Music
The brotherhood of I Am Kloot
There’s blood on your legs,” sings the small man with the big guitar. “I love you . . .” Has there ever been a more mysterious, more sinisterly romantic line in popular music than the lyric of Twist by I Am Kloot?
Jackie Wilson was one of the first R&B superstars back in the ’50s but his music had a second lease of life thanks to Van Morrison and Dexys Midnight Runners in the ’70s and ’80s.
Gina X Performance were ahead of their time in 1978 with their dark, detached synthpop and the glacial vocals of Gina Kikoine.
Jackie Day’s obscure soul single Before It’s Too Late was a flop in 1966 but found a new lease of life as a popular Northern Soul floor filler.
Kneecap are a hip-hop trio from Northern Ireland with a strong republican message in their raps, aided here by Grian from Fontaines DC.
Like great novels, great songs often have their roots in real life. But I never knew that was the case with Suspicious Minds.
When it comes to music, it doesn’t take a lot to make me cry. Marianne Faithfull does it every time with The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan.
When I think of classic “country-and-western” music I think of a song like this – a jaunty rhythm, the twang of a steel guitar, a catch in the voice, and a lyric filled with heartbreak (and a hint of humour).
I Am Kloot’s dark domestic drama Twist illustrates John Bramwell’s gift as one of Britain’s greatest living singer-songwriters.
Britain’s finest musical wordsmith winds up his extensive UK tour with a gig of two halves: dark songs of drinking and disaster from his time with I Am Kloot and harmony-drenched songs of happiness and hope from his solo repertoire.