ALBUM: John Fairhurst – Band
In popular music time is nearly always against you. Most genres lend themselves to younger musicians. The apolitical/anti-political sentiments of the punk movement would have sounded lame and childish if they’d been sung by OAPs (though The Sex Pistol’s are immature regardless), and Westlife would never count legions of screaming, braindead female fans (and Wayne Rooney) if they were older – surely even they know that their music isn’t up... Read More
SINGLE: Moulettes – Horses For Hearses
Debt Records are stirring up some serious shit – that was my conclusion from their open night a few months back. An exciting label I had only seen peripherally, took centre stage (literally and metaphorically) with a stalk and a walk that left an indelible impression on my psyche. But these guys are performance artists, and fundamentally so. Many of those on stage had the look and appeal of thespians making experimental crossovers into music. No... Read More
ALBUM: Monkey Poet – Welcome to the UK
Comedian Dough Stanhope once said “Babies are like poems – they’re beautiful… to their creators.” I’m not sure whether the ‘Monkey Poet’ [Matt Panesh] would call what he does on stage ‘beautiful’ – after all, it’s noisy, angry, challenging and unconventional. In all fairness, I think he’d be the first to admit that it’s positively ugly at times. But that’s life – and life is what Monkey Poet’s act is about. His... Read More
