Frontman Neil Arthur is disarmingly modest about their achievements, but Blancmange were one of the most successful bands to emerge from the experimental electronic music scene of the early ’80s. Blending pop melodies with dark lyrics and avant-garde programming and recording techniques, they went on to rack up seven Top 40 hits. Don’t Tell Me and Living On The Ceiling both reached the […]
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Judge Roughneck is back and about to lay down the law at a venue near you. Ska great Neville Staple revived the character, first heard on The Specials‘ Stupid Marriage, for his latest double album The Return of Judge Roughneck. Now the Jamaican-born vocalist is heading out on the road to promote the record with a backing band featuring his wife Christine ‘Sugary’ Staple. Arriving in […]
In June 1967 five musicians went into London’s Abbey Road studios to record The Zombies‘ second album Odessey and Oracle. Though not an initial success, the record came to be regarded as one of the landmark albums of the late 1960s, right up there with The Beach Boys‘ Pet Sounds and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper. Half a century later the surviving members of […]
Tucked away down a side street across the road from Ealing Broadway tube station lies a tiny, London night spot, widely credited as the birthplace of British rock. Hot, sweaty and damp, The Ealing Club, became a focal point for a new generation of fans and musicians inspired by American Blues artists like Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and […]
For some the thought of spending 90 minutes in the company of two middle-aged blokes, armed only with a laptop and a microphone, would be about as appetising as an office team-bonding session on a wet weekend in Nantwich. But Sleaford Mods are no ordinary middle-aged blokes.
By rights The House of Love should have been as much of a household name as U2 or fellow Creation alumni Oasis. Riding high on the back of a string of sparkling indie singles and rapid sales of their self-titled debut album, they were officially the late ‘80s next big thing.
Incredibly, OMD have been making music for nearly 40 years now and The Punishment Of Luxury is their 13th studio album. It’s a varied collection that sees them again refusing to trade on past glories, tackling complex themes with invention and not a little humour.
Canadian-Ukrainian space pop duo Ummagma have unveiled the new video for their collaboration with Cocteau Twins co-founder Robin Guthrie. Taken from their forthcoming LCD EP, Lama, features Guthrie’s trademark soaring guitar arpeggios and sound washes over Shauna McLarnon‘s cool clear vocals.
Named after the iconic French deep sea diver, CousteauX are back from the depths with their first new album in more than a decade. Slimmed down from the original five-piece, frontman Liam McKahey and principal songwriter Davey Ray Moor have reunited as a duo, with an X added to their name to mark their return.
Credited with creating the distinctive gauzy, ethereal sound of the 4AD label, John Fryer is the true godfather of dark wave music. As a producer and engineer he’s worked with artists as diverse as The Cocteau Twins, Nine Inch Nails and Cradle of Filth.