Album review Rhoda Dakar – Sings The Bodysnatchers
The Bodysnatchers were signed to the legendary British Ska label 2 Tone after only two gigs and were part of that multi-cultural musical revolution in the late 1970s. Yet surreally they never recorded an album so vocalist Rhoda Dakar has finally put that right some four decades later. To realise this dream of finally making …
Live: The Unthanks at Hebden Bridge Trades Club
It took the Unthanks a decade, and many different guises, to produce a masterpiece like this year’s Mount The Air, but this stripped down 10th anniversary tour also showcases gems from their other projects. The Mount The Air Tour featured ten people, but tonight it is just the full time members so its the joyous …
Album review: Various Artists: Creation Artifact: The Dawn of Creation Records 1983-85 (Cherry Red)
It’s a shame Creation Records is now known as the home of bloated rock gods Oasis when in reality it was the ground-breaking label that created DIY indie pop. It helps Creation was started by one of music’s genuine mavericks Glaswegian Alan McGee and his genius is celebrated in this lavish 5 CD compilation of …
Meet: Folk legend Judy Collins interview
There’s a whole new generation of hip young female folk singers at the moment and all of them owe a debt to Judy Collins. Her 1967 breakthrough album Wildflowers introduced Judy’s pure folk tones as she recorded a smash hit cover of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, and brought the songs of the then unknown …
Live: Sleaford Mods, Leeds Irish Centre
Last time I saw Sleaford Mods it was in a much smaller venue and it was visceral as Jason Williamson stalked the stage like a caged animal spitting out his explicit lyrics laying bare the lives of Britain’s dispossessed. But something has been lost in this cavernous venue as all that pent up anger just …
Meet: Eaves
In what is now a very crowded field of sensitive singer songwriters the debut album from Eaves stood out because of its commitment to melody but with some deceptively dark lyrics. What Green Feels Like got good reviews but success in the modern music industry only comes through hard work on the live circuit and …
Meet: Kami Thompson from The Rails
Folk rockers The Rails are husband wife team James Walbourne and Kami Thompson who are back on the road promoting their critically acclaimed debut album Fair Warning. If Kami’s surname seems familiar it’s because she is the daughter of folk rock pioneers Richard and Linda Thompson who produced six classic albums before splitting up. Hopefully …
Live Review: St Etienne play Foxbase Alpha, Hebden Bridge Trades Club
They say if you can remember the sixties you weren’t there and the same is true for the rave generation of the nineties. Once they’d got back home from a banging rave in a field the chilled tones of St Etienne’s Foxbase Alpha always helped them return from whichever dimension they’d visited and here are …
Live Review: The Tubes – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 12.8.2015
Once upon a time The Tubes took their brand of rock theatrics out to stadiums but now on their 40th birthday tour they are still delivering the goods albeit in much smaller venues. In truth they are an old school rock band who somehow got caught up in New Wave, but who cares when you …
Meet: Punk legend Hugh Cornwell interview
No More Heroes, Golden Brown and Peaches are just some of the 20 odd hits singles Hugh Cornwell had a hand in penning before he left punk legends The Stranglers in 1990. Over the last two decades he has recorded 11 solo albums that have never had the commercial success he enjoyed with the band, …