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3 A.M. MUSIC
Music oriented articles, stories, essays, and documentaries as featured in previous editions of 3 A.M. MAGAZINE.

WHERE'S SPOCK?
May, 2005

"I haven't been here for maybe 20 years and lurking at the back of a reasonably filled venue, it can't be escaped that, back in the day, this is where the Sex Pistols honed their craft at legendary gigs, the fallout of which would create an energy that would change many lives forever, mine included." George Berger interviews legendary punk artist Spizz.


SOMETHING MIGHT SOAR
April, 2005

"We were asked to be be on the C86 compilation, but we had a discussion and decided not to do it. We felt we'd been going for quite a while, and didn't feel a part of that scene. It all became codified very quickly: the shambling music, the bowl haircuts, the anoraks. If you compare C86 to C81, the latter was much more interesting, much more broadminded with the Subway Sect, some Ze stuff. The shambling thing was a ghetto." Richard Cabut interviews erstwhile June Brides guitarist Simon Beesley who will be playing at 3:AM's birthday gig this month.


CUBISM OF THE MIND
March, 2005

"The place where my stuff comes from is always the association with emotions. It's not about the physical world that much. Using something romantic next to something humourous, using something tragic next to something political. Putting things next to each other ­- they can all have their place in the same song." Andy James interviews anti-folk singer/songwriter Adam Green.


TALES OF LOW-LIFE LOSERS & ROCK AND ROLL SLEAZE
March, 2005

"Sleaze is easy to point a finger at. It is even easier to accidentally put your foot in it. Unfortunately, it becomes rather nebulous when you try to slap a definition on to its rather ugly posterior. One man's meat is the cliché that I'm groping for here, so help me out by filling in the gaps. It's one of those theory of relativity deals except no-one called Einstein a sleazebag, not in New York." Bob Short does what it says on the tin and dishes out the dirt real nice.


C86 AND ALL THAT
January, 2005

"C86 might be a state of mind for those concerned (and not just a compilation cassette given away by the NME in 1986) but we've not seen any revivals since that juncture. Bands like Talulah Gosh and The June Brides, namechecks by Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch aside, are scarcely raking it in on the royalties front, nor drop off the lips of today's indie-kids (if they exist, that is). So we should welcome Rough Trade's endeavours to bring Helen Love and The Sea Urchins back to piss on the chips of the derivative Franz Ferdinand, though the likelihood of an in-store appearance at HMV on Oxford Street by Heavenly remains as elusive as ever, probably." Andrew Stevens reviews the Rough Trade Indiepop box-set.


AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL SIMONON
November, 2004

"To inspire people, even just for one second, is worth something. To be honest, we were blokes with guitars, and it's unlikely we could change the world, but at eighteen you at least think it's possible -- and it is, but maybe not in the way you first think. The amount of people who come up and say we changed their lives and gave them a whole different concept of how to look at things, is fantastic. " On the occasion of the 25th anniversary reissue of London Calling, Paul Simonon of The Clash talks to Ben Myers about the glory days of punk, painting and being buried under the Westway.


GIR JUST WANTS TO HAVE FUN
November, 2004

"Piney Gir dances onto the stage, knocking out a fiery set of Go-Gos pop, Dolly Parton country, '60s rock 'n'roll, dirty Depeche mode electronica and seductive balladry. Add to that a cover of Que Sera Sera that morphs into Girl, a ballsy riot grrl rant, and a take on My Generation , sung through a megaphone. It's impossible not to like her." Jude Rogers interviews Eclectic Minx of the moment Piney Gir for 3AM.


ROOTS AND WANDERINGS: SOUNDS OUT OF THE DIASPORA
November, 2004

"The earthy mix of tunes I played just worked really well, mixing tunes from Gene Vincent to Big Youth to The Stooges, some garage nuggets, to King Tubby's. I was also playing heavier funk and southern soul tunes from the likes of Sly Stone, The Meters and the Stax crew. This was music with raw physicality -- and all of it had a groove, that certain something that is often indefinable, but you instinctively know what it is, when it hits. I've never had a problem connecting all the diverse strands of music that move me, into a coherent entity." Greg Whitfield interviews punk soundsmith DJ Scratchy for 3AM.


