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HAYSEED DIXIE: The hillbilly humorists
The remote community of Deer Lick Holler in the Appalachians isn't on the way to anywhere, so there aren't many outside influences. It's where musicologists go to study authentic hillbilly music -- and be fearful of the sound of Duelling Banjos. So it was a significant day when a stranger drove into the valley on crisp autumn afternoon a decace or so ago -- and promptly crashed into the... more >>
Added: 9 Jul 09
DENGUE FEVER INTERVIEWED (2008): Taking it all back to Cambodia
When Pol Pot’s murderous thugs drove people out of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and into the countryside in the mid 70s, it was the beginning of the end. Figures vary but some say around two million people -- a quarter of the population -- were killed or died as the Khmer Rouge reconfigured the country based on an agrarian society and a rejection of western ideas. Even before... more >>
Added: 5 Jul 09
CHRIS CORNELL OF SOUNDGARDEN INTERVIEWED (1992): Pressure drop
Soundgarden were getting used to, but wary of, all the praise they’d been getting over the years. They’d been called “Seattle’s heaviest contenders since Hendrix” by Spin magazine-- and Circus, a little less imaginatively but just as enthusiastically, said “they are destined to be the next big hip thing.” Well, things happen fast in rock and... more >>
Added: 30 Jun 09
BILLY GIBBONS OF ZZ TOP INTERVIEWED (2000): The less things change, the more they stay the same
In a blur of urgency a pre-release copy of the new album is rushed across town, essential in advance of the phone interview. And here it is, ZZ Top's XXX, an album where the title reminds you of this Texas trio's 30-year career. This is a necessary artefact. Imagine not having heard it and the famously bearded Billy F. Gibbons opening the conversation with, "hope you like... more >>
Added: 30 Jun 09
HERBS, NEW ZEALAND'S POLITICISED REGGAE REVOLUTION: Hard tings an' times
When Herbs emerged at the start of the 1980s they were a very different band from the avuncular, mainstream entertainers they became. The original five-piece was managed by the former president of the radical Polynesian Panthers, and the cover of their landmark EP Whats' Be Happen, released in July '81 during the Springbok tour, was an aerial photo of police evicting protesters occupying... more >>
Added: 30 Jun 09
NIRVANA, IN THE MONEY (1992): Number one, with a bullet
The front cover of the business section of the New York Times isn’t the kind of place you expect to read about rock musicians...especially not a somewhat scruffy bunch of torn-denim, straggle-hair alternative rockers like Nirvana. But a couple of weeks ago there they were. Money talks – and it was positively screaming when Nirvana’s Nevermind album unexpectedly shot to... more >>
Added: 29 Jun 09
BRIAN ENO; THE EARLY SOLO YEARS 1973-77: Alchemy in the studio
Legend has it that when Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry fell out with the band's synth player (and avant-noise merchant) Brian Eno he accused him of being a "non-musician". Eno -- full name Brian Peter St John Le Baptiste de la Salle Eno -- took this as a compliment and departed to carve out one of the most influential, distinguished, distinctive and durable careers in contemporary... more >>
Added: 23 Jun 09
NEIL YOUNG ARCHIVES VOL 1 (1963-1972) REVIEWED: Here we are in the years . . .
There is a difference between something being “much anticipated” and it being “long awaited”. Neil Young’s box set Archives Vol 1 (1962-73) is certainly much anticipated . . . But long awaited? I think most people gave up waiting many years ago: Young announced the series back in the mid Eighties. In subsequent years -- decades even -- every time it got... more >>
Added: 9 Jun 09 
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CHUCK D OF PUBLIC ENEMY INTERVIEWED (2004): Business as usual
The man whose angry voice once sent shockwaves around the world answers his cellphone with a barely audible, “Hello”. Somewhere in the background a woman’s voice on a high-energy marketing rush is clearly audible talking about recouping costs, the outlay for advertising, and a settlement. I ask if this is a convenient time to talk. “Not really,” he says... more >>
Added: 7 Jun 09
CAN, THE CATALOGUE AND THE CULT: Talkin' 'bout a revolution
By definition most people miss cult acts. And to their tuned-in loyalists that makes them even more special. There is nothing like the whiff or martyrdom, or being ignored or misunderstood, to elevate a musician’s reputation among the faithful. Like most people, I missed Can in the late 60s/early 70s. No matter, the albums are out there. Again. Can’s credentials as... more >>
Added: 31 May 09
THE ROLLING STONES; 1981 TO NOW: On with the show . . .
