indie rewind
Not Forgotten: Father John Misty – Fear Fun
Every now and again you encounter an act whose entire aesthetic appeals to you. From his gorgeous gatefold CD artwork, to his live presence, Father John Misty’s combination of classic singer songwriter stance and soulful rootsy vibe strikes a chord with those of us who would really like them to make albums like they used …
Not Forgotten: Ben Folds Five – Whatever and Ever Amen
Popular opinion would have us believe that most acts find their second albums much more problematic than their debuts. In some ways this is understandable as the material on debuts is generally years in the making, having been honed and perfected in the years of hard gigging and demo recordings that inevitably happen before band …
Not Forgotten: Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump
A few days ago, a section of social media broke. There was no huge public outcry, and certainly, the vast percentage of users barely noticed and those that did notice, simply didn’t care. For those of us among that smaller percentage, it was important. It was big. Jason Lytle mentioned he was working on a …
Not Forgotten: The Waterboys – This Is the Sea
Following a number of false starts, A Pagan Place had finally established The Waterboys as not only an act of great promise, and had come tantalisingly close to establishing them as one of the key acts of the decade and masters of the sort of epic and emotional Celtic rock that was poised to fill …
Not Forgotten – Cud – Showbiz
After years of incrementally increasing success achieved by a combination of talent as opposed to any grand career plan, Cud reached their commercial and creative apogee with 1992’s utterly wonderful Asquarius. Their first album for major label A&M, Asquarius should have been the album that lodged them permanently into the public’s consciousness, and while it …
Not Forgotten: Sparks – Balls
One of the great things about Sparks down the decades has been their innate ability to innovate and inspire those that follow in their wake. The fact that those that follow in their wake have their own disciples and, somewhat frustratingly, bigger sales, only adds to the lure of Sparks for me. Having made great …
Not Forgotten – Suede – Coming Up
There are times when revisionism just gets it a bit wrong. In the early 90s, Suede were at the very vanguard of British guitar music. With the backing of the weekly music press, they gained a considerable amount of momentum, with frontman Brett Anderson even finding his way onto he front page of one of …
Not Forgotten: Kirsty MacColl – Kite
I find it impossible to dislike any aspect of Kirsty MacColl. She was a trier, tirelessly honing her craft, refusing to sell herself short or compromise her material for anyone, be they record companies, her expectant fans or her father. Sadly for all her obvious talent and verve, she struggled to record a consistently satisfying …
Not Forgotten – Billy Bragg – Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
Life’s a Riot With Spy vs. Spy and Brewing Up With Billy Bragg had found Billy Bragg marking out a sonic territory that was a million miles away from the synthetic sounds and plastic production methods that so much 80s music had been blighted with. Having already established his twin songwriting themes of social commentary …
Not Forgotten: They Might Be Giants – Apollo 18
Apollo 18 is the album that cemented They Might Be Giants as an act that would endure rather than burn briefly. Sure, the hit single “Birdhouse in Your Soul” had dragged its parent album, Flood into the charts in its wake, but TMBG already felt the need to play around with their sound, resulting in …