News
NEWS: experimental composer and Cocteaus collaborator Harold Budd reported to have passed, aged 84
SAD NEWS this evening as reports began to circulate across social media that the poet, avant-garde composer and pianist Harold Budd, a progenitor of the modern ambient piano style, has died at the age of 84. Budd was born in May 1936 in Los Angeles, but was raised in Victorville, in the Mojave desert. He …
NEWS: Nick Cave pulls 2021 European tour
MORE sad news for all gig lovers – that’s pretty much all of us, right? – as Nick Cave has announced this afternoon that he’s cancelled his upcoming European and UK tour dates due to the continuing pandemic. A short statement says from Nick and the Bad Seeds reads: “We are very disappointed to announce …
TRACK: A Winged Victory For the Sullen – ‘Desires Are Already Memories’: O’Halloran and Wiltzie return
THAT glorious combination of Stars of the Lid and The Dead Texan’s amniotic drone sustain voyager, Adam Wiltzie, and modern piano composer, Dustin O’Halloran, who ply their seductive trade as A Winged Victory For the Sullen, have announced a new album, Invisible Cities, to be released come the end of February next year. (The 26th …
News: The National’s Early Catalogue Remastered And Reissued due 26 February 2021
Twenty years on from the release of their self-titled debut album, The National are reissuing it along with 2003’s follow-up Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers and 2004’s Cherry Tree EP on 26 February 2021. With all three records having been remastered at Abbey Road Studios, the 2021 represses stay faithful to their original artwork while their stunning new masters …
EP Review: Tim Burgess – Ascent of the Ascended plus tour news
It has been amazing year for Tim Burgess – a rare species that has bloomed under the claustrophobia of COVID and provided an endless source of entertainment and education through his twitter parties and his solo album ‘I Love the New Sky’ (reviewed by me in May). His creativity is boundless – so much so …
Track: Einstürzende Neubauten return with haunting new track ‘La Guillotine de Magritte’ and news of more gigs in 2021
It’s been a busy and productive year for the eternally brilliant Einstürzende Neubauten, with a slew of singles from their shining album ‘Alles in Allem’ released during the darkest periods of the COVID crisis this year after a 13 year break. And now a new single, ‘La Guillotine De Magritte’. A fine way to celebrate …
SEE: Osees’ roarin’ live take on ‘Gelatinous Cube’; Dwyer’s boys announce live stream
OSEES – the band who Marc Riley called the “best live band in the world”, and he was so on the money – have released footage of a live take of “Gelatinous Cube”, from Big Sur, with the strict instructions: meant to be listened to loud on speakers. Watch and you know they’re absolutely on …
The Lickerish Quartet – ‘Snollygoster Goon’: Jellyfish bods back in the groove
DO YOU miss the prog-psych-powerpop odysseys of Nineties’ San Fran outfit Jellyfish? All those empurpled paisley power ideas thrown into a thrilling mix? Well listen up, listen up; Jellyfish’s Roger Joseph Manning Jr, Tim Smith and Eric Dover, who’ve been plying their respective individual trades with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Slash’s Snake Pit, the Finn Brothers, Alice …
SEE: The Departure Lounge – ‘Mercury In Retrograde’: indie prodigals return on Michael Head’s label
SEVENTEEN long years away; but you can’t keep a decent indie songsmith gone forever. You may well recall the graceful indie of the Departure Lounge; they released two sweet and underappreciated albums for Bella Union, 2001’s Jetlag Dreams and Too Late To Die Young a year later. You may be even longer in the indie …
NEWS: Goldfrapp announce coloured vinyl reissue for ‘The Seventh Tree’
GOLDFRAPP’s fourth album, Seventh Tree, is to receive a coloured vinyl reissue next March via Mute/BMG. The album, originally released in February 2008, which featured singles such as the widescreen piano pop of”Caravan Girl”, the smouldering confession of “A&E” and “Caravan”, has been out of pressing for a long while now and commands prices north …