Cabaret Voltaire were England’s answer to Suicide, and a key component in the development of industrial and dance music.

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I love Suicide. They were punks before punk and their debut album is the template for nearly all the electronica to emerge since its release in 1977. This is their first release – the version of Rocket U.S.A. that appeared on the Live At Max’s compilation the year before. And this is the article I wrote for The Quietus when Alan Vega died in 2016:

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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).

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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…)

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.

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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.

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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…)