From the days when waistbands were high and trousers voluminous; as close to perfection as a debut album has ever been, ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’ launched one of the most meticulous recording careers in rock. Not uncommon for ten years or more to elapse between releases, yet each album maintains the implausibly high...
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Concocted by Serge Gainsbourg, the most exalted potentate of lust, this bizarre fantasy detailing a (the?) middle aged lothario’s affair with a teenager oozes priapic zeal, laced with a sense of humour that can only be described as goblinesque. Unusually for a concept album from this era the music has dated astonishingly well; produced...
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….And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness represents an extraordinary leap forward from the potential of earlier works by Olafur Arnalds, which threatened at times to collapse under the weight of the melancholia dominating the emotional range, particularly in last years ‘Found Songs’. A broader musical palette, even introducing drums to the mix,...
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The coolest band in rock, absolutely no question. Of all their impeccable albums, Countdown to Ecstasy, along with Gaucho is the one I return to most. In retrospect, the most staggering thing about Steely Dan was the fact that year on year they released album after album, each one building on the achievements of...
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At £20 per ticket, this event deserved a better sound system, but overhearing an earnest debate on who performed the original “Burning Down The House” – Talking Heads or Tom Jones? was worth the price of admission alone. Tony Allen of course played on neither version, but as Brian Eno pointed out in his...
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