SURPRISES FROM OUT OF THE BLUE
October, 2004

"So I get this email and it's from this woman who wants me to review her rap CD. I did the right thing. I emailed her back, thanked her, and told her that I lost my love for rap around the time I lost my love for Transformers. To me, the days of Public Enemy and Ice T are sadly gone, and we're left with a bunch of hip hop gangsta jackass corporate sellout cash grab fat guys in a pissing contest. Frankly, it disgusts me to see what was a passionate, political art form chummed up and turned into commercial garbage where the artists are defined by their possessions." Jim Martin reviews Dayze's Truthseeker, Mick Fleetwood's Something Big, and Classical Ass's After Lunch We Kill Tony, three CDs that came to him out of the blue.


SURPRISES FROM OUT OF THE BLUE
October, 2004

"So I get this email and it's from this woman who wants me to review her rap CD. I did the right thing. I emailed her back, thanked her, and told her that I lost my love for rap around the time I lost my love for Transformers. To me, the days of Public Enemy and Ice T are sadly gone, and we're left with a bunch of hip hop gangsta jackass corporate sellout cash grab fat guys in a pissing contest. Frankly, it disgusts me to see what was a passionate, political art form chummed up and turned into commercial garbage where the artists are defined by their possessions." Jim Martin reviews Dayze's Truthseeker, Mick Fleetwood's Something Big, and Classical Ass's After Lunch We Kill Tony, three CDs that came to him out of the blue.


THE WORLD'S FORGOTTEN BOY
September, 2004

"I remember one time in Middlesbrough. The skins were throwing sharpened up 50ps and kung fu stars, so I said, tactfully: 'If they dropped an atomic bomb on this town it would do £5 worth of damage. I've travelled all over England, I've seen every skinhead in the country and you, standing at the back, you've got the ugliest girlfriend around'. And then this big riot broke out." Richard Cabut interviews Kevin Mooney about the punk days, Adam & The Ants and his current project, Lavender Pill Mob.


FUCKING THE BOOKS
August, 2004

"Halfway through my, ahem, studies I started writing 'properly' (i.e. it was being read by people) by first doing odd jobs in the offices of a scumbag tabloid paper in my late teens and then contributing reviews and interviews to Melody Maker. It gave me great pleasure to leave a note to one of my lecturers saying "Sorry I can't make it today but I'm going to London to interview Noel Gallagher". The interview fell through, but it made me look quite good in front of my peers. Personally I've always despised Oasis anyway. So conservative, so pedestrian." Andrew Stevens interviews cult author, music journalist, label boss and former undercover tabloid reporter Ben Myers for 3AM.


THERE'S NOWT SO SINCERE AS FOLK
August, 2004

"Some albums hit you as soon as you hear them. Others unveil themselves slowly, sharpening their beauty in increments, like a diamond rubbing its edges in the rough. Adem's first solo album, * Homesongs * belongs in this category." Jude Rogers interviews Fridge's electronic wunderkind and new folk boy on the block Adem for 3AM.


RECORDS FROM INDIANA
August, 2004

"From the beginning I realized that distribution is perhaps the most important as well as the most difficult aspect of running a label. We all worked hard to secure distribution from the very beginning and were fortunate enough to secure solid distribution and thus build upon that. That has been and will continue to be a major challenge and that's a good example of the challenges that make it worth doing this. The other part that makes it all worthwhile are the relationships that are built, especially with the artists. It's great to forge relationships with such talented people especially when these people are genuinely nice and sincere." Matthew Wascovich interviews Jonathan Cargill of Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar fame for 3AM.


MY HUSBAND IS A SPACEMAN
August, 2004

"All my shows are based on what goes on in my life. This is about a Japanese lady who marries a Japanese artist and they go to England to live. But every night he locks himself in this room and doesn't come out. And eventually he discovers that he's an alien duck." My husband is a spaceman: Frank Chickens' Kazuko Hohki, Mark Wu and Stefan Woelwer interviewed by Richard Marshall.


STEP INTO SOMERSET HOUSE, BABY
August, 2004

"The band that was once awkward and uneasy on stage has found confidence, and from nowhere has become blessed with vim and vigour. They were the surprise highlight of Glastonbury back in June; their lead singer, Stuart Murdoch, leaving the dry sanctuary of the stage to dance near his subjects, in the rain, in a tight aertex shirt. A rainbow popped up as his song ended, which seemed fitting; an endearing blessing for a band who had finally found their pot of gold." Jude Rogers dabs her eyelids with glitter, slips in the hairslides and lets the eyes go misty, enjoying the delicate spectacle of Belle and Sebastian at London's Somerset House.


