thefreethinkingmovementFinding good gigs in New York is like shooting fish in a barrel. Even so, this year I must have had a machine gun. Paul Weller at the Apollo. Gil Scott-Heron at the Blue Note. The Specials at Terminal 5. Spiritualized at Radio City. Everything Everything at Arlene’s Grocery. Beth Orton in Rockefeller Park. The […]
So that’s settled then. Weller’s creative peak was with The Style Council. My last post seemed to strike a chord. I figured that there was only one direction that my next post could take. The Style Council was not all about Weller. It was also Mick Talbot’s show. Master of the Hammond organ, a proponent […]
I was probably 18. Every week after I got paid, I’d go to this record store called The Red Rocker in my hometown. The guy that owned it was this giant dude named Bruce. He drove the Dial-A-Ride (or Dial-A-Dude as we used to call it), where you would call a number and a short […]
“Paul Weller was at his most interesting and rewarding with the Style Council, wasn’t he?” So wrote a friend of mine on his facebook wall a few weeks back. It’s a statement which would probably have many a Weller fan up in arms; demanding that the entire period that Weller spent flanked by Mick Talbot, […]
I was raised in a house filled with Motown. Rarely was there a Saturday morning where the sounds of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Smoky Robinson were not ringing out. The ‘Motown Chartbusters’ albums became some of the first LPs that I was truly familiar with. Right down to the detail of their […]
“One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain” crooned Bob Marley, but what if you want to keep it sexy? We could throw in some D’Angelo, maybe some Prince, or even some Eryka Badu. What if we want to keep it movin’ and keep it sexy at the same time? One […]
Let me tie a few threads together. I’ve written about covers before – if you didn’t check out John Martyn’s version of ‘Glory Box’, then you’ve missed out. I’ve also written about a tune which has appeared at many, many freethinking nyc nights: ‘Shaft In Africa’ by Johnny Pate. Finally, a recent post extolled the […]
Sappho’s Journey Summer 2008. I’m heading to that bastion of middle class attitudes in the woods, with music, comedy, sheep and beer: Latitude. A wonderful line up had caught my interest, with headliners including Sigur Ros, and other acts including Elbow, Seasick Steve, The Aliens, Beth Orton and Blondie. Good times ahead. This was my […]
We over here at the freethinking movement LOVE when people suggest music to us. That’s what this movement is all about, opening your mind (or how about freeing your mind and your ass will follow?). Lower East side staple and historian Peter Pabon had this posted on his Facebook page after a night of freethinking […]
Today has been ‘an Elbow day’. A day at home, listening to a Guy Garvey narrated radio documentary about Manchester (more specifically, the influence and importance of rain in Manchester). With genuine feelings of pride and affection for Manchester, there was only one way to follow the programme. No band captures their love for a […]
Some songs come from a dark place. Sometimes the true depth and darkness of a song is obscured behind a sheen. ‘Every Breath You Take’? Dark. Any couple sharing a dancefloor to this at a wedding really should reconsider. Everything. Sometimes the meaning is fairly unambiguous. Lyrically and musically, the pain and suffering are apparent. […]
I’d like to think I am pretty keen on music. Whether it be Hip Hop, Funk, Soul, Reggae, Rock, 80’s, etc., I’d like to think that I’m pretty well versed. I got a text message from one of my mates over the weekend. It was a band’s name, and the words: “How the hell did […]