punk
CD: The Fall - Sub-Lingual TabletSunday, 10 May 2015
The Fall has always delivered great album titles, and Sub-Lingual Tablet is right up there with the best – Witch Trials, Hex, Caustic, Are You Are Missing Winner… The song titles, too, have a medicated, sub-lingual ring that no other... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Eurovision 2015Sunday, 03 May 2015
Various Artists: Building Bridges - Eurovision Song Contest Vienna 2015Mind-bogglingly, Australia is a first-time entrant in Eurovision 2015. The nature of Europe may be a concern for some backwards-looking British voters in next week’s... Read more... |
The Fall, Brixton ElectricSunday, 26 April 2015
They begin with “My Door is Never” from 2007 album Reformation Post TLC, and close a little over an hour later with “Sparta FC”, from early in the century, and from a long-gone Fall line-up. In between, a flurry of blurred, brutal songs from the new... Read more... |
DVD: Rude BoyTuesday, 31 March 2015
Rude Boy is a rotten film. Nonetheless it exerts an inexorable draw as it includes live footage of The Clash which is amongst the best of any rock group on stage. The performance of “Safe European Home”, caught on camera in July 1978, is white hot.... Read more... |
The Stranglers, O2 Academy, BirminghamSunday, 15 March 2015
Perhaps it’s because today’s economy often seems to reflect the nightmare of the late Seventies, but recent years have seen plenty of the original punks return to public attention with a renewed vigour. Whereas some, like support band The Rezillos,... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Martin Hannett & Steve HopkinsSunday, 08 February 2015
Martin Hannett & Steve Hopkins: The Invisible GirlsWhile acclaimed for his glacial productions for Joy Division and New Order, Martin Hannett was also a musician in his own right. With bass guitar in hand and alongside composer-keyboard... Read more... |
10 Questions for Rumer 2015Monday, 02 February 2015
Last autumn Rumer reappeared with her third album, Into Colour, surprising everyone with a lead single that was disco-flavoured. The rest of the album was closer in scope to the opulent LA easy listening and classic West Coast singer-songwriter fare... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Radio BirdmanSunday, 18 January 2015
Radio Birdman: Radio BirdmanLike Magma, last week’s stars of theartsdesk’s reissues weekly, Australia’s similarly black-clad Radio Birdman favoured a uniform look. And also in common with the idiosyncratic French combo, they had a logo – an... Read more... |
Album of the Year: Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria BluesMonday, 22 December 2014
There are, probably, two things standing in the way of Against Me! topping as many best-of lists as they deserve to this year: firstly, the January release date, which tends to lead to many fine records being abandoned for the newest and shiniest;... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Millions Like UsSunday, 21 December 2014
Various Artists: Millions Like Us - The Story of the Mod Revival 1977–1989A “testosterone-fuelled youth movement” is how the opening paragraph of the introductory essay of this box set tags the mod revival. Aficionados of the “clean-cut,... Read more... |
CD: Purple – (409)Tuesday, 04 November 2014
Purple’s debut album (409) is loud, brash and full of beans, with a big smile and an eye on a good time. This lively three-piece come on like a Texan take on UK indie favourites The Subways, but without the angst, and their exuberant garage punk... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Minny Pops, The Pop GroupSunday, 26 October 2014
Minny Pops: Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement The Pop Group: Cabinet of Curiosities, We are TimeTwo groups with tangential relationships to the pop in their names. One from Bristol, the other from Amsterdam. Each attracted attention in the... Read more... |
