10 Things I Learned From an Afternoon with Everett True
Meeting Everett True was kind of a big deal for me. One of the reasons I paid for a masterclass with him was to get one of my reviews published in a real book. But really it was all about meeting your heroes. This is definitely a song you should hear before you die I […]
NOTS – Cosmetic (Goner): The Impressionistic Approach
Nots says NO! to everything. We say YES! to Nots. ‘Entertain Me’ is a force of nature. It doesn’t care about you, or me, or any of the other two-thousand people on the beach. It’s right up there with Hookworms’ ‘Away/Towards’. The John Steel Singers’ ‘State of Unrest’. dEUS’ ‘Suds & Soda’, even! It’s a […]
Rattle – Rattle (Upset the Rhythm)
There’s the old saying that ‘writing about music is like dancing about architecture’, i.e. pointless. But as Robert Christgau rightly retorts: “One of the many foolish things about the fools who compare writing about music to dancing about architecture is that dancing usually is about architecture. When bodies move in relation to a designed space, be it […]
Martha – Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart (Fortuna POP!)
I fell in love with Martha because she had sunburned shoulders, just like my girlfriend. Their downbeat admission that “the autumn forecast’s looking dismal again” somehow proved irresistible. And when ‘Ice Cream and Sunscreen’ suddenly sped up, my heart did the same, singing along to all band members of Martha bursting out in unison: “I […]
Mothers, From A Distance
Rarely have I so desperately wanted to understand a piece of music as with When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired. I once had a nightmare in which my vision was blurry and I could not focus. Listening to Mothers is a bit like that: I know there is something, but I cannot […]
“Rock n’ Roll Soldiers”: An interview with Carlotta Cosails of Hinds
It is Wednesday morning and I am in the same country as Hinds. From Oxford I am skyping with Carlotta, who is in a non-specific hotel in Birmingham. A small room with white walls. Carlotta looks tired, but happy nonetheless, ready for the next gig in Bristol. I tell Carlotta I’ve already missed two of […]
SOTD #718 – Flowers
By Caspar Jacobs “Do you know?” It’s the defining question of insecurity. Do you know what you want to be later? And what you want to study? What kind of job you’re gonna apply for when you’re done with that? On ‘Ego Loss’, Rachel is asking that open-ended question over and over, and every time […]
