The return of Everett True | 135. Ibibio Sound Machine
I nearly decided against this as a Song of the Day because my frame of reference is so slight. It’s not like I can’t describe it, though. African highlife, a smattering of the streetwise rhythms that made Tom Tom Club so intoxicating, repetitive beats continually shifting and changing and teasing: vocals that keep on and […]
A bluffer’s guide to reviewing live shows
I got asked to contribute to “a guide on balanced, conclusive and comprehensive reviewing for shows and albums” by Brisbane website Music Industry Inside Out. (They describe themselves as “an educational resource that aims to educate/encapsulate on all aspects of the music business”.) Catch me in the right mood, I enjoy writing stuff like this. They also […]
The return of Everett True | 134. Primitive Man
I discovered this one via Neil Kulkarni’s regular dose of savagery over at F.U.N.K. Here’s what he says: ‘Scorn’ from 2012 revealed just what a unique slab of monstrous molten heaviosity this Portland 3-piece can cook up – the split 7/10/12″s that have come since with Xaphan, Hexis, Fister and Hessian have only deepened the […]
“You don’t have to be an activist to want to make a change” | Students on authenticity
I should preface this list by stating that authenticity in popular music is mutable (if it exists), that it is utterly dependent upon genre, time and place (if it exists), that it is defined in relation to its ‘inauthentic’ counterpart (if it exists), that it is a construct with dubious links all the way back […]
The return of Everett True | 133. Bitchratch
I’m going to hide behind my headphones here. Always ready with the quim quip, the supportive word. When did all that get reduced to this? Is this all I am: validation? Bind me tie me Chain me to the wall I want to be a slave To you all This one’s got a great tune, a […]
How to review Kylie | a beginner’s guide
Isaac (age 9) accompanied me to the Kylie show last night. I thought it might be a good idea to talk him through the stages of reviewing the show. Let’s see, shall we? We have two main threads here: reviewing the show, and explaining how to review a show First, have an idea what you’re […]
Spot the difference | ‘real rock’ Glastonbury fan vs Kanye West vs ‘My buddies call me Ben’
A few weeks ago, excited beyond rationality by the news a new Mumford & Sons album is on the horizon, the editors at Collapse Board asked leading U.K. retro-modernist folk critic Neil Kulkarni if he would care to compose a few words for the site to mark the auspicious occasion. Sadly, Neil didn’t find himself as […]
Everett True R.I.P.
News started filtering through last night of the untimely demise of the overweight and balding U.K. music critic Everett True. The final straw came when a doubtless well-meaning reader forwarded him a link to a video promoting a Mumford & Sons tour. “YOU FUCK….EN…. CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNTS!” True managed to choke out before all three of his […]
The return of Everett True | 132. Kendrick Lamar
I don’t normally like rap but this new Kendrick Lamar album is the greatest hip hop album I’ve heard since The Marshall Mathers LP. Of course it’s the only hip hop album I’ve heard since The Marshall Mathers LP. It’s a question of whether we should privatize the normal water supply for the population. And […]
The return of Everett True | 131. Gerald Keaney and the Gerald Keaneys
Today, I reviewed the new Vacant Valley compilation for The Guardian. Hopefully, that will be appearing online in a day or two. For now, though… well, you can think of this as an advance taste. A teaser, if you will. There are 23 tracks on the compilation, it merits four stars out of five (I am […]
