old record box: a-ha – Stay On These Roads
It’s a tough call, trying to work out which of Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig is my favourite Bond. Craig has definitely got the better movies and the benefit of being the vehicle for post-Bourne rejuvenation of the franchise. But that can’t be enough. Dalton only got two movies, and he tends to get dismissed …
News: The Handsome Family – UK & Ireland Tour 2015
What a year this has been for Rennie and Brett Sparks. Before Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson starred in one of the most exciting and talked-about TV series of recent memory (all-time ? of course not, that’s still Buffy), The Handsome Family were strong, personal favourites for plenty of people; but now they’re household names. …
Album Review : Language of Shapes :: Mother Mountain
Language of Shapes inhabit a musical world all their own. Not that they don’t allow certain musical influences to seep into that world and show themselves now and then, but for the most part LoS score their wonderful little universe all their own. Their self-titled debut from 2012 showed a band brimming and bursting with …
From an old record box: Sade – No Ordinary Love
For years that refrain of “this is no ordinary love/no ordinary love” held an enduring fascination for me. In hindsight I probably should have left it to memory. I should have listened to all the ways in which Sade’s music was described: this was a purveyor of super-slick, super-polished, slinky pop-soul and I was hoping …
Feature: New Music For The New Year – Albums To Look Forward To In 2015
I know, I know. This should be my favorite albums of 2014, not albums I’m looking forward to in 2015. As much as I love the favorite lists, and as satisfying as it is once I’m done with making my own and sharing it with the world, I have to admit it’s quite a daunting …
Album Review: Taylor Swift – 1989
I’d intended to go in one direction when I began writing this, that being to just do a straight up review of the record. As it is I’ve ended up going in quite another, taking detours with Billy Bragg, the AMAs, the Spotify row, Bob Harris’ ‘My Nashville’ documentary, and Taylor. ‘1989’ is a high-profile …
Live Review: Inspiral Carpets – Leadmill, Sheffield 6.12.14
The haircuts were considerably shorter, and maybe the clobber was a few sizes bigger than ‘back in the day’, but with the amount of Adidas trainees, Italian sportswear and sun hats been worn in the queue outside the Leadmill, it wouldn’t have taken a genius to deduce that one of the legends of the Madchester …