Song of the day – 134: David & Jad Fair
“My friend Jad Fair,” begins perhaps the best-loved Legend! and Deadnotes song, ” once told me that there are only two types of songs.” Love songs and monster songs. I interviewed Jad Fair recently on the telephone, as I was writing sleeve-notes to a forthcoming three-CD ‘Best Of’ compilation on Fire Records, entitled Beautiful Songs. […]
Song of the day – 112: The Native Cats
Time to spread a little Tasmanian love. I wrote about The Native Cats a while back in the NME, perhaps erroneously comparing singer Peter Escott to Scott Walker. On this new White Denim seven-inch he sounds like a frayed-nerve throwback to the late 70s, fronting one of those scary, dark, misanthropic bands like The Passage, […]
Song of the day – 54: The Moonbears
It’s very 1975, like I imagine Todd Rundgren to sound but I bet he doesn’t. I don’t know why I don’t find this more surprising. Should I? Any mention of The Moonbears always brings back memories of a memorable evening in Brighton – at my adopted local, the Prince Albert – where they showed up […]
Song of the day – 22: Electrelane
Well, I was thinking of posting some music from Zola Jesus – very Gothic, but with a good ‘G’ – especially as I’ve been admiring old clips of Siouxsie And The Banshees on Top Of The Pops. But then I got diverted by the sighting of an Electrelane song: and damn, if it wasn’t the same song […]
Song of the day – 2: The Deadnotes
Today is a Friday. This means I have the recordings of The Deadnotes (with The Legend!) from the previous week to listen to. This means that – if I’m being honest with you – I rarely listen to anything else. And this was a particularly fine session. Here’s our take on a Thin Kids song, […]
The Cribs live @ The Zoo, 16.02.10
I was on my way into QUT this morning, a little tired and a little cranky: sleep deprivation is a powerful anti-intoxicant. I was listening to The Unthanks, stuck at Normanby bus station for a little too long. (‘The Testimony Of Patience Kershaw’ is the one I’d recommend for today.) And they inspired me to write […]
Spotlight – 5: Brilliant Colors
Brilliant Colors‘ music captures – in essence, not in sound – the early Beat Happening groove so sweetly you know it must be coincidence. So: not twee, not fey or cute or any of those other words erroneously associated with Calvin Johnson’s work. (It’s not his fault he spawned a legion of admirers who missed […]