RADIO 4 LIVE
July, 2004

"What is surprising is how this template, which saw the likes of Gang of Four and A Certain Ratio catapulted back into fashion after two decades of absolute obscurity, was readily taken up by bands from New York (The Rapture, The Liars, Interpol and, quite obviously, Radio 4) a lot more suddenly than it was embraced here. Tonight is London's opportunity to embrace however and Radio 4 bring the Pop Group and Mission of Burma, not to mention Georgio Moroder, to the party alongside the usual influences, marking them out as something special and above the crowd. It's why I was there and you're reading this." Jake Purbright reviews Radio 4 live for 3AM.


SO MUCH FOR THE UNDERGROUND
June, 2004

"The East London Line has proved to be a fascination to me since I arrived in London and (unintentionally) found myself living in the (then) deeply-unfashionable area of New Cross in the South London backwater borough of Lewisham. A fraction under five miles in length and with six trains running an hour at all times, the line connects the arts incubator of Goldsmiths College at New Cross with the more commissioned world of the Shoreditch gallery, running through such lovably shabby districts as Whitechapel, Wapping and Rotherhithe in the process." Andrew Stevens takes a look at music, literature, art and politics on the East London Line.


A NIGHT AT THE 'ROCK
June, 2004

"Tonight is the quarter-finals of the latest Bandwarz, and Nate's band are playing second, so here we are in the Shamrock Hotel. In all the times I've been here, I've never seen a fight break out, but the 'Rock has it's reputation for a reason. This is a roughneck bar, and fights here don't end friendly. But that just gives the room a strange sort of charm and makes it a place that I personally love to play in." Jim Martin reflects one night watching The Nate Pike Band at Calgary's Shamrock Hotel.


THE CAPRI-COLLARED SHIRT
June, 2004

"One evening we were joined by the ginger geezer Malcolm McLaren, who wore a black rubber t-shirt and assiduously relieved my brother of every spare Senior Service he had. Behind him were a collection of young men about four or five years older than me. I certainly don't remember any green hair but I can see the profile of one in particular now if I close my eyes: disdainful, with an unwavering gaze of deliberate disorientation. They left -- I gathered much later to audition the surly quiet one in front of the Sex shop jukebox -- and the evening swirled around me." Paul Gorman on late 70s King's Road and the birth of British punk.


ALLIANCES SEVERED ONCE MORE
May, 2004

"The past few years have seen no records released and while he has agonised over his identity and place in the music business today, questions have been raised over his sexuality during his time away from the public eye. But enough of Prince's attempt to make a comeback, 2004 sees Morrissey's first material since 1997's Maladjusted." Andrew Stevens casts a critical eye over Morrissey's latest long player, You Are The Quarry.


LOOKING FOR SOMETHING
May, 2004

"We knew by the time the mid 70's arrived that we were fucked. Doomed. England was a wasteland in those days. We were destined for the scrap heap unless we could figure out an escape from the mundanity. I got a job in a factory when I was fifteen, but all I cared about was playing guitar. There was a lot of noise in the factory -- white noise and wall to wall sheet metal din." Greg Whitfield interviews PiL/Clash guitarist Keith Levene for 3AM.


ANOTHER BIT OF THE PAVEMENT AND THE CAR AGAIN
March, 2004

"It was like all that stuff you see with the Beatles: kids jumping on cars, not being able to get out of venues, stuff like that. Not being able to walk the streets. All your shopping had to be done as soon as the shop opened. You had to run down to the shop, wait for it to open, then quickly catch a cab home before anyone else could see you. You never went out during the day, you only saw cars, a bit of pavement, the inside of clubs, another bit of pavement and the car again". Marco Pirroni tells George Berger about Adam & The Ants' glory days.


BREAK YOUR MAMA'S BACK
March, 2004

"Well, they're from here and it was a subject that I was really interested in writing about. Partly because I'm from here and had already co-written a book on rubber industry history, and had lobbied hard for that part of the story to be part of the book. You know, that kind of underground, what was happening in the arts scene, and it being important as a layer of what all of that meant to a rust belt town." Eric Wrisley interviews David Giffels, author of a new Devo biography Are We Not Men? We Are DEVO!


