Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls (Rough Trade/ATO)
Hey, I’m a modern guy. I can dig that art in the 21st Century is all about collage and recontextualization. But as collage artists, Alabama Shakes are essentially just ripping a page out of a 1967 issue of Life magazine and showing to us. Actually, that’s giving them too much credit. Life magazine wrote about the world, Alabama Shakes just writes about Alabama Shakes.
Song of the day – 372: Otis Redding
This is the one that I used to play endlessly at night
eight ‘classic’ bands… a rejoinder
Julian says: “Everybody’s always like, ‘Oh yeah the music used to be better in the 80s’. No it fucking didn’t.” So what current bands are as good as The Fall, Joy Division, Buzzcocks, The Birthday Party or Dexy’s [sic] in their prime? Not to mention Blondie, Ramones, Jonathan Richman… (This comment originated on another post. I think it’s […]
Song of the day – 200: The Distractions
It’s great! Great, I tell you! None of the poignancy has been diminished by the passing years, only increased.
Song of the day – 102: Dexys Midnight Runners
The following is reprinted from my favourite US newspaper, The Stranger. I once punched a fellow music critic for telling me how much he liked Dexys. I’m not proud of myself. It was due to drink more than passion. It was at one of those interminable mid-’90s “grunge” Reading Festivals, late at night, in a […]