Originally released as a mail order cassette by NME in May 1986, C86 was, for better or worse, to spawn a whole movement of alternately twee and shambling indie guitar…
Reissue Review: Primal Scream – Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll
“You can’t sing, you can’t play, you look awful,” a sneering A&R man told a hapless bunch of pop hopefuls on the other side of his desk in a fondly-remembered…
Reissue Review: Iggy Pop – Zombie Birdhouse
There are few artists whose oeuvre is quite so hit-and-miss as Iggy Pop. Pick a card, any card – which Iggy will you get? His strongest moments came when he…
Reissue Review: Booth And The Bad Angel – Booth And The Bad Angel
Angelo Badalamenti’s lush, dreamy film and TV soundtracks seduced many a leftfield musician and James’ Tim Booth was no exception. In thrall to the American composer’s succulent symphonies, he was…
Reissue Review: Heaven 17 – Bigger Than America
Having been defenestrated from Virgin Records in 1988, it took Heaven 17 eight years to get around to releasing their first independent album. By 1996, acid house and Madchester had…
Reissue Review: Electrical Language – Independent British Synth Pop 78-84
The history of UK electropop is so often reduced to a handful of big names and chart-straddling stars that rare compilations such as this 4CD set are a valuable counterbalance…
Reissue Review: A Certain Ratio – ACR:BOX
Fortieth anniversaries for post-punk outfits are coming thick and fast, with veteran Factory/Mute stalwarts A Certain Ratio the latest band to commemorate the end of their fourth decade. They do…
Reissue Review: Ash – ’94-’04: Singles Boxset
Supergrass were fond of proclaiming that they were everybody’s third-favourite Britpop band. By the same token, Ash probably rank fifth in most people’s affections. It would certainly be impossible to…
Review: Marina – Love + Fear
Marina Diamandis has been giving life a lot of thought recently, and she’s reached a number of conclusions. One is that she no longer needs the imaginary ‘Diamonds’ who’ve accompanied…
Review: Sting – My Songs
There’s something about his latest album’s title that brings to mind images of an infant Sting, wearing nappies, throwing a tantrum. “My songs!” he bawls, tossing his lute from his…