Tag Archives: music

REVIEW: Janette Mason featuring David McAlmont – Pizza Express High Holborn, 25th June 2021

David McAlmont is a star regardless of whether he’s walking down Streatham Hill, or dropping off a mattress at the local tip, or on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. And he’s also a star in front of a socially distanced audience in the basement of a Pizza Express in central London, muchingContinue reading “REVIEW: Janette Mason featuring David McAlmont – Pizza Express High Holborn, 25th June 2021”

Gonna be a painter all my life

There’s an old Hefner song called Alan Bean, named after the fourth man on the moon. It always got to me, because Alan Bean went to space, saw the earth spinning away beneath him, and knew what he wanted to be. “Gonna be a painter all my life,” sings Hayman, as Bean. It almost feelsContinue reading “Gonna be a painter all my life”

Ruthless Window by James Walsh: the story of a debut album

The problem with life, like history, is that it’s just one thing after another. I’ve always struggled to process things while they’re happening, both in terms of what I’ve done (good and bad) and what has been done to me (ditto). Time whooshes by like one of Douglas Adams’ deadlines, and so it’s taken meContinue reading “Ruthless Window by James Walsh: the story of a debut album”

Paul Draper at Electric Brixton, performs Attack of the Grey Lantern, looks like Luke Skywalker

I tried to get out of the habit of going to nostalgia shows, as there’s something strange about wallpapering over memories of seeing bands at their peak with memories of exactly the same people singing exactly the same songs twenty years later. This is particularly so for the reverent album playback show. Remember how annoyedContinue reading “Paul Draper at Electric Brixton, performs Attack of the Grey Lantern, looks like Luke Skywalker”

S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men at Heaven 11/09/2015: Morning Star column 15/09/2015

IN THE comic Phonogram: Rue Britannia, they’re known as retromancers who are trying to resurrect the long-dead musical magic of the past. At London’s Heaven on a Friday night, the old punks and new wave of new wavers have come to worship the sound of 1994, in the form of S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men.Continue reading “S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men at Heaven 11/09/2015: Morning Star column 15/09/2015”

The Bluetones at the London Forum 24/09/15: Morning Star column 6/10/2015

AT THE pub in the back streets of London’s Kentish Town, The Bluetones — due to play at the Forum across the road — are at the next table. It’s as good way as any of knowing that a band aren’t due on stage yet. The Bluetones are back. Had they ever gone away? TheContinue reading “The Bluetones at the London Forum 24/09/15: Morning Star column 6/10/2015”