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. […]
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 […]
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Tony Brown: The Black Art
Some music deserves more ears. I’ve brought you a few such examples on this site over the past few months. From unreleased music from Nicola Bright-Thomas, to lost classics from Laura Yeger to bang up to date underground output from Sappho’s Journey. Finding new music – or at least music that’s new to me – […]
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Shaun Ryder matters
So Shaun Ryder is having a bit of a resurgence in popularity in the UK. Thanks to his reality-show appearance at the back end of 2010, he’s probably also found a new audience in the UK. People who are not really going to know about ‘Kinky Afro’, or ‘Mad Cyril’, or ‘Freaky Dancin’’. Tunes, all […]
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Defending The Dan
I’m not ashamed. Steely Dan are good. I was in a bar last night, and felt that I had to defend my position. Picture the scene: The evening starts off with what seemed like the entire King of Leon back catalogue being played out at ear-crushing volume. Follow that with Led Zeppelin – clearly knocking […]
Support bands at a Prince show have a rough old time. To be fair, people at a Prince concert are normally interested in one thing: Prince. For the performer, slogging through a support slot at a Prince show must be at once thrilling (‘my god – I am on the same stage that the wee […]
Talkin’ Loud was pretty much always reliable. From the heavyweights of Omar, Galliano and the Young Disciples through to the lesser known artists like the K-Creative – in the early 90s there were few labels which you would look to for a safer bet. It was with this in mind that I remember picking up […]
I was waiting until today to write this post. On Friday I went to catch Lee Fields and The Expressions at the Bowery Ballroom. My intent was to hold fire until today before really writing anything about the gig, as it would afford me the opportunity to also build in a piece about Plan B. […]
Terry Christian is an unlikely source for genuine insight. He’s more Manc than an Arndale Centre full of parka-wearing monkey boys. To be fair, he has pretty much crafted a career out of being a professional Mancunian. From fronting 90s Channel 4 pop-culture totem ‘The Word’, through to radio and journalism, Manchester is writ large […]