WE'RE ALL IN LOVE
February, 2004

"To play for as many people as you can and learn from them. We played every day for two years and that's constant practicing on stage, even in the hardest times. Our performance got much tighter and stronger. Sometimes people say "He's a great guitar player", which usually means they're like Santana or Clapton. They can play fancy things, but it's the most unappealing thing to me. We play great and simple and still have a message to get across without tricking it out. And we'll probably get better. You know, someone asked me to make a top ten list for some magazine. BRMC Top 10 of whatever you want. I wanted to make a list of best musicians, just to get people think about musicianship again. Nowadays, you get top tens of haircuts, top tens of singles and best dress. No one ever makes a list of great guitar players. I really had a hard time doing it, I got six names but I couldn't get ten." Bram van Moorhem interviews Robert Turner of the men in black, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.


IT WAS MORE ABOUT TROUSERS THAN ANYTHING ELSE: PART 1 OF THE MARCO PIRRONI INTERVIEW
January, 2004

"This is one in a long line of bad taste things I say, but the whole Columbine shooting thing: I think 'yeah, if I 'd have fucking had a gun, I would have done it too. But I had an outlet: they didn't have an outlet.'" George Berger interviews Marco Pirroni of Adam & the Ants fame.


TALES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
November, 2003

"I think the thing I liked about them was that they were slightly awkward and gangly, like myself, but yet incredibly cool, unlike myself, so there was something quite inspiring about that. And obviously the music was amazing. They really did sound like a combination of all my favourite groups -- Sex Pistols, Adam and The Ants, David Bowie, The Smiths, T-Rex and so on -- it was like they'd been manufactured exactly to my specifications. There were lots of little details that I'd always liked in certain bands, like the falsetto and the double-tracked octave vocal. It was also really refreshing that they sounded so bloody obvious at a time when all other bands seemed to be trying to be deliberately obscure and cooler-than-thou and would name-check people like Gram Parsons and Big Star, whereas Suede came along and said, 'Actually we like Kate Bush, Hazel O'Connor and Buggles!'" HP Tinker interviews David Barnett, author of Suede biography Love and Poison and discusses the legacy of Britain's finest exponents of degeneracy and 'pornography set to music'.


TALKING TO A DOPPELGANGER: THE I AM KLOOT INTERVIEW
November, 2003

"'This is why I like being interviewed over the phone,' he says, 'I might not even be me. You might be talking to a doppelganger'." Peter Wild interviews John Bramwell of I Am Kloot.


EARTHBEAT: IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS RHYTHM
November, 2003

"It seems to me that London was flooded with heroin around the time punk was losing direction. It almost felt to me as if there was a conspiracy to sedate people. London was just flooded with it. The tail end of punk saw the market swamped. Governments have done it in the past to quiet things down. Shove a load of drugs in, shut people up." Gregory Mario Whitfield interviews Tessa Pollitt, a former member of legendary all-female punk combo The Slits.


CRACKER BUDDHISTS - THE MUSIC OF THE WHITETRASH SHAOLIN
October, 2003

"The music of Whitetrash Shaolin is experimental, enlightened, and compelling. There's a unique sound to the mix that turns the many layers of each song into a coherent, fun, and interesting song. Whether it's Elvis or Aliens, each track is worth the listen." Jim Martin talks about the bizarre but wholly entertaining Whitetrash Shaolin.


TURN OFF THE BRIGHT LIGHTS: INTERPOL AND FRANZ FERDINAND LIVE
September, 2003

"Six months on, and Interpol are Rocky III. All of the eye of the tiger is gone. Interpol have become a company, with a blazing blue lightshow and a stock set of trademarked moves. Interpol are as dry as old bones, they are kindling for future fire. Shame what fire there was has gone out." Peter Wild buries Interpol, praises Franz Ferdinand and witnesses the revival of white boy funk.


THAT RAREST OF MINERALS: PATTI SMITH LIVE
August, 2003

"She has the Factor X that separates the great from the good. Last night I stood in the same room as Patti Smith -- in these vaguely insane times, that alone was enough to make me feel more human. What she did with that space traversed entertainment and gave us all hope -- that rarest of minerals." George Berger reviews Patti Smith's London gig.


