If David Bowie was to tour again, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t play The Man Who Sold the World even though he reintroduced that title track on later tours. There would be a choice of tracks from The Next Day (of which I’m a huge fan), one or two nods to the past… and the rest would be the next, much…
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Dolly Parton had offered to rescue a dog found at Glastonbury, discovered cowering in a tent by the cleaner-uppers. The lurcher was too old to travel so would not have been able to be rehomed in the States – but the owners have now come forward to reclaim the poor creature. I am a bit mystified by…
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There’s so much going on over the summer at the South Bank ‑or Southbank Centre, as it’s now renamed. On this night alone there’s raw, dirty blues from The Amazing Snakeheads and a comeback set from Edwyn Collins. I’m off to see Trentemøller. The last time I saw the Danish electro multi instrumentalist was at 2am in…
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Phildel has just won Pop/Top 40 category for Moonsea in the International Songwriting Competition where she was up against over 20,000 entries. A fantastic result from a multi-talented and extremely hardworking performer. This prestigious songrwriting competition was judged this year by such luminaries as John Mayall, Black Francis (The Pixies), Robert Smith (The Cure), Tom Waits and Imagine Dragons.This is…
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St James’s Church, Piccadilly, it’s a beautiful jewel of a church designed by Christopher Wren, and like several London churches, moonlights as a music venue. Nothing of the Metallica variety, obviously. We are here to see Kurt Vile do a solo set which is more in keeping. Despite its beauty, the church’s viewing experience is only just adequate;…
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There are several funding sites out there operating in slightly different ways, but they all have the same objective; offering fans an attractive way to contribute towards a chosen artist’s creative process. This gets you, the fan, closer to the band. And it gives the musicians a chance to exercise their PR and marketing skills by dreaming up…
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Simone Felice starts his gig at Bush Hall with New York Times – it’s a haunting and gritty number which encapsulates familiar Felice territory – man’s vulnerability and cruelty, human struggle, death. But also love, finding beauty and joy in life, and the pleasure and importance of good friends. Of the grittier subject matter, Felice doesn’t shy away but tackles things head on, and…
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The See See were part of a swirly psychedelia night at The Lexington on Pentonville Road two years ago, and they particularly caught my attention. (Also memorable were Canadian band Elephant Stone whose music is enriched with Rishi Dhir’s mesmerising sitar playing). Fast forward two years and we were back at The Lexington last week for The…
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The intro of a song is all that’s needed for special memories to come flooding back. Just a bar or two and you find yourself catapulted back to a particular moment in time: whether funny or joyful, romantic or melancholic, it’s the music that will take you there. Many of us possess some of our favourites as…
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The Aussie-accented, country-tinged tones of Courtney Barnett’s songs have been floating over the Radio 6 music airwaves of late. Last Thursday was her second London appearance, this time at Ace Hotel, Shoreditch. Courtney takes keeps things minimal, walking on stage to plug all the leads in before she’s joined by her bass player and drummer. With no…
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