It’s the last batch of 2023 reviews for 2024. There’s a marked contrast between the rough-hewn sounds of Asheville’s Wednesday and the pristine, keyboard-driven sophisti-pop of Laura Groves. Laura Groves Radio Red 2023, 9/10Laura Groves released her debut album, as…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 9 Chains Topped the NZ chart: from 4 August 1996 for 5 weeks ‘Chains’ is like New Zealand hip-hop and soul’s equivalent to Queen and Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’. Two musicians from different bands quickly improvised…
I was a keen buyer of greatest hits records in my teens. With a limited budget, they were bang for your buck, and they suited the CD format of the 1990s – often the LP length of 40 minutes wasn’t…
Before he became Patti Smith’s lead guitarist, Lenny Kaye compiled Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from the years 1965 to 1968 and was a major…
Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly is barely known outside of Australia, but he’s one of his country’s most beloved musicians. His literate songs are plain and unadorned, often with a rock band or with touches of country and folk. Kelly has disowned…
Welcome back. If you’re in America or the UK, it’s still probably “Pash Wednesday”. This has happened twice since World War 2, when Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday fall on the same day. To honour this, we have a love-titled…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 3 Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree Topped the NZ chart: from 1 June 1973 for 10 weeks The past is a foreign country. It sounds irredeemably corny now. But ‘Tie a…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 6 I’m Your Man Topped the NZ chart: from 16 February 1986 for 1 week Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael met at Bushey Meads School. They formed a ska band with school friends, before paring…
Welcome back to another round of quizzing. Last week, a late-ish entry from Tony, replete with coffee, blitzed the field. This week, you challenge is to fill in the blank of a song title with the photo of a place.…
It’s February 2024, and we’re still chewing through 2023 records. Two very different American acts this week. The country and power-pop-infused indie rock of Chicago’s Ratboys, and the latest record from rapper Danny Brown. Enjoy! Ratboys The Window 2023, 8/10There…