HOW CAN I KNOW? HOW CAN I CARE? AN INTERVIEW WITH BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY
June, 2003

"Chord-changing scratches, strained vocals tapering into coyote yelps, facial tics as lines are forced out -- things which could be at best banal seem brimful of meaning when it comes to Oldham." Sean Dingle interviews Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.


BLACK EYED SKANK: AN INTERVIEW WITH BOBBY JOSEPH
June, 2003

"I was an evil little bastard as I came out of school. I used to do a lot of pranks. I think that has manifested itself in my writing. I've almost been shot dead by the police. We did a photo shoot in a garden about six or seven years ago. The photographer was a white guy. He was taking photos and all you could see if you were a neighbour was this white guy surrounded by these black guys with weapons. Next thing you know they've cordoned off the whole road from the Old Kent Road Police Station and they stormed the upstairs flat and all I can remember is this gun being pointed at me. They didn't actually shoot me. Which was a good thing!" Richard Marshall interviews Bobby Joseph.


THE REBEL DREAD: AN INTERVIEW WITH DON LETTS
June, 2003

"You know in the late 70's the only white people you would see down at a Jah Shaka dance in Dalston, Hackney or Stoke Newington, would be Johnny Rotten, those guys from Public Image, Joe Strummer, and other guys from The Pistols or The Clash, and these were my friends, people I'd taken with me. Now it's great to see so many different kinds of people, different nationalities in the dance." Greg Whitfield interviews Don Letts.


AN INTERVIEW WITH GRANT HART
May, 2003

"He didn't want to tell me which his favourite songs were because he was afraid that I might have been the other guy! I guess it's one thing that resonates from the Husker Du legacy is the break-up. There's a new vintage of sour grapes every year! I'm sure there are things I do that tick Bob off..." Richard Marshall interviews Grant Hart.


DUB WISERS - AN INTERVIEW WITH ABA SHANTI
April, 2003

"Roots music is protest music which spiritualises people, awakens the consciousness of the listener. Listen to distinctive, original artists from any genre, including reggae, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Parker, or reggae drummers like Sly or Santa, what you hear immediately is their signature, so you know it's them in an instant. Same way with us: When we cut our dubs, what you hear is something captured in time, there is no absolute theoretical "right or wrong" in terms of the sound." Greg Whitfield interviews Aba Shanti.


SUMMER SUN - YO LA TENGO INTERVIEWED
March, 2003

"They remain the proverbial elephant examined by blind men, different things to different people. Which is okay, as far as Ira Kaplan is concerned. I asked him what he’d say if the dictionary people came knocking, wanting a definition. 'That’s their job, isn’t it? Finding definitions. We’re happy just playing the music.'" Peter Wild interviews Ira Kaplan about Yo La Tengo's new album, Summer Sun.


WHIP IT ON: THE RAVEONETTES
March, 2003

“At 21: 41 in length you can’t but help feeling a tad cheated, although at the price it’s a good as a tenner bag of speed. With their covers looking like pulp novels and subjecting listeners to degenerate tales of lewd quantity, relayed over a web of fuzz and drone with more than a nod to The Cramps, you get the impression that The Raveonettes would eat The Strokes for breakfast and expose them for the trustafarian charlatan eye candies that they are.” By Andrew Stevens.


HELLENIC RHYTHMOLOGY & WESTERN SONGWRITING - AN INTERVIEW WITH MANOLIS FAMELLOS AND MARK EITZEL
March, 2003

"Each time we would have to work our way through, as there was no model for this production, no similar example from the past. It may sound strange but this is a firstborn musical style -- even for Greek standards!" Peter Wild interviews Manolis Famellos of Tongue Master Records and Mark Eitzel about the latter's new album, The Ugly American.


CALLING ALL ENTHUSIASTS: RADIO 4 LIVE
March, 2003

"Possibly the most interesting to come of this is the current crop of (mainly) NYC bands that are dragging disco into the mix kicking and screaming. Student Unions all over this land can once again be sweaty. Yeah! Radio 4 has a beat. But fans of the Archers beware -- it is not that Radio 4. Nor is it another of Alan McGee's genre-defying DJ nights in a Notting Hill cupboard." By Frank Kennedy.


