psychedelia
CD: Midlake – AntiphonWednesday, 30 October 2013
Many bands would pack it in after the departure of their lead singer, especially if he was their main songwriter. In Midlake’s case, the damage was compounded by Tim Smith leaving after work had begun on the band’s fourth album. Antiphon is what it... Read more... |
CD: Hawkwind - SpacehawksFriday, 25 October 2013
People go on about how many members have been in The Fall, but I reckon even more have passed through Hawkwind. The Notting Hill counter-culture of 1969 in which they formed is a lifetime away, on another planet, and only Dave Brock remains... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Kinks, Hapshash and the Coloured CoatSunday, 13 October 2013
The Kinks: Muswell HillbilliesRock’s rich tapestry currently has it that 1968’s The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society is their best album. This deluxe edition, 2CD reissue of 1971’s Muswell Hillbillies isn’t going to alter that, but... Read more... |
CD: Samiyam - Wish You Were HereSaturday, 12 October 2013
The hip hop music of California has always been deeply stoned, and the wave of instrumental beats that have emerged from LA in recent years have taken this to quite some extreme. The scene around the Brainfeeder collective and Low End Theory club... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Dino Valenti, Monterey FestivalSunday, 29 September 2013
Dino Valente: Dino ValenteDino Valenti’s reaction to his sole solo album being credited to Dino Valente isn’t recorded, but any confusion probably wouldn’t have mattered as he had such high-profile cheerleaders. Before its release in October... Read more... |
CD: Roy Harper - Man & MythMonday, 23 September 2013
If it seems mythical that a singer-songwriter in his early seventies has made an album this vital yet so timeless, then it’s worth pondering that Man & Myth is Roy Harper’s first for 13 years. In 2011, he celebrated his 70th birthday on stage... Read more... |
CD: MGMT - MGMTWednesday, 11 September 2013
MGMT’s last album, 2010’s Congratulations, defined a modern psychedelia of the highest order. Bold of sweep, full of ambition and tinged with the airs of defeat and desperation, it set Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden up as ones to watch: a... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Roky EricksonSunday, 08 September 2013
Roky Erickson & the Aliens: The Evil One Roky Erickson: Don’t Slander Me, Gremlins Have PicturesRoky Erickson is usually depicted as America’s Syd Barrett: the leader of a pioneering psychedelic-era band who took too many drugs, had mental... Read more... |
DVD: The Girl on a MotorcycleTuesday, 03 September 2013
Marianne Faithfull hasn’t got much time for her 1968 starring vehicle The Girl on a Motorcycle. In her autobiography Faithfull, she described it as “terrible…soft porn” and said of her co-star Alain Delon that he was a “pompous git". The trailer... Read more... |
Just in From Scandinavia: Nordic Music Round-Up 8Thursday, 01 August 2013
Characterising a country’s music by its most successful exports or what seem to be typical local styles is inevitable. With Iceland, the home of Björk and Sigur Rós, it’s easy to assume that ethereality, otherworldliness and plain oddness rule the... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Michael Hurley, James Govan, Dan Penn, 14 Iced BearsSunday, 21 July 2013
Michael Hurley: Armchair Boogie / Hi Fi Snock UptownWith songs about werewolves, penguins, the English upper classes, trains, the police and more werewolves, these albums from surrealist folk maverick Michael Hurley are charming and occasionally... Read more... |
Tunng, The LexingtonWednesday, 10 July 2013
When Tunng started out in 2005, they were a peculiar proposition. Treading a fine line between Heath Robinson ramshackle and meticulous high-tech, ancient and hyper-modern, bone percussion and glitchy electronic sparkles, they certainly deserved the... Read more... |
