E.P. Review: Lydia Loveless – Live from the Vinyl Emergency Podcast

 

Vinyl Emergency is a podcast presented by Jim Hanke which discusses the importance of vinyl records with a host of different artists, music industry people and collectors. Previous guests have included Rosanne Cash, The Secret Sisters and Lilly Hiatt talking about topics such as their childhood memories of music right through to their thoughts on the recent vinyl resurgence. The latest episode features Lydia Loveless and the three tracks she played live during the show have also been released as an EP called Live From the Vinyl Emergency Podcast. Continue reading “E.P. Review: Lydia Loveless – Live from the Vinyl Emergency Podcast” →

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Should We Still Listen to Phil Spector’s Christmas Album?

The unmasking of many powerful men in Hollywood as abusers and serial sexual harassers has been a long time coming. The music industry too has been rife with troubling behaviour for decades, from Ike Turner to Michael Jackson to Kesha’s recent case against Dr Luke. This year has proved what women have known all along: the voices of victims must be heard and respected no matter who is being accused. Continue reading “Should We Still Listen to Phil Spector’s Christmas Album?” →

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My Musical Lowlights of 2017

I try to make this blog a positive place to promote music I love but I’m not against negative reviews per se (except those that turn into character assassinations) even if I do believe that everyone has the right to make whatever music they want. Still that doesn’t mean all music is enjoyable to me personally. So in the interests of balance I have decided to outline some of my musical lowlights from this year. Continue reading “My Musical Lowlights of 2017” →

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Album Review: Mavis Staples – If All I Was Was Black

When The Staple Singers started out in the sixties they had a simple mission, as outlined by Pops himself: ‘We want to sing about what’s happening in the world today, and if it’s something bad, we want to sing a song to try to fix it.” Fast forward fifty years and the world is as broken as ever. You’d forgive Mavis Staples if she was disillusioned with the mission. As she says ‘lately, things are looking worse than they have ever looked.’ And yet, as she sings on this album, there’s no time for crying. If All I Was Was Black is an album concerned with bringing harmony and hope back to the poor huddled masses.  Continue reading “Album Review: Mavis Staples – If All I Was Was Black” →

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Album Review : Karine Polwart with Pippa Murphy – A Pocket Of Wind Resistance

On the cover of A Pocket of Wind Resistance Karine Polwart’s profile merges with images of the natural world: birds, trees, leaves seem to be a part of her just like brain, blood and bone. Together with Pippa Murphy’s spellbinding soundscapes she has produced a hymn to motherhood, nature, life and death. A companion piece to her one woman theatre show Wind Resistance, to call this work an ‘album’ barely scratches the surface of the ambition of its songs, stories, poetry and politics. This is a piece of compelling conceptual art.  Continue reading “Album Review : Karine Polwart with Pippa Murphy – A Pocket Of Wind Resistance” →

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Album Review: The Just Joans – You Might Be Smiling Now…

It’s shite being Scottish, especially in winter when it’s dark by four o’clock, the streets freeze over and everyone is in a worse mood than usual. Thankfully we have the new album from The Just Joans, the self proclaimed ‘laziest band in Scotland’, to brighten up the dreich days and nichts. Modern life might be rubbish but You Might Be Smiling Now… finds glitter in the gutters of Glasgow.  Continue reading “Album Review: The Just Joans – You Might Be Smiling Now…” →

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Books About Music Written By Women

‘Book Week Scotland’ might not mean a lot to many people beyond bonnie Caledonia but this campaign to promote reading gives me a nice excuse to write about the myriad connections between my two favourite things: books and music. My first post was about songs inspired by female writers and today I’m going to recommend some of my favourite books about music written by women.  Continue reading “Books About Music Written By Women” →

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