blues
TRACK: William Shatner and Canned Heat decide: ‘Let’s Work Together’
AND now he’s back. From outer space. The rebellious re-interpreter of “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Lucy in the Sky in Diamonds” on his album, The Transformed Man, in 1968. Brilliant bewitcher and bemuser of lyricist Bernie Taupin at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards in his theatrical, declamatory, absolutely seminal take on “Rocket Man”. And …
Remembered : Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone was one of those characters that seemed to have stepped out of an E.L. Doctorow novel, or an Our Gang comedy. Playing Tin Pan Alley shuffles and ragtime ballads on the guitar and whistling like a drunken bum with just a swig of whiskey left in his flask. Except instead of appearing out …
Track: The Wave Pictures – Jim
They don’t know this of course (well, not till they read this) but I’m sort of very proud of The Wave Pictures. Before landing in Sheffield I lived in a little village outside Loughborough, Shepshed (no, you won’t have) and growing up there was very little in the way of cool music that came from …
Classic Compilation: B. B. King – His Definitive Greatest Hits
B. B. King was a legend and legend is not a word I use lightly. He was and remains an icon of popular music. A blues guitar player whose career ran parallel to rock and roll and who managed to maintain a dignified career for multiple decades, he outlasted contemporaries, weathered constantly shifting fashions in …
Album Review: Son Volt – Notes Of Blue
I think if you went back 22 years to 1995 you’d find the running thoughts on the trajectories of Son Volt and Wilco would be significantly different than what actually ended up happening. While Wilco’s debut album A.M. was decent enough, it didn’t hold a candle to the gritty and windswept Midwest epic that was …
Track: Barry Adamson – Sweet Misery, plus UK tour dates
After a lifetime in music, Barry Adamson has announced details of a new six tracks EP Love Sick Dick, which drops on 14th April. From it, he’s released a new track, Sweet Misery, which Mark Radcliffe premiered on his 6Music Show. The whole EP Adamson sees as a blues – one lovelorn guy in all …
See: Little Brother Eli reveal video for Oceans
Once again creating an incredible dose of beard envy, Little Brother Eli are back with a brand new music video for their song ‘Oceans’, the opening track from their album Cold Tales. Beginning at once with plenty of atmosphere in its soundscape, this only gets deeper with each element that’s added to it as it …
Track: The Picturebooks – I need that Oooh
Heavy blues duo The Picturebooks, aka Fynn Claus Grabke [vocals, guitar] and Philipp Mirtschink [drums] have just released their brand new single, ‘I need that Oooh’, taken from their forthcoming album, Home is a heartache, which drops in March 19th via Another Century Records. Of the track, the pair say, “We were on a European …
News: Hurray For The Riff Raff announce new shows
Hurray for the Riff Raff are coming back to the UK in 2017! In some really small venues though, so don’t hang around if you want to get tickets. Plus if you missed the previous tour, two of the new songs from the forthcoming album, which were introduced on the previous tour, are available on this …
Classic Album: Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
Imagine the shock of hearing Highway 61 Revisited the first time in the mid 60s. You’re a Bob Dylan fan, you like his politicised songwriting as it fit in neatly with your ideals and opinions. Sure his material has become slightly less political over recent albums, but he’s still a great songwriter. You can even …