FOLK MINORITY - AN INTERVIEW WITH MEIC STEVENS
February, 2003

"When I first heard Dylan I laughed. Bob Dylan is probably one of the greatest modern poets but things had been around a little longer than that. I'm a year younger than Dylan. He's the same age as John Lennon. 41 they were born. I was 42. War bambinos. I was always interested in folk music. I always sung them. I always classed myself as a folk singer anyway. I know I can play rock, I play jazz, I play blues. It's all sound to me. It's all music. I drifted into this jazz when I was seventeen and blues -- before the British Blues revival. And then just kept on going on and on. Just kept on going. So I'm still here!" Richard Marshall interviews Meic Stevens.


ROCKER FROM THE TOMBS - AN INTERVIEW WITH CHEETAH CHROME
February, 2003

"I'm very proud to have been in both Rocket From the Tombs and the Dead Boys -- it's a tough call, which I'm prouder of. Rockets we never really saw through to the end, I felt. The Dead Boys, well, we maybe took it past where we should have." Matthew Wascovich interviews Cheetah Chrome.


THE FINE ART OF SELF-DESTRUCTION - AN INTERVIEW WITH JESSE MALIN
February, 2003

"I've been scribbling stuff in bars on little pieces of napkins and matchbooks and then I get home and wonder what the hell it was I was trying to say!" Peter Wild interviews Jesse Malin.


A STUDY IN BROKEN BEATS
January, 2003

"A few years back, fellow Warp mainstay, the Aphex Twin used a food processor during a festival gig to generate sound through a sequencer that actually caused the audience to dance. I'm not sure what kitchen implement Boards of Canada would deploy for the same effect but the results would not be anywhere near as abrasive, their style being more akin to simplistic ambient soundscapes over relaxed hip-hop beats." By Andrew Stevens.


LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIND - 'SHOEGAZING' AND BRITISH INDIE MUSIC IN THE 1990S
January, 2003

"The first chinks in the armour were revealed when Revolver, Bleach, Chapterhouse and Thousand Yard Stare split due to the poor reception of their work by a now hostile media, with American labels such as SubPop being flavour of the month in sixth form common rooms and university student unions the land over." Andrew Stevens casts a nostalgic eye back at when the Shoegazers of the Home Counties topped the indie charts.


MESSRS MODULAR
January, 2003

"The band came to our attention in the early nineties, at the tail end of the baggy era and before grunge kicked in. Having seen off both and retained a sizeable fanbase thanks to the critical acclaim of the music press, though this did not translate into sales, despite considerable interest around the 'French Disko' track of the Jenny Ondioline that was given disproportionate airplay on Radio 1. Stereolab recorded some of their strongest material during the unfortunate Britpop era on records such as Mars Audiac Quintet, Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Dots and Loops, using the most leftfield and obscure influences." By Andrew Stevens.


TURNING REBELLION INTO MONEY
January, 2003

"The Damned owed me money from the period when I used to manage them, so I cut a deal with them and Jake Riviera, their manager: play four Mondays for free and the debt would be forgotten about. And they did. This was a huge success -- you had 300 people in a venue only designed for 150, a place packed to the rafters in an age when we didn't take fire safety as seriously as we do now. The Buzzcocks played a lot too -- they also played the Fridge in 1986, or was it 1987? I seem to remember a young Noel Gallagher being one of their roadies at that gig -- bet he doesn't mention that these days though. But a lot of bands played the Roxy, considering it was only going for 100 nights, all them inspirational. You had bands attending gigs that met other punks and formed other bands, it really lent itself towards creating more energy." Andrew Stevens interviews Andy Czezowski and Susan Carrington.


SMITHDOM REVISITED
December, 2002

"Some of the tapes Mike has, you can physically hear "Bigmouth" coming together, stopping and starting and "not like that, like this" and it's amazing. It's like being a fly on the wall listening to genius at work." HP Tinker talks to Simon Goddard, author of mighty new Smiths tome Songs That Saved Your Life, about The Smiths and their importance in the history of everything.


STILL SWINGING: AN INTERVIEW WITH VIC GODARD
November, 2002

"I first saw the Sex Pistols in 76. I don't know the exact date but it was when they played at the Marquee. They only did one gig there. They got thrown out. Dramatic stuff. Yes, that was the only reason we started up the band, seeing them. We weren't musicians and they were the only non-musicians we'd ever seen doing a gig. So it really did open the floodgates. For everyone, really." Richard Marshall interviews Vic Godard.


