In what is something of a golden era for electronic artists, one of the most consistently interesting is a former footballer called Darren Cunningham, who performs and records under the alias Actress.

(more…)

I have to own up. I did not know anything about Robbie Robertson until he made his first solo album in 1987. But when I did it was love at first note. This is the song that blew me away.

(more…)

This song caught my ear on the radio the other day – especially that bubbling bassline. But also the whole thing: it’s a happy, silly, dancey, disco tune for a summer’s day.

(more…)

Public Image Ltd: End Of World – album review

PIL’s 11th album End Of World finds John Lydon channelling his various contrary selves to come up with a curate’s egg of an album, says Tim Cooper.

There comes a time when old rockers begin to turn into a parody of their younger selves. For the artist formerly known as Johnny Rotten that time arrived a long time ago… (click image to read on)

This is rather marvellous. Youth Valley are a new shoegaze/postpunk band who come from Athens, like R.E.M. and The B-52s. But not the one in Georgia.

(more…)

If there’s going to be a soundtrack to the end of the world, then we could do a lot worse than this: Spitting Off The Edge Of The World by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

(more…)

Here’s a new playlists of summer sounds, from pre-pubescent rockabilly to tear-stained balladry via black-boy punk, old-time country, old-skool soul and ambient electronica.

Last night I finally got to see Mary Coughlan live for the first time – something I’ve wanted to do ever since I got a cassette of her debut album Tired & Emotional in 1985.

(more…)

This shouldn’t work at all – Johnny Cash singing Barbie Girl thanks to AI – and I bet you think it won’t. Then again you’d probably say the same about the film. Until you’ve heard and seen them.

(more…)

Wreckless Eric is a national treasure. He would be one even if he’d never made another record after his 1977 masterpiece Whole Wide World. Yet here he is, nearly half a century later, with another simple but striking song that you can’t get out of your head; it arrived in my inbox this morning and now I can’t get it out of mine.

(more…)