rock
Cage the Elephant, O2 Academy, Glasgow review - old-fashioned rock n' roll from Kentucky sextetWednesday, 19 February 2020
Matt Shultz was clearly taking no chances. The Cage the Elephant frontman appeared onstage underneath a large umbrella, presumably bought to cope with the day’s deluge of rain. In the ever effervescent Shultz’s hands it was swiftly used as a prop,... Read more... |
The Murder Capital, QMU, Glasgow review - Dublin outfit find catharsis through pummelling songsMonday, 17 February 2020
It might have been 24 hours after Valentine’s Day, but James McGovern still seemed to have a touch of romance in his head. At one stage during the Murder Capital’s bruising set he referenced his floral-patterned shirt as evidence that he was feeling... Read more... |
Classic Albums: Tears for Fears, Songs From The Big Chair, BBC Four review - anatomy of an anthemSaturday, 15 February 2020
Roland Orzabal, co-founder and lead guitarist of Tears for Fears, laughs to himself often during this documentary — the latest in the BBC’s often-excellent, always-forensic Classic Albums series. “I agree, I agree, it sounds great,” says Orzabal. He... Read more... |
Album: Huey Lewis and the News - WeatherWednesday, 12 February 2020
Huey Lewis and the News were an unlikely mid-Eighties phenomenon. Their Sports album was a mega-success for a band already approaching early middle age. Their Fifties feel, given a contemporary polish and boosted by association with cinematic... Read more... |
CD: Green Day - Father of All MotherfuckersFriday, 07 February 2020
Without wanting to get into what constitutes punk, we can, at least, agree that brevity is to be lauded? Right? Good, because at 26 minutes, Green Day’s 13th studio album, Father of All Motherfuckers, is a volley delivered at velocity. That’s... Read more... |
Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall review - needles, guns and grassSaturday, 01 February 2020
In photographer Jim Marshall’s heyday in the 60s and 70s, before the music business became corporate and restrictive, and before Marshall unravelled – he was partial to cars, cocaine and guns as well as cameras – musicians asked for him, they... Read more... |
Stewart Copeland's Adventures in Music, BBC Four review - an essay on the emotional power of musicSaturday, 25 January 2020
Drums away: Stewart Copeland, drummer with The Police and a score of other groups, composer for films, video games and operas, now beams enthusiastically at us from the small screen. He’s writer and presenter of this three-part Adventures in Music... Read more... |
Album: Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone WrongFriday, 17 January 2020
Bombay Bicycle Club have a knack for quasi-prophetic titles. Their fourth album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, released in February 2014, turned out to be their last, at least for a while. For when the accompanying tour concluded at London’s Earls... Read more... |
Album: Electric Soft Parade - StagesFriday, 10 January 2020
18 years ago, Electric Soft Parade, centred around brothers Alex and Thomas White, were the latest hyped hope of indie kids and NME-type media. However, their might-have-been moment imploded when they moved too fast for their fans, rocketing off in... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Bruce Springsteen - Western StarsMonday, 06 January 2020
Now the first generation of real rock stars are finishing their fifth recording decade, the question presents itself: what should a rocker do when their career has gone on much longer than they'd planned? 2019 came up with some excellent answers.... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Jon Savage's 1969-1971 - Rock Dreams on 45Sunday, 05 January 2020
As one decade gives way to the next, the beginning or end of the ten-year cycle rarely yields anything cut and dried. With pop music, a host of decade-related platitudes have no respect for the decade-to-decade switch. Depending on points of view,... Read more... |
Albums of the Year 2019: Liz Lawrence - Pity PartyFriday, 03 January 2020
Picking the best album at the end of the year is always unfair on the early releases. Recency bias means the newer albums carry more excitement. Better Oblivion Community Center's self-titled debut would be a major contender if it had released in... Read more... |
