News: Soul Legend Percy Sledge dies
Percy Sledge is one of those rare artists who secured their pension pot with their debut single as When a Man Loves a Woman must be played on the radio somewhere in the world every second of the day. Sledge, who died today, is not unusual in the soul world for having one classic single …
Album review: Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
Writer: Carmen Efferson Compton’s native son delivers a sound riot revolution with a backbeat and a message to young black males the ghost of Mandela hope my flows they propel it let these words be your earth and moon you consume every message – Kendrick Lamar AND JUST LIKE THAT…in one massive broad stroke of …
Meet: Jessica Davies from Smoke Fairies
After a critically acclaimed debut album Smoke Fairies seemed on the fast track to success but a more a muted response to their second record Blood Speaks sparked a crisis of confidence. It promoted Jessica Davies to turn to band mate Katherine Blamire, and pose the difficult question – was it time for them to …
Live review: LoneLady at the Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
I lived in Manchester for the best part of two decades so it was an astonishing experience to be transported by LoneLady right back to Hulme’s crumbling brutalist terraces and forward to the modern Northern powerhouse the city now is. LoneLady – aka Julie Ann Campbell – has created a series of soundscapes that evoke …
Live Review: Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, Issues – Leeds O2 Academy, 3.4.15
Both Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens boast enthusiastic fanbases to say the least, the tour was sold out months in advance, tickets were even being sold for more than four times the amount of their original price in the few weeks leading up to the shows and the queue for the show in …
Track: Black Honey – Spinning Wheel
Brighton beauties Black Honey reveal the other half of their double A side single and its recent live favourite ‘Spinning Wheel’. Spinning Wheel opened the shows on their recent tour and stood out as a highlight, which is no mean feat when you hear the rest of Black Honey’s set list. Starting off calm and …
News: Final Cambridge Folk Festival line-up announced
Singing Scottish twins The Proclaimers are the latest big name added to the Cambridge Folk Festival bill joining veteran peacenik Joan Baez, posh troubadour Frank Turner, Joan Armatrading and Wilko Johnson who has recovered from his cancer scare. But if you want to go you’d better be quick as the strong bill means Saturday day …
Remembering: An Interview with Kim Fowley
A chat with Kim Fowley: On poetry, rock and roll, Hollywood, and his least favorite L.A. punk band by Kimberly J. Bright The infamous Hollywood music, ubiquitous talent spotter, songwriter, scene staple, cranky old geezer, namedropper, and likely Tourette Syndrome victim Kim Fowley passed away in January at age 75. His manic career started when …
Album Review: Mark Lanegan Band – A Thousand Miles of Midnight
Since forming the Screaming Trees in the mid-1980s Mark Lanegan has been viewed as a welcome figure on the alternative rock periphery. He has collaborated with everyone from Queens of the Stone Age and Greg Dulli (the Afghan Whigs/Gutter Twins) to Belle and Sebastian’s Isobel Campbell. For about thirty years, his prolific output has varied in …
Meet: Beat Spacek
Beat Spacek is the latest solo incarnation of UK vocalist and producer Steve Spacek. Having invited much attention at the turn of the century with his broken soul project, Spacek, as well as numerous collaborations with the likes of J.Dilla and Mark Pritchard (as one half of Africa HiTech ), Spacek now finds himself exploring …