Flopping Aces (Free subscription) | yesterday
A few months ago one of my Aunts passed away and I drove up to Jersey for the funeral service. At the lunch afterward one of my cousins was kind enough to give my brother and me a mix of some some CD’s he had burned. They were a compilation of the best of Stiff [...]
The J-Walk Blog (Free subscription) | yesterday
A stupid music list: Top ten great singers who can't sing . Bob Dylan Lou Reed Tom Waits Johnny Cash John Lydon Ian Dury Leonard Cohen Nick Cave Siouxsie Sioux Jarvis Cocker Comments | Posted in Music Lists
Kermode Uncut (Free subscription) | yesterday
As awards season rolls around and the usual suspects are named I'd like to suggest one potential Kermode Award winner, and if you're looking for a subtle clue as to who that might be, included in this week's blog is...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/29/2009
He could be warm and witty... or cruel and obnoxious. But there was never any doubt he was a true artist. We recall the life and times of Ian Dury, now the subject of both a new film and biography In Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll , the new Ian Dury biopic, there is a scene that faithfully records the first time Dury met his songwriting partner, Chaz Jankel. It is May 1976 and the singer has...
SibLINGSHOT ON THE BLEACHERS (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
Controversially excluded from the 1984 Polydor release of Ian Dury & the Music Students' " 4,000 Weeks Holiday ", the executive decision to derail the project as the result of craven faint-heartedness prompted two years of bitter sparring between Dury and his financiers. Fearing legal action from the estate of Enid Blyton, the label insisted on maintaining a finger wagging censorial stance....
The Huffington Post (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
Here are the first of two offerings of some current inspirations for cheer. If you've been laid off, Madeoff-ed, or you just plain need a lift during a tough holiday season, check these out.
Today's Review (Free subscription) | 11/22/2009
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
AMERICAblog (Free subscription) | 11/22/2009
With Thanksgiving in a few days, it seemed to fit. What are you thankful for this year or at least cheerful about?
sOmEThiNg foR thE wEEkenD, SIR? (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Sad to learn that Chas and Dave have split up. I think Dave Peacock has retired but Chas Hodges still goes out on the road with his own band. (or is it the other way around') Anyway, a great rockney band who made some great music in the 80's but success spoiled them and they churned out loads of party records full of singalong hits which is a shame as they were fantastic early on. Wrote some catchy...
Diggingalot (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
You know that moment when a band you have liked for years release an album? That slight fluttering feeling that you get: will it be any good or will it be a ‘conservatory album’ ( album released for no other reason…
{ feuilleton } (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
Poster by Barney Bubbles for Elvis Costello’s Get Happy!! (1980). Adelita, the publishers of Reasons To Be Cheerful: the life and work of Barney Bubbles, announced this week that Paul Gorman’s essential collection of BB graphics has been named Book of the Year in Mojo magazine: Reasons To Be Cheerful – the acclaimed study of the life [...]
The Independent (Free subscription) | 11/15/2009
Do actors ever feel truly secure in their chosen profession? In the past year, Olivia Williams has spent six months filming the Joss Whedon sci-fi TV series Dollhouse, shot a movie in Berlin with Roman Polanski, played Ian Dury's wife in the upcoming biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and taken a supporting role in Nick Hornby's adaptation of Lynn Barber's memoir, An Education – as...
33 1/3 (Free subscription) | 11/14/2009
Popmatters had a great review this week of Terry Edwards' book for the series on Madness' debut album. You can read the whole review here , but here's a taster... *** In addition to his own memories of the time, Edwards spoke to producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, Stiff Records’ Dave Robinson, John Hasler (designated “Minder” on the record sleeve) and Madness members Mike...
Isaac Ashe's Sound Advice (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
○○○○● RELIVE , the new album from former Josef K frontman Paul Haig , is the funkiest punk you'll hear this year. Musically the songs are more like grooves, with tracks like Round And Round and Ambition sounding like a joyous head-on collision between Franz Ferdinand , The Smiths and The Pixies , with Grace Jones pulling up to the bumper for good measure. And over these...
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
The time of year is approaching when the wife will look up for a minute from Facebook, remember I exist and ask with no real enthusiasm, "What do you want for Christmas this year?" So to keep things simple and available from Amazon I am going to ask for the book of rock photography recommended by Patrick Crowther http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/something-your-christmas-list and an...
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