1994. A brilliant year for music. In my native UK, we heard the first rumblings of Britpop with the release of Oasis’s ‘Live Forever’, ‘Parklife’ by Blur and Primal Scream’s ‘Rocks’. Stateside, Green Day released their classic ‘Dookie’, Johnny Cash had his his renaissance with his first Rick-Rubin produced album, and Outkast unleashed their debut. Continue reading »
‘Will Do’ was TV On The Radio’s first single from one of their most successful albums ‘Nine Types Of Light’. It was a brave choice for a lead-off single, very much a slow-burner of a song, and also had a more convential sound and structure compared to their previous material. Continue reading »
It’s hard to believe Lizzie Goddard is only 17 from her plaintive cover of Reverend & The Makers debut single ‘Heavyweight Champion Of The World’. The young singer-songwriter from Gainsborough, England infuses a sadness into the lyrics that in the original sounded angry. Continue reading »
I’ve got to admit I came to this one quite cynical but as most cover junkies will admit cover versions are always so intriguing as we get to see how an artist has put their own spin on a song. This is one of my favourite Kanye songs, the production on it possibly his best work so I was intrigued to see how a Welsh singer-songwriter with a dream-pop and James Blake-esque sound could do it justice. Continue reading »
Recently, Detroit band Promartyr paid tribute to their fellow citymen and garage punk legends The Stooges as part of the AV Club series. This was possibly due to Iggy’s 67th(!) birthday falling around the same date, but more likely as a mark of respect for the recently departed Scott “Rock Action” Asheton.
The Michigan four-piece power through “Down on the Street,” an aggressive highlight from Fun House. Frontman Joe Casey initially appears quite juxtaposed to the band as he nonchalantly, hand in pocket, makes his way through each verse, but he becomes monstrously alive for each increasingly antagonistic chorus, leading to a blistering, feedback-heavy finale.
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Latin funkateers Brownout are currently gearing up to unleash the funk all over the back catalogue of metal legends Black Sabbath. They’d already teased us with ‘Paranoid’ album track ‘Hand Of Doom’, a song that originally sounded trip-hop-before-it-was-a-thing so which lent itself excellently to the twist the Austin outfit gave it. Continue reading »