Bodega are the archetypal hipster band. They’re like an updated version of The Strokes, but without the privilege and PR overkill.

(more…)

David Allan Coe was an asshole; about that there can be little disagreement. A self-mythologising braggart, he was never slow to trade on his troubled past, even if much of it was in his imagination.

(more…)

I have to confess I didn’t know the name Beverley Martyn until I read of her death at the age of 79. More fool me.

(more…)

Here’s another playlist for the transitional month of April, when wintry weather began to give way to longer days and occasional bursts of sunshine. There’s vintage reggae and soul, funk and swamp rock, old-skool hip-hop, new post-punk and country-rock, some unfamiliar versions of familiar tunes, and tributes to those we lost, including the last living Ronette.

The death of Nedra Talley Ross, the last living Ronette, brings an end to that golden era of Sixties girl groups. She was just 14 years old when she formed the group with her cousins Ronnie and Estelle back in 1957.

(more…)

I’ve been a big fan of M.I.A. ever since she made her debut with Galang back in 2024. Even though she’s as mad as a box of frogs.

(more…)

Traffic are one of those bands who somehow fell through the cracks of my musical journey. Consequently, Dave Mason was not a name that meant a great deal to me.

(more…)

The Bee Gees’ disco classic Stayin’ Alive interwoven with Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl turns out to make the perfect mash-up marriage.

(more…)

Gregg Foreman, who looked and sounded every inch the rock star, was the founder of The Delta 72 and musical director for Cat Power.

(more…)

Andy Kershaw introduced me – us – to so much new music, making him second only to John Peel in terms of influence on my own formative tastes.

(more…)