Music
When Tony Wilson signed A Certain Ratio to Factory Records in 1979 he told the world they were “the new Sex Pistols.” They weren’t, but they did leave their mark on Manchester music as one of the first bands to incorporate funk into an industrial take on postpunk.
For years I’ve heard people – usually musicians – say that Richard Thompson is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. And for years I’ve struggled to find any records that convince me of that. Until now.
This funky tale of a vengeful black god coming to fix the injustices of the world comes from another of those lost masterpieces – an obscure album of jazz-funk matched to black-consciousness lyrics called Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse.
Is there a better opening line to a song than Julian Cope’s delighted response to pop stardom: “Bless my cotton socks, I’m in the news!”?
Here’s a sultry slice of Southern soul from The Ohio Players’ debut album, long before they became disco-funkateers with a string of hits.
The deepest of deep cuts, this little-known cover of a little-known soul song is one of the hidden gems in Bowie’s repertoire.
I’d forgotten quite how long The B-52s kept up their run of quirky hit singles backed by camp and kitsch videos.
Sad to hear of the death of one of hip-hop’s unsung pioneers, Keith LeBlanc, creator of this landmark collaboration with black rights leader Malcolm X.
This laid-back easy-listening gem is redolent of summer sunshine. And, you may say, cheese. But I like cheese.
As soon as the sun comes out there’s no band I like to listen to more than Khruangbin. They may be hard to pronounce – but they are always easy on the ear.