PUT YOUR AMPLIFIER IN MY EAR
November, 2002

"As the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs kick into 'Mystery Girl', one thing wasn't a mystery. The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs are fun and funny, sporting cute, genuine smiles that would make even a tight-assed tosser laugh." Matthew Wascovich reviews The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs in concert.


MOOG SITUATIONISTS
November, 2002

"Add (N) to X remain, on the strength of this album, our most eminent futro act and in years hence people will look back and wonder why people ever bothered with the confines of electroclash when they could have had Mod Techno." Andrew Stevens reviews Add (N) to X's new album.


TAKING DRUGS TO MAKE MUSIC TO TAKE DRUGS TO: AN INTERVIEW WITH SONIC BOOM
October, 2002

"I was influenced by films and 'ambient', or day to day, sounds. Hence, my pseudonym 'Sonic Boom'. I always was very impressed by droning washing machines, heard through the floor on those sick days in bed off school, and more so by the symphony of summer mowers in suburbia, accompanied by various planes." Andrew Stevens interviews Sonic Boom.


BASS CULTURAL VIBRATIONS
October, 2002

Greg Whitfield analyses the influence of King Tubby's Jamaican dream on the likes of Jah Shaka, Don Letts and John Lydon in London. Follow him on this spiritual dub journey Brit stylee.


EVIL HEAT: A REVIEW OF PRIMAL SCREAM'S NEW ALBUM
September, 2002

"2002 marks the 30th anniversary of the Angry Brigade trial, the show trial involving Britain's own home-grown radical terrorists, a somewhat less homicidally-inclined Baader-Meinhof Gang. It also marks Primal Scream's return with Evil Heat, after a two-year absence and on a new major label. It couldn't have come at a more opportune moment, for both the band and the record-buying public." Andrew Stevens reviews Primal Scream.


CALIFORNIA SCREAMING: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRENDAN MULLEN
July, 2002

"The Germs, as one of the L.A. punk scene's original events, became so much more threatening to the status quo, much more, I'd say, than all those relatively benign hetero-megalo rock 'n' roll heroin addicts falling downstairs at Max's and CB's at the height of mid-'70's NYC decadence. I think Saint Genet would've been tickled to orgasm by Darby & Co. That's my fantasy -- that Daddy G would be piqued by the tale of Lexicon Devil." Jim Ruland interviews Brendan Mullen, author of Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and The Germs.


LONDON'S OUTRAGE: AN INTERVIEW WITH JON SAVAGE
June, 2002

"It's not like I'm sitting here with spiked up hair or bondage strides but I do not regret any aspect of my involvement with punk at all and despise those who, in order to achieve some illusory 'adulthood', deride their adolescent ideals. I think that successful adulthood depends on the integration of youthful ideals with mature experience of the world." Andrew Gallix interviews punk historian Jon Savage, curator of the National Film Theatre's current punk season in London.


BOB DYLAN AND ME: AN INTERVIEW WITH JILL FURMANOVSKY
May, 2002

"And Dylan walked past us as we were chatting. And as he walked past I pulled out my book and gave it to him saying that I'd like him to have my book. He took it very graciously, a photography book, thank you, and he smiled and he went off with it to his Porto cabin in his Wellington boots in the mud. I thought fantastic, at least I've done that. And then he emerged a few minutes later with an unlit cigarette in his hand and he said 'Did you write me a letter?' so I said 'Yes.' He seemed to have heard of this letter. That's how I remembered it. I think he might have recognised my name because he's one of these people who knows what's going on and my name has been around for many years. And then he said 'I could do with a good photographer.' And I thought 'You certainly can.'" Richard Marshall interviews Jill Furmanovsky.


AN INTERVIEW WITH TAMRA SPIVEY
March, 2002

"There's a recognition of being open to something outside you that inspires the whole to be greater than its parts, and it's such a beautiful experience to be part of something so pure that even grizzled old bastard musicians smile when you talk about it." Kimberly Nichols talks to Tamra Spivey about music, art, and slumber party soundtracks.


IN GRIOT TIME: AN INTERVIEW WITH BANNING EYRE
February, 2002

"In 1995 Banning Eyre went to Bamako, the capital of Mali to study guitar playing with Djelimady Tounkara, a former star of the Super Rail band. His book ‘In Griot Time’ is the extraordinary account of his trip - a unique insider-view into African music. In it, Banning Eyre quite literally goes behind the curtain to reveal the triumphs and failures of the African music scene as it becomes an important player of the world music scene." Richard Marshall interviews Banning Eyre.