The Rolling Stones stumbled out of the decadent decade of the Seventies into the uncertain Eighties which kicked off with post-disco dance, post-punk, New Wave and other styles which they weren't familiar with. But what else could these rich boys do but play in a rock'n'roll band? Not a lot as their career from '81 to the present day proved. Flashes of the old genius, internal fights... more >>
Added: 25 May 09
THE ROLLING STONES IN THE SEVENTIES: The decade of decadence
When Virgin Records paid about US$50 million for a slice of the Rolling Stones back in 1991 they were investing in the past more than the future. That’s with all due respect to the legend that is Jagger-Richards -- a collective proper noun appropriate given their separate solo careers have been abject commercial failures and largely artistic nadirs for both. No one in their right... more >>
Added: 24 May 09 1 Comment
THE ROLLING STONES; THE SIXTIES: Through the past darkly (again)
Quite when pop became rock is difficult to pinpoint. It is possible to argue that dark, dense and adult rock has been around for more than 50 years. Think of Ronnie Hawkins' threatening delivery of Who Do You Love with these hard edge lyrics: "I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire, got a cobra snake for a necktie". That doesn't sound too far removed from the Rolling Stones'... more >>
Added: 24 May 09 2 Comments
MARTIN PHILLIPPS, OF THE DISBANDED CHILLS, INTERVIEWED (1992): The dream is over
Martin Phillipps looks bad. His skin is pasty, he’s unshaven and his eyes look like an owls in an arc light. He’s been up for 24 hours and although it’s only lunchtime he’s going to hang out until the Iron Maiden concert that night. He’s tired ... though an 18-hour flight from the States does that to anyone. But it’s more than that. Back there in America... more >>
Added: 24 May 09
PAUL SIMON; THE SOLO YEARS: The boy out of his bubble
In October ‘93, when Paul Simon took up what amounted to a month-long residency at the Paramount Theatre in New York, it was billed with typical Nineties hyperbole as “The Concert of a Lifetime” At this particular spectacular -- Art Garfunkel, Phoebe Snow, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other Simon collaborators and friends present -- Simon was celebrating his 52nd birthday... more >>
Added: 9 May 09
EMINEM IN 2004: Time for an encore?
It's probably never been easy to be Eminem. But these might be particularly trying times for him. Which seems a strange thing to say given he's so successful. But that's the problem. When Eminem was the angry underdog you could believe his rage and enjoy the swipes he took at American presidents, Osama bin Laden, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, Marky Mark, Michael Jackson and Moby.... more >>
Added: 8 May 09
SMOKEY ROBINSON: The man and the Miracle worker
It was one of those fortunate circumstances that Motown Records founder Berry Gordy from Detroit met his label’s star (and later his producer and boardroom exec) Smokey Robinson -- who had been around the Detroit scene in high school groups for years -- when both of them happened to be in New York. The ambitious Gordy, who’d written a couple of songs and got into small-time... more >>
Added: 2 May 09
JOE COCKER INTERVIEWED (2005): Up where he belonged
Even Joe Cocker finds it amusing he should be staying in his hotel in Denmark under an alias. After all, he’s hardly fan-bait as a crumpled 61-year old and, once out of his regulation black stage uniform, he can walk any street in most cities unrecognised. “In the daytime when I’ve got my denim jeans on and a polo shirt I can keep a low profile. Once in a while in shops... more >>
Added: 26 Apr 09
ROBERT WYATT IN CUCKOOLAND (2003): A man, his muse and his music
Robert Wyatt occupies an unusual place in rock culture. He's in it, but also apart from it. He's not known for his hits, although did enjoy brief chart success and a Top of the Pops appearance with his singular version of the Monkees' I'm A Believer back in '74. He doesn't do videos and won't be coming to a concert stage near you, unless it has access for a wheelchair. He's been in one... more >>
Added: 26 Apr 09
ITALIAN POP AND ROCK: Searching for the young soul rebels
Let’s be honest, Italian opera might be wonderfully transcendent -- despite Oasis’ Noel Gallagher dismissing Placido, Carreras and the Big Pav as “three fat blokes shouting” -- but Italian pop/rock hasn’t made it internationally. A book entitled Famous Italian Bands would be slim indeed -- and wisely not include the unfortunately-named Shampoo who did... more >>
Added: 20 Apr 09
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