DAVID BOWIE. TILDA SWINTON. TOGETHER, IN ONE VIDEO. CUE AWESOMENESS, ANDROGYNY AND GREAT HAIR. Bowie and TILDA star as a married couple who get some new celebrity neighbours, as directed by Floria Sigismondi. Now if only Jim Jarmusch would convince Dave to make a cameo in his upcoming vampire lover flick Only Lovers Left Alive … Continue reading »
Music for tortured lovers today. I’m obsessing over Daughter’s track ‘Landfill’, and its desperately conflicted lyrics – ‘I want you so much, but I hate your guts…this is torture’, all sung in Elena Tonra’s sweetly despairing, bruised voice. I’m in no such situation at the moment, but I’ve been there (haven’t we all) – even … Continue reading »
It’s that time of year again – time for the ubiquitous Best Of end-of-year list. Actually, I enjoy reading them, and I look forward to looking back at them in later years – they manage to evoke the feeling and sense of a year so well. I made this list because I want to be able … Continue reading »
How did I miss this one? I adored NYC duo Exitmusic’s From Silence EP, and was eagerly awaiting their debut album Passage. Now it’s here and I totally missed the release. Well, no time like the present to thrash it to death on all my various listening devices. Think I’m a little bit in love … Continue reading »
The intriguingly named The Bony King of Nowhere, aka Belgian singer/songwriter/composer Bram Vanparys, has been slowly but surely building a fine reputation for himself with his quietly assured and sincere folk music – his 2011 release Eleonore was met with well-deserved critical acclaim throughout Europe and beyond. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Bob Dyland, … Continue reading »
Browsing through the Guardian Music site recently, I saw their new, Spotify-enhanced (hello, sponsorship ‘cooperation’ deal, eh) project, Six Songs of Me. Quite a cool idea. But I thought their choice of questions left a little to be desired, and besides, only *six* songs? You can’t condense a lifetime’s worth of obsessive music listening to … Continue reading »
Newcastle band Shields have been hard at work over the last few months, putting the last bright, sparkly, finishing touches to their new EP Kaleidoscope. After the success of their first two singles, ‘Spires’ and ‘White Knuckle Tight Grip‘, they’ve have been cutting their live teeth with gigs at festivals all over Europe, including last … Continue reading »
The damn iPod connection thingy in my car is broken, so I’ve been forced to revert to playing CDs when I’m driving. Old school! A last minute rummage through the CD drawer on my way out to the This Is Tigerr festival the other day yielded an old favourite of mine, Cat Power’s The Covers Record. … Continue reading »
Feeling unbearably nostalgic today…how’s this for a blast from the past, 1981 to be precise? Ah, The Cure, standing around in old classrooms looking moody, gothy and very, very young: ‘Charlotte Sometimes‘: And for good measure – ‘In Between Days‘, from The Cure’s classic 1985 album The Head On The Door (wow, some seriously big hair … Continue reading »
Last night I saw Get Well Soon at Winterthurer Musikfestwochen (review coming up) and I was reminded of just how remarkably creative Konstantin Gropper is, both lyrically and musically. Really impressive and affecting. They played ‘Roland, I Feel You’, a track from their brand new album La Bestia Scarlatta Con Sette Teste (The Scarlet Beast … Continue reading »