(HE BELONGED TO) THE BLANK GENERATION
January, 2002

"There's a black and white picture of Hell in the book that is an eloquent crash-out snap of that mixture of sexuality, glamour and mess that guys with a hard-on for death can represent." Richard Marshall reviews Richard Hell's Hot and Cold.


EVENT REPORT. JILL FURMANOVSKY’S ‘BOBQUEST’. 6TH NOVEMBER 2001
November, 2001

Furmanovsky’s pictures imagine a different language for Dylan, one that breaks free from its own history and exults in a different mix, and an alternative ‘gulsh’d’ set of possibilities. The word ‘gulsh’d’ is from John Clare who was also enclosed by fixed, traumatic and colonial forces - his editor wouldn’t let him use the word and ‘corrected’ it - he ‘corrected’ loads of things - so that Clare felt robbed of his connection to the land and his speech community. Furmanovsky modestly portrays herself as just a ‘someone’ but what happens is that this quality of being just a ‘someone’ is what she finds in her pictures of Dylan." By Richard Marshall.


AN INTERVIEW WITH BERTIE MARSHALL, PUNK LEGEND
October, 2001

Andrew Gallix had the chance to catch up with Bertie Marshall, one of the most intriguing characters from the early days of punk. It's quite clear that things haven't changed in that regard.



NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS HERE’S BUZZKUNST
January, 2001

“The event had only been announced days before. Little information had been made available, nor had demos circulated. No one knew what to expect and it silenced many who expected more of the same.” Punk legend Howard Devoto on stage with Pete Shelley for the first time in more than 20 years! Ian Greaves was there. Photographs by Jo Warner.


Music THE PURPLE HEARTS
NOVEMBER, 2000

In 1979, a Mod / Ska revival swept Britain. James Cooper hops on his scooter with The Purple Hearts.


ARE & BE
NOVEMBER, 2000

This month, Guillaume Destot reviews Reef (“They look and sound like schoolboys who've just discovered a hoard of girly magazines in some hidden, dusty drawer”) and comes to grips with Radiohead’s haunting “cataracts of sound.”



ARE & BE
OCTOBER, 2000

Guillaume Destot reviews Tommy Sims’ first solo album.

ELECTRONIC
OCTOBER, 2000

Get the party moving - James Brundage gives us a look at what's new on the electronic music scene.

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC IN REVIEW
AUGUST, 2000 - ARE & BE
"The so-called 'French touch' of Daft Punk or Air is one thing, but here is something too rarely heard of: Frenchies playing rock with lyrics in English." Guillaume Destot reviews albums by Phoenix, Hobotalk and Stevie Wonder. Eclectic or what?.

THE WIND CRIES LARRY
AUGUST, 2000 - VANGUARD
"It's been said that rock n' roll will never die ..." By Gary Archambault.

ARE & BE
JUNE, 2000 - ARE & BE
Guillaume Destot, music lover and neo-Hydropathe extraordinaire, reviews albums by Fishbone, Papas Fritas and Elliott Smith.

WES the Power TrioSON HOUSE MEETS WES THE POWER TRIO
JUNE, 2000 - TRIPPING

"Eddie Son House is reporting back to the other members of the chorus of dead blues legends. Our music. They done changed it again. But it's still going. It's still alive." Vincent Abbate has seen the old man's world-weary face before - in black and white.

THE REVENGE OF SAM KINNISON
JUNE, 2000
By Joel Jenkins "The Seattle grunge music scene was in full boom, and I spent many an evening hanging around in smoky bars, waiting for my half-hour to forty-five minutes in the spotlight."

Music - Musik Sans FrontieresPRAYING TO THE ALIENS
APRIL, 2000 - MUSIK SANS FRONTIERES

Q : Are we not men ?
A : We are Astro !

Vincent Abbate catches up with US spacepoppers Man or Astro-man? who have landed in Europe. He reviews their German gig and quizzes them about their intergalactic sound. Out of this world.

Black DiamondARE & BE
APRIL, 2000 - ARE & BE

Guillaume Destot reviews Angie Stone and Maceo Parker for all you arsesouls out there.




 
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