By any standards, the last band that you would expect to be still releasing new material in 2023 is Pere Ubu, yet here is their nineteenth long-player, ‘Trouble on Big Beat Street’. Angular, difficult, and not just apathetic to the mainstream but appalled by it, David Thomas and the six musicians accompanying him on these […]
For some time now, my phone’s ringtone has been “Be a Clown” performed by Verne Langdon. There has never been an occasion when my phone has rung and the tune it plays has been appropriate. Not at the doctor’s, at work, at funerals, whilst shopping… it’s guaranteed to provoke weird looks and, for some reason, […]
Such is the reverence now given to Les Baxter and Martin Denny, it’s easy to forget that in many ways it was Arthur Lyman who defined the sound of exotica. Who else but a man born in Hawaii would introduce the sounds of distressed parrots and aroused frogs to a distinctly gentle form of jazz […]
In the rather overpopulated world of what is broadly described as ‘outsider music’, it’s true to say there are one or two frauds, or at least those who have been shoehorned in. Are The Shaggs outsiders? Perhaps it was challenging or even outrageous to insist your clearly tone-deaf daughters perform for the masses – of […]
Unchained from the formalities of guitar, drums, bass, and vocals, Thomas Doyle – Tad – is a new beast entirely. Onto his seventh full-length release, there is even greater confidence in his doomy instrumental tracks, with the heaviness of his own historical output, the mathematical exactness of premium post-rock, and the otherworldly unease of experimental […]
Dinosaur Jr were perhaps the most-obvious-to-snaffle-up alternative band in the shopping spree undertaken by major labels in the early 90s. Slacker to the core, they had the musical chops, indie rock-club cool and guitar squawl that appealed to a cross-section of buyers, from floppy-haired indie kid to hardcore enthusiast. The band’s earlier releases on Homestead […]
…and just to finish off the long title – ‘The Complete EMI Recordings” After a period of four years in The Servants, 1992 saw singer, guitarist and songwriter (it feels slightly dirty to suggest he’s a ‘singer-songwriter’ – you’d get entirely the wrong impression) Luke Haines ambled forward with his new band, The Auteurs. Providence […]
Two years after the Moon landings, certain sections of the UK music scene had eagerly grasped the opportunity to ensure the joyous frivolity of the sixties was firmly put to bed. Whilst glam changed the sunshine for stars, those who had taken note of US garage bands, the youthful Black Sabbath and the fuzz of […]
Published to coincide with The Residents’ 50th anniversary, Faceless Forever is a task only the brave would ever even feeltingly consider. A band who isn’t sure itself as to what has been released, where and when, and whose mysterious identities only add to the confusion and murk which must be sifted through for answers. Jim […]
There’s something slightly religious about Dyr Faser. As I type this, listening to their new album through headphones which may have melted into my ears, there’s a towering, churchy, immoveability to their music. Guitar riffs punch you in the chest, rise to the rafters and circle back down to slap you about the chops. Economical, […]
