Category: music

This will be all over the blogsphere within hours I expect. I don’t know anyone who appreciates good music that didn’t spend their teenage years listening to Peel’s late night radio programmes. He was immensely influential. Tom Coates rounds up the news links so I don’t have to.

This weekend I was lightly taunted by my step-daughter as she found a copy of Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in my CD collection. You can understand that when an artist has produced nothing but crap for all of your lifetime (and more) then it can be hard to see that they ever did… Continue reading He Used To Be Good, Honest

As every student knows, a liking for the Smiths, Radiohead and Pulp can be a badge of pride, confirmation of your status as a romantic intellectual loner. If you’re a Tory MP, however, it rather suggests that you’re either not listening to the lyrics properly – what do you make of all that stuff about… Continue reading Conservative Tastes

It’s on the BBC so it must be true. That’s good news. Only EMI, BMG and Universal to go now…

It’s thirty-seven years late, but the Beach Boys album Smile is finally released on Monday – although internal band politics mean that it’s now a Brian Wilson album. Still (very) long-awaited tho’. I’m reminded of the the excitement that surrounded the CD release of Pet Sounds in 1990. Hope this is as good. Update: I’ve… Continue reading Smile

It’s obviously a musical nostalgia day. From Simon Bisson’s blog I’ve just learnt of this concert at Wembley Arena which features the long-awaited reunion of the Buggles along with a number of other 80s bands like ABC and the Art of Noise. I’m a little wary of this because of the involvement of Yes. Now… Continue reading Buggles Reunion

Lots of blasts from the past here. Bands that I haven’t heard for over twenty years – The Barracudas, The Chords, The Lambrettas – together with some slightly better known bands like Generation X and Jilted John. Ah… nostalgia. Via 50 Quid Bloke (who all aging musos should be reading).

Forgot to mention it yesterday, but it was Leonard Cohen‘s 70th birthday. Here are 70 things you might not know about him (unless you read last Friday’s Guardian). his last album was a bit disappointing but everyone should own copies of Songs of Leonard Cohen and I’m Your Man. Shame his web designers are such… Continue reading Cohen At 70

Karmadownload are giving away a free downloadable album with lots of unsigned bands that played The Barfly in July. Haven’t listened to it yet, but it looks interesting.

I’ve just got a press release announcing that the music download site that I was working on earlier this year has gone live. One particularly nice thing about it is that it has absolutely no DRM at all.