American Recordings

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March 19, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Making American Recordings

Johnny Cash and his guitar in a room, with the ghosts of the men he used to be. That’s the way to make new history. Take the last quarter century and put it in the bin. Make the song the thing. Make it the only thing. Let the song ring out its truth. Let the […]

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August 20, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Kate Tempest: The Book of Traps and Lessons

Kate Tempest The Book of Traps and Lessons American Recordings/UMG Kate Tempest has been dazzling audiences with both words for the page and words meant for a stage – via volumes of poetry, plays, a novel and albums – and most often there’s been a rage to her voice that is palpable. She delivered one of the finest shows […]

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May 22, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Buckle Up: Ten Important Country Albums In My Life of Listening

I started this thing a while ago where I decided I was going to name ten albums important to me (and important for me) in a particular musical genre. I started with hip-hop (see here). And then I decided to do my list of seminal and sentimental metal albums (see here). And most recently it […]

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March 9, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Songs Sung Blue: Everybody Knows One…

People love Johnny Cash’s version of the Nine Inch Nails song, Hurt because of the timing; that video, his wife had died – then Johnny died shortly after. Complications resulting from a broken heart. It’s a good song, a good version. But the original is better. I know I’m not alone in thinking that – […]