I’m a long-time aficionado of Acid Jazz Records. Birthplace of Galliano and Jamiroquai, home to The Brand New Heavies during their career-peak, and the arbiters of taste behind the Totally Wired series – Acid Jazz was more than a label during the early 90s. It was a movement. I was a fully signed-up fan. During […]
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Expensive Northern Soul
Feeling down? Here’s a musical cure. I’m not sure if I buy the story about this being The Most Expensive ‘45 Of All Time – but I do buy that it’s a slab of bang-on northern soul. And, if your day is tinged with even a hint of something not going in your favour, slap […]
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Latitude: the seventh edition
OK, I’ll come clean. While the summer has been more than a little hectic, I did manage to squeeze in Latitude. All very last minute, all very opportunistic. Despite the trenchfoot-friendly conditions, I’m chuffed to have made it. A festival with headliners including Weller and Elbow? Count me the hell in. Latitude is becoming firmly […]
I read an article last week that put forth – in surprised tones – that the main source for an introduction to ‘new music’ was the radio. I’ll be honest, this is no surprise to me at all. Whack on BBC 6 Music on any day of the week, at any time of the day, […]
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An unlikely Bond theme
Now, bear with me here. I know I’m going to lose many of you with this post. Still here? I promise you, in about two minutes, I’m going to lose you. I’m confident. Bond is good. I can think of few finer ways of spending a Christmas afternoon than watching a Bond film (unless, that […]
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At the close: London 2012
It was a fitting end. Emotional. Riveting. Over 80,000 people all signing along to some of Britan’s top musical talent. No. I am not talking about London’s Olympic Closing Ceremonies, rather the alternative closing ceremony concert in Hyde Park – Bombay Bicycle Club, New Order, The Specials and the brilliant blur. From the cynical to […]
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That London
As I type this, I’m en route back to NYC from London. I’m leaving a country that’s in the midst of an awakening. London 2012. The Olympics. A nation feared that it would screw it up royally has realised that it’s actually quite good at stuff. Gone are the fears that London would come across […]
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Wonderlove
I’m a dad. This is new news, and goes a long way to explaining the lack of updates to the freethinking movement over the past few months. That, and moving into a new apartment. I’ve barely had time to listen to music, never mind write about it. And so, with fatherhood comes a new journey […]
‘Musically relevant’ doesn’t quite capture it. There are not many artists who’ve had a career with the longevity, the creative reinvention, the stylistic shifts, and the consistency of Paul Weller. The norm for an artist who’s been recording for nearly 40 years would be to kick into a live set with familiar material. The fans […]
I’m just going to put this out there: it’s going to take a lot – a lot – for an album to top ‘Faithful Man’ as the best of 2012. Lee Fields and The Expressions follow up to 2009’s ‘My World’ is an absolute stunner. As a slab of soul, it’s just immediate. Album opener […]
I figured that ‘Starlight’ was an early indication of what was to come. It sounded like it was a track lifted straight off ‘Modernism: A New Decade’, the notorious final Style Council LP. I say this not by way of criticism – I love it when Weller shakes off the shackles that his fans place […]
I’m not a religious man, but I do have an almost unshakable belief that having a pint on a Friday night is one of life’s pleasures. Throw in a chat about music with a good mate over said pint, and you’ve got a winning formula for the end of a working week. A couple of […]