indie rewind
Not Forgotten: The Magnetic Fields – Distortion
Following up arguably the greatest triple album in the history of popular song must have taken it’s toll on Stephin Merritt, but with 2004’s i being as conceptually smart-arse as it’s predecessor, if somewhat less of an epic investment in time, it was becoming obvious that Merritt was getting fond of themes in general. So …
Not Forgotten – DEVO ‘Duty Now For The Future’
Devo’s first album ‘Q – Are We Not Men? A – We Are Devo’ was by all accounts a messy, protracted birth, brought about in no small way by casting Brian Eno as the midwife. Despite many moments of genius, Eno’s forté of making pedestrian bands interesting had never been more surplus to requirements, his …
Not Forgotten: Wilco – Kicking Television: Live in Chicago
The live double album was considered heavyweight currency back in the 1970s. In an era when using extended guitar duals and a drum solo to expand a zippy four minute studio based rock work out into a multi-layered live epic was not frowned upon, the live rock experience could rarely be contained on just the …
Feature: The UK Free Festival Scene, 1986 – 1992
These days there is a plethora of festivals, from huge expensive ones (Glastonbury) to smaller more affordable ones (Green Man, Wicker Man), but I don’t know of many (if any) free festivals. The term itself conjures up images of halcyon days back in the sixties, of hippies sat in circles, nudity and free love. But …
Not Forgotten: Mansun – Attack of the Grey Lantern
Released at a time when any UK four piece with guitars was being mercilessly marketed as Britpop and ‘indie’, Mansun’s Attack of the Grey Lantern is an album that succeeded, not because, but despite, the hyperbole around it. Schizophrenic image problems or not, Mansun had spent the months prior to the release of their debut …
Not Forgotten: The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me
With the departure of Bob Stinson from the band The Replacements slimmed down to a trio for Pleased to Meet Me and continued their journey from barely coherent punks to professional rock and roll band. To their credit they didn’t hide from this fact either, even making direct reference to it in the title and …
Not Forgotten – The Hold Steady – Almost Killed Me
It’s late summer 2007, it’s pouring with rain outside, and I’m spending the evening in the pub. I’d had dozens of nights like this in the previous ten years, a cheery couple of pints in our local had descended into my friend berating me for having a preference for rock music rather than jazz. His …
Not Forgotten – Half Man Half Biscuit – Back in the D.H.S.S.
The current documentary series on BBC4 on the history of the Indie music labels here in the UK has made for great watching so far, having so far detailed the rise of the indies in the late 70s, and their flourishing in the 80s. I have had but one minor quibble with the series so …
Not Forgotten: XTC – Oranges & Lemons
Oranges and Lemons is an album that has spent the twenty six years since its release trying to put behind it the fans disappointment that it wasn’t as good as Skylarking. The thing is, there are precious few albums as good as XTC’s 1986 masterpiece, so anyone expecting Partridge, Moulding and Gregory to release something …
Not Forgotten – PJ Harvey – Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
Sometimes heading for more calmer, more easily accessible waters is a good thing. Take PJ Harvey for instance, for years she had been known as a lady with a penchant for the shouty, confrontational and vitriolic. The trouble was she always seemed to possess an unfulfilled desire to create music that one day may get …