Tina Turner’s career might never have got started if a backing singer had not failed to turn up for a recording session of this song in 1960.

(more…)

PJ Harvey returns with the first taste of her first solo album for seven years – a soothing and sinister ballad about birds… and Elvis.

(more…)

I never much liked Blur. In the Britpop wars I was Team Oasis. I still am, at least where their first album is concerned.

(more…)

Here are The Hives again, returning to the fray in their forties with a new song that shows they’ve lost none of their spark after 26 years together.

(more…)

Sarabeth Tucek returns from a decade-long hiatus with a new abbreviated name – SBT – and a new album, Joan Of All.

(more…)

Country veteran Rodney Crowell teams up with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on a collaborative album called The Chicago Sessions.

(more…)

The Drums, now the solo project of Jonny Pierce, return from a five-year hiaitus with an anthemic electro-ballad, I Want It All.

(more…)

Hannah Hu and The Specials perform their spellbinding reggae-fied version of the Talking Heads song Listening Wind from their classic album Remain In Light.

(more…)

Linda Lewis was the first female black British singer I ever saw on TV. They were a rarity in the early Seventies – in fact she’s the only one I can think of.

(more…)

This month: a mix of old soul, punk, postpunk, reggae and contemporary classical from Stone Roses, Ruts, Police, Jam, Bauhaus, 10CC and more.