HERE COMES THE SONG

Russell Cunningham In 1951 the composer John Cage visited the anechoic chamber at Harvard University. Upon entering he had expected to...

Kate Ellis And when you feel you’re breaking It’s just your past unmaking You’re perfect, you are whole I don’t know what you’ve been...

Rob Steen Time to fess up. I was more or less a Kurt Vile virgin until last week. My son, Joe, had raved aplenty but only one song, One...

Phil Shaw In the days before ubiquitous mobiles, a mate who owned a jukebox was having it repaired when the engineer asked if he could...

Rob Steen I probably shouldn’t be writing this. After all, I am by no means an Elvis fan. I giggled at his movies, never bought anything...

Phil Shaw It scarcely seems possible but Brian Wilson – still celebrated for his sumptuous teenage symphonies for The Beach Boys six...

Ian Tasker If you are talking blues standards then they don’t come much more ready-made, boil-in-the-bag than Muddy Waters’ Got My Mojo...

Tim Woods What kind of Beatles fan are you? Maybe the obsessive type, the sort who whistles the chorus to Honey Pie without even...

Ian Tasker Today is a day for remembrance, reflection and wondering what might have been, for exactly 50 years ago on October 29, 1971,...

Rob Steen Bodacious cowboys. Snook-cocking hipsters. Coolest white dudes on the Seventies block. Steely Dan, aka The Dan, are the...

Phil Shaw Perhaps Robert Johnson’s deal with the devil at the crossroads was to blame for all the blues artists, here and in America, who...

Rob Steen Lindsey Buckingham has pulled off quite a coup with his latest album. Emulating Sting, not to mention leaving Paul, Mick, Keef...

Rob Steen Freddie and Bowie. Crosby and Bowie. Crosby and Nash. Mahalia and Mavis. Aretha and George Michael. Michael McDonald and Joni....

Jason Mandell in Los Angeles There’s a great Julian Barnes line: ‘I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.’ That’s kind of how I felt...

Tim Woods As a parent, you have certain responsibilities towards your children. You need to keep them safe, provide them with a home,...

Neil Morton Reading the harrowing back story of Allison Russell while listening to her remarkable debut solo album is a humbling...

Phil Shaw OK, so who’s the oldest singer or musician from the rock ‘n’ roll era onwards still performing? When the question was posed at...

Rob Steen So I sat in the attic, a piano up my nose And the wind played a dreadful cantata (cantata, cantata) Sore was I from a crack of...

Shug Hanlan It is impossible to mistake the looks of genuine joy and affection on the faces of the various ‘celebrities’ assembled for...

Tim Woods Record sales that topped 15 million. Eight top 10 studio albums, with two reaching No1 in the charts. Twenty-two singles that...