Eats, Drinks & Leaves

Loyle Carner – Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)

23rd September 2022 · 2020s, 2022, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Music

I have not closely followed the career of foodie rapper Loyle Carner but I’ve got time for anyone who makes his stage name a spoonerism of his real name (Benjamin Coyle-Larner).

(more…)

Sun Ra Arkestra – Chopin

23rd September 2022 · 2020s, 2022, Jazz, Music

This has properly blown my mind. Not just listening to it, but because it is surely the first – and only – record I have ever heard to be recorded by a 98-year-old man. (more…)

The Capitols – Cool Jerk

23rd September 2022 · 1960s, 1966, Music, Soul

A bit of a soul classic featuring the Funk Brothers, Motown’ peerless house band, Cool Jerk reached No.7 for one-hit wonders The Capitols in 1966.

(more…)

P J Harvey – 50ft Queenie

21st September 2022 · 1990s, 1993, Music, Punk

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a Las Vegas hotel, the Palms, erected a giant billboard featuring a portrait of our late monarch… a 50-foot queenie.

(more…)

Kleenex – Ain’t You

18th September 2022 · 1970s, 1978, Music, Punk, Uncategorised

Not even hardcore punks from the Class of ’77 are likely to remember Kleenex – Switzerland’s solitary contribution to punk. Or their two singles on Rough Trade that went on to inspire the Riot Grrrl movement.

(more…)

Fanny – Hey Bulldog

17th September 2022 · 1970s, 1971, Music

You can imagine how hilarious it was when I was a schoolboy to discover there was a rock group called Fanny. Adding to the overall hilarity, they were GIRLS. (more…)

The Raincoats – Fairytale In The Supermarket

17th September 2022 · 1970s, 1979, Music, Postpunk

It’s easy to forget what a rarity an all-female band was back in the mid-to-late 1970s. All we had was The Slits… until The Raincoats came along.

(more…)

The Slits – 1977 John Peel Session

16th September 2022 · 1970s, 1977, Music, Punk

The Slits’ debut Cut has come to be regarded as one of the classic post-punk albums. But they sounded nothing like that whenever I saw them live: for the first couple of years they were widely mocked as a joke band. (more…)

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Make Up To Break Up / Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)

15th September 2022 · 1970s, 1977, Music, Punk

I remember the first time I saw Siouxsie and the Banshees – supporting Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers at the Music Machine (now Koko) late in 1977. They sounded like no other band, with a cold industrial edge, accentuated by Siouxsie’s ice-maiden persona. (more…)

Willie Alexander And The Boom Boom Band – You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling

14th September 2022 · 1970s, 1978, Music, Punk

Here’s a recording that never gets mentioned in lists of the best cover versions… but it probably should. It takes the Righteous Brothers song in an entirely new direction. (more…)