Fresh from a sold out show at London’s Meltdown on Thursday (June 21) – Kristin Hersh is previewing a rough mix of Breathe In from her new solo album Possible Dust Clouds. Beside performing at Meltdown, the prolific singer-songwriter also took part in a discussion on mental health at the festival, which is being curated by The Cure‘s Robert Smith. The panel discussion, replaced a […]
Yearly archives: 2018
36 posts
Something of an alternative supergroup, Shriekback came into being – at least as Barry Andrews tells it – after he was doggedly pursued by bassist Dave Allen. Allen, looking to form a new band after the demise of Gang of Four, was keen to hook up with the keyboard player who’d quit XTC, after losing a power struggle with Andy Partridge. Initially reluctant, Andrews […]
Never a dull place even at the worst of times, Camden Rocks had the whole borough buzzing on Saturday. With 200 acts performing in 20 venues, wherever you turned there was live music to be heard. Beer, bands and bonhomie – what could be better? With so much to see the only problem was where to drop anchor for […]
More than 40 years after The Damned lit the blue touch paper for the punk rock revolution, original drummer Rat Scabies is busier than ever. Since quitting his old band amid some rancour in the late ’90s, he’s played in numerous outfits and developed interesting sidelines in cigar box guitar-making and the little matter of hunting for the holy […]
Coming 10 years after its predecessor – and with David Bowie‘s right hand man Tony Visconti in the producer’s chair – there were naturally big expectations surrounding Evil Spirits, the latest offering by The Damned. With founder members Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian well into their 60s – many have predicted it might be their farewell album – a last run around the track for the band, […]
The history of popular music is littered with performers who quit, or more often, were ousted, from bands just as they were on the cusp of fame. Pete Best is the classic industry archetype having been usurped from a certain Liverpool band’s drum stool by Ringo Starr, just a year before the outbreak of Beatlemania. Best’s grunge counterpart Jason Everman had the misfortune to […]
When An Ideal For Living last spoke to Colin Blunstone he was preparing to head out with The Zombies on a world tour marking the 50th anniversary of their classic album Odessey And Oracle. Barely had he returned those dates, when he was out on the road again with his solo band, the UK leg of which kicks off on April 20. Oh, […]
Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins was behind the kit for one of the most iconic groups of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Now he’s got together with Cleopatra Records to document his life and times with the band in a glossy, coffee table art book. Featuring largely unseen memorabilia, Bauhaus Undead is Haskins personal account of the goth rockers turbulent history, from their inception […]
Recorded at the same Skyline studios, where they made their best-selling major label debut Flood, I Like Fun feels like a hearkening back to They Might Be Giants‘ glory days of old. TMBG fans have long learned to expect the unexpected and this their 20th album is typically eclectic, mixing and mashing genres from surf-punk to funk, college rock to avant […]
*In no particular order some of my favourite music moments. No39 Horrorshow by Scars. Edinburgh’s Scars had everything – a charismatic frontman, talented musicians, a great image and best of all wonderful songs. So why the short-lived quartet didn’t have more success and are not better known today is something of a mystery. I only became aware of them […]