Is it not the most appropriate time to consider the great disaster story The War of the Worlds, as a pandemic continues to sweep the globe, with no end in sight?
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Is it not the most appropriate time to consider the great disaster story The War of the Worlds, as a pandemic continues to sweep the globe, with no end in sight?
Read MoreIn the early 90s I was introduced to the notion of “art damage”, appearing as an editorial rant in the glorious glossy cyberpunk magazine, Mondo 2000, now sadly forgotten by most.
Read MoreSitting on my “to do” list since 2011, and already at that stage four years old, View from a Hill provides the autobiography of Mark Burgess, frontman of The Chameleons and associated acts.
Read MoreDark and morose, ambient and industrial, with occasional contrasts, replicr is an album for particular moods.
Read MoreExperientially and holistically, this is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of work of which Grum can be pretty proud of.
Read MoreElder statesman, co-founder, and guitarist and vocalist of post-punk legends Gang of Four, Andy Gill, died on 1 February, aged 64.
Read MoreThe Howler Bar in Brunswick initially looks like a large open-plan bar but has an enclosed back-room which is just the right size for bands with a moderate following, and a brilliant second bar which provides a windowed view to the stage.
Read MoreThe band started off pretty firmly in the metal genre, but transmogrified into something that is a cross between math rock and metal, like a love-child of 65daysofstatic and Dream Theater.
Read MoreAfter being a music reviewer for over 30 years, and being a Gang of Four fan for a similar period, it is about time I owned an electric guitar.
So I picked up Andy Gill’s from the Gang of Four concert last night.
Read MoreThis eighteen-month late review of Tears for Fears latest compilation, released in November 2017, absolutely has to be done, for reasons of aesthetic duty if nothing else.
Read MoreDisintegration’s popularity is absolutely deserving of a 30th anniversary and real credit is given to the band for having the courage and principle to have the entire show live-streamed and added to YouTube.
Read MorePossibly one of the most iconic progressive house bands of the 1990s, Underworld’s appearance at Sydney’s Vivid light and sound festival was exceptionally appropriate.
Read MoreFor those most familiar with the classic synth-pop Gary Numan, this will be quite different. For those who have followed Numan in the past thirty years this is not a surprise.
Read MoreA long concert, though more amiable than epic.
Read MoreThe BMG themselves in this particular incarnation are Martin Marion, Kuba Piezchalksia, and Stefan Ruh, supported by the band of Jan Burkamp, Tim Neuhaus, and Nils Westermann.
Read MoreIt was a good-sized crowd on the night with a surprising and pleasingly diverse audience, ranging from young post-punk revivalists who were born around the start of this century to those elder folk who had been there from the original days, now more than thirty-five years in the past.
Read MoreSevered Heads, Snog, frogs and Ikea rats.
Read MoreThe soundtrack is deserving of a short review in its own right, not the least for its own curious development.
Read MoreOn the most unexpected political alliance of the year: the Juggalo youth subculture and organised socialism.
Read MoreThe last of a series of concerts, this one performing Unknown Pleasures and Closer.
Read MoreCertain bands make an initial mark on the world with icons.
Read MoreAs the year comes to an end there is the realisation that a half-complete text file has been languishing for a triple compilation released in October 2015. What a difference a day makes to being “somewhat late” to being “so old it’s a retrospective”.
Read MoreIt was pure serendipity that I found myself on the other side of the planet from my usual home at the same time that 65daysofstatic graced Barcelona to promote their new soundtrack album, No Man’s Sky. The venue, Razzmatazz, has a good reputation and deservedly so. It’s rough and ready, but sensibly designed allowing for generous audio and viewing spaces, good ventilation, and even reasonable drink prices.
Read MoreAveraging one studio album every three years, the classic math rockers, 65daysofstatic are right on time with their latest release, the official soundtrack to the video game No Man’s Sky.
Read MoreAt almost sixty-five minutes, New Order’s tenth studio album Music Complete. On vinyl it is provided as an impressive heavy-grade double album with an abstract cover design by Peter Saville, which reminds one of True Colours by Split Enz or a 1980s L’Oreal advertisement. With no sense of embarrassment, the album also includes a twelve page booklet of blank pages and uncoloured designs. This ill-considered use of the planet’s declining arboreal biomass can possibly amuse children for a couple of hours as they provide a more interesting expression of colours. As is the fashion with albums these days a digital download code is also provided.
Read MoreThe concert hall of the Sydney Opera House is, of course, one of the world’s great venues. Filled to capacity of over two-and-half thousand the audience were displaying an enthusiasm that would continue throughout the night. Although older on average, there was a fair sprinkling of younger faces indicating that the reputation of one of the world’s great electronic and synth-pop bands was still continuing.
Read MoreFor a band formed in 1981, Shriekback have certainly had a couple of notable breaks in their productive career.
Read MoreIt is rather frightening to think that it’s now over thirty years since Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain graced the airwaves. Well, frightening to people of a certain age such as this reviewer.
Read MoreThis review has been sitting in the ‘to post’ box for a while, for reasons that will become evident.
Read MoreAs one of the great British indie synth-rock bands (hey, just call it “Madchester”) of the 90s, The Charlatans, left an indelible impression on
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