Not Forgotten
Not Forgotten: E – A Man Called E
For two decades now E of Eels has steadily established himself as the premier purveyor of mature male angst. Literate, tuneful, and capable of creating great pop songs that can either be life-affirming or, as the man himself puts it ‘major bummer rock’, and sometimes, both of these things simultaneously. But what of the music …
Obituary: Jaki Liebezeit – Can’s human drum machine 1938 – 2017
Jake Leibezeit will be best remembered for his work with German avant-garde band Can. He played on some of their most memorable albums, such as ‘Ege Bamyasi’ and ‘Monster Movie’, and brought a steady motorik beat, relentless and minimalistic, yet unmistakeably human. His rhythmic repetoire however had infinite depth beyond the bare-bones pulse of Krautrock, …
Not Forgotten: Pink Floyd – Animals
In early 1977 the winds of change were blowing. Reflecting the mood of unrest prevalent in the UK at the time, the established old guard of music acts had evolved into largely complacent animals, while the combination of general discontent and the cyclical nature of change meant that they were about to be swept away …
Not Forgotten: Frank Black – Francis
How are you getting on with the latest incarnation of Pixies? Some of it’s OK. We got Head Carrier on the strength bouncing around to Um Chagga Lagga when it came on the radio. And it’s fine. But there’s the late 80s/early 90s stuff upstairs so… Here’s the thing though. The Pixies album I find …
Not Forgotten: Cat Stevens – Tea for The Tillerman
Maybe it was a reaction to being a social misfit during my school days, but while my contemporaries were falling underneath the spell of various grunge and hip hop acts back in the early 90s, I had started to pay more and more attention to my parents’ album collection. As teenagers during the 70s, they …
Not Forgotten: Rock Bass – Garbles
With their debut, Garbles, it’s quite obvious that Rock Bass do power pop. However, the trouble with a lot of power pop is that so much of it can sound really quite generic. Of course, historically the keystone act was Big Star, but there have been other stand outs as well. Cheap Trick, Teenage Fanclub, …
Not Forgotten: The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
September 2002. It is a time of personal misery and darkness. I’d sold the house I’d worked so hard to afford and had struggled to find a new place, so I was stuck back at my parents and holed up in their tiny box room with those few of my worldly goods that I could …
Not Forgotten: Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
In less capable hands 50 Words for Snow could have been a disaster. A ‘seasonal’ album is not something that many artists can pull off, especially as the majority of albums around a ‘winter’ theme are also based around the theme of Christmas (trust me, the day that the The Jethro Tull Christmas Album was …
Not Forgotten: Ed Harcourt – Here Be Monsters
At the time of its 2001 release, Ed Harcourt’s Here Be Monsters was released to a modest amount of fanfare and expectation of great things to come, however for some reason, he’s just never enjoyed the sales that his music deserves. Harcourt is first and foremost a great songwriter, and he’s no such on the …
Not Forgotten: World Party – Goodbye Jumbo
A lot more people should really know who Karl Wallinger is. He left The Waterboys at exactly the right time and set up his own musical project under the catchy name World Party. He immersed himself in 60s influences a good five years before it became fashionable, releasing albums like 1990’s Goodbye Jumbo, but by …