Author Archive
March 24, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Kenny Barron / Dave Holland Trio Featuring Jonathan Blake: Without Deception
Kenny Barron / Dave Holland Trio Featuring Jonathan Blake Without Deception Dare2 Records No deception here whatsoever – it’s there in the title/s – three players absolutely giving their all making this a fantastic recording. Both Barron (piano) and Holland (bass) are masters of their respective crafts, both great band leaders too and living legends; […]
March 23, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Eric Weissberg
Eric Weissberg has died. He was 80 and is at peace now having wrestled with dementia across the last half decade. Even if you don’t think you know the work of Eric Weissberg – you do. You know it because of an iconic movie and the score that he helped to create. Weissberg was a […]
March 23, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Above All To Thy Own Self Be True
There was this busker in Wellington in the 1990s they called ‘Kenny’ on account of the fact that he always played The Gambler and had a cowboy hat and a frosted grin – he was like a wax figure from the flea-motel version of a celebrity-lookalike museum and his leather jacket stank of bourbon. He […]
March 23, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 145
Terry Snyder and the All Stars, Persuasive Percussion (1960) I am a bit of a sucker for these sorts of things – credited to Terry Snyder and the All Stars this is great, apparently, for stereo-testing. Those albums that are for audiophiles and hi-fi snobs – lol. All good fun. I can’t resist when I […]
March 22, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers has died. Known to the world as – he was sometimes the butt of jokes, more often celebrated (rightly) as a legendary singer and performer. He was a bit of a songwriter too, but his greatest skill was knowing what songs worked best – his greatest hits all covers; he celebrated the […]
March 22, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Early James: Singing For My Supper
Early James Singing For My Supper Easy Eye Sound / Nonesuch Early James – born Frederick James Mullis Jr. – is 26 years old but he has this grizzled-but-chiseled voice that is equal parts Mark Lanegan and Nils Lofgren. That might seem a strange mix – but these are strange times. And it works. It […]
March 22, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Getting Ready For Freddy
A Nightmare On Elm Street was the one that cured me from getting scared – or worried at all – by horror films. The entire franchise, I mean. Not just the first film. But certainly the first four are the ones I adore. Well, number two is a bit shit (sorry!) But it gets a […]
March 22, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Above The Shadows: DVD
Above The Shadows Director: Claudia Myers HIPZEE / Myriad Pictures / Boundary Stone Films / Bondit Media Capital / Gravitas Ventures What a hard sell this must have been – a romantic sci-fi drama that features, to varying degrees, MMA, Jim Gaffigan, Megan Fox and a cover and cover design that suggests the whole thing […]
March 21, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela: Rejoice
Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela Rejoice World Circuit / BMG This is the first posthumous release since Hugh Masekela’s passing – and the first and only time these two African masters of music collaborated. It was long talked about to get Masekela (trumpet) and Allen (drums) together and the bulk of this session took place […]
March 21, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: The Whole of His Middle-Class Guilt Slipped Out Through The Hole in The Middle-Class Net
I’m not sure I can take much more of this, he said. His takeaway Tupperware overflowing.
March 20, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 146
The Beatles, The Essential Beatles (1972) I didn’t grow up with this odd-af compilation – but I know a lot of people that did. I did grow up with The Beatles though – I sometimes wonder why anyone wouldn’t. And the compilation I grew up with (as well as the albums in general) was Beatles […]
March 20, 2020 by Simon Sweetman