My mum brought the album home from work. A friend of hers knew that me and my brothers were into our music, so he thought he would work on expanding our knowledge. I want to shake him by the hand. For, the album which I put my hands on, I am guessing as a 14 […]
Category: James Poole
BBC 6 Music Presenter Gideon Coe tweeted the following a few weeks back: “Rediscovering McCarthy. Most of the week is taken up with listening to new releases so it’s good to be bowled over by something 25 years old” Now, chances are that you won’t have a clue as to who or what a McCarthy […]
Warning: I’m about to go out on a limb here… Weller’s best band was The Jam. I know have argued the corner for The Style Council as being a time which captured Weller at the peak of his ‘creative’ mode – pushing the boundaries of his music. But, let’s be honest – for balls-out, angry […]
So I am heading to Manchester. You see, I’m a bit of an Elbow fan, as posts on this site have already been testament to. As soon as the Elbow date at the MEN Arena was announced, the tickets were booked. I live in NYC, but my heart is in Manchester. There’s no finer place […]
Break up albums can be borderline voyeuristic. As a songwriter exorcises the demons of a failed relationship, you’re exposed to some raw emotions. It can be deeply uncomfortable. On one hand, there’s the bleak lament of self loathing – Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ is hardly going to win any prizes for its life-affirming, upbeat attitude. On […]
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Filth from Larry Young
I’ll keep this brief. Some funk just sounds filthy. It can be the horn, it can be the guitar. In the case of ‘Turn Off The Lights’ by Larry Young’s Fuel – it’s everything. Filth, in musical form. It’s like a laid back cousin of Fred Wesley’s ‘Blow Your Head’. Only dirtier. This is a […]
You know how certain music just makes you feel a few feet taller? Last week, I heard ‘Dry the Rain’ by The Beta Band. I had to smile. There’s literally nothing wrong with the track. Nothing. The Beta Band performed that unique trick – they knocked out a short, but almost perfect body of work. […]
The Brand New Heavies were bloody great, weren’t they? Seriously, before they essentially became purveyors of pop, they were a fine, fine funk outfit. ‘Midnight at the Oasis’, ‘Dream On Dreamer’ and ‘Brother Sister’ were all good tunes – but they targeted the masses. Roll it back a few years, and you’ve got an entirely […]
Bringing it back. freethinking nyc, volume 25 hits New York City on March 17th. Coming to you from the new home for freethinking nyc – the vig bar – volume 25 will be a special night. It’s St. Patrick’s Day – so expect a big night in NYC. For freethinking nyc, volume 25 – expect […]
Let’s face it, some bands just don’t cut it live. They fail to capture the intimacy of their recorded material when forced to play it to the masses. They let the adoration of the crowd get to them. They go on, and on, and on… And then, you get bands which totally nail it to […]
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Real jazz via Thom Yorke
I’m going to keep this brief, as the music speaks for itself. In a week where the world and his wife are writing about Radiohead (myself included), I am sitting here having a bit of an epiphany. Now, bear with me, I am yet to listen to ‘King of Limbs’ – it’ll be on my […]
Radiohead baffle and astound me in equal measure. Let’s face it – they don’t take the easy path. I’m not a massive fan of ‘Pablo Honey’. I’m not saying that I don’t like it – it’s just that ‘the difficult second album’ blew it away. ‘The Bends’ was massive. I remember hearing it for the […]