I keep a list of records that I wanna have on vinyl, mainly for the purpose of Christmas and birthdays, to avoid yet another senseless first-world present from my family and friends. But although I have many wishes on my vinyl list, I still get pointless presents such as cooking books, perfumes, or an Amazon …
Have you ever: Gone up the hill with a couple of mates, drunk several litres of Woodpecker and set fire to a bunch of stuff? Driven round a corner on a sunny Saturday afternoon into the middle of a full scale riot conducted for the most part by 12-14 year old kids? Steered a stolen …
I thought it was to be another one of those business receptions I so often had to attend. Detroit Historical Society was hosting a reception that would include desert, coffee and exhibits of the civil rights movement and music history of Detroit. Two stories very much weaved together in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Just …
“Devil Got My Woman” (Skip James)What better way to kick off Record Store Day than with this blues classic of heartbreak and isolation recorded by Mississippi musician Skip James in 1931? Skip James was rediscovered during the 1960s. Thora Birch’s misfit outcast Enid buys a blues compilation from the hermit obsessive collector Seymour (Steve Buscemi’s …
After the party I drove her home. Day was breaking as I stopped outside her flat. “Thanks for the lift,” she said. I lit a fag. She paused, “Come in if you like”. I exhaled. I pretended to misunderstand. “Thanks, but coffee’s probably the last thing I need. Gonna head home”. She looked me in …
Can you actually call this Iron Butterfly? Wunderkind Erik Braunn may be back after missing the last outing, and Ron Bushy is still competently hitting drum heads with two sticks, but glaringly missing are Doug Ingle and Lee fuckin’ Dorman, two of the most talented (if not the only talented) members of the band. Gone …
Chad and Theo had been hunting prey in Cologne since the Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus was first built. Both were merciless hunters. Theirs was an ancient and unholy curse. The time of regret had long past and they settled in and shared their damnation together. The Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) was the perfect location from …
Shuggie Otis is a guitar genius whose talents were not fully recognized until decades after his seminal work was created. Freedom Flight is a gritty, visceral, and organic entity – a collaborative live-in-the-studio experience. Recorded when he was only 17 years old (!), Freedom Flight seems like the craftsmanship of a veteran because his father, …
Way back in a rather tumultuous year called 2001 there was an album with the title of Get Ready. It was released by these guys who called themselves New Order. New Order had not released an album since 1993. New Order had some seriously huge dance singles in the 1980s with “Blue Monday,” “Confusion,” “Temptation,” and “The …
It was my third day in the desert. Everything had gone terribly wrong.At the meeting point at the gates of the Sahara there had been a shootout between the ransom extortionists and government officials. The kidnappers dragged me into the jeep and drove into the desert. They cursed incessantly and decided that I was a …
