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October 18, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Secret Behind Mr Dompling’s Secret: My First Music Book
Mr Dompling’s Secret was one of my favourite books when I was young. It told the story of a classical cellist, keen on Mozart. It had themes of overcoming fears, of being comfortable in your own skin – and of course there was music. Lots of music. It was my introduction to classical music – […]Archive
October 18, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Legendary Hoax
I only have one album by The Legendary Marvin Pontiac – but given his self-proclaimed “Legendary” status it is probably the right one to have: Greatest Hits. It kicks off with I’m A Doggy and from there the, er, “hits” (I’d never heard any of them before I bought the album) roll on. In fact someone […]Archive
October 16, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
One Meat – Two Interviews: Interviewing Meat Loaf Twice in One Month
Interview 1: It was going to be so easy. I was chatting with Meat Loaf. He had a new album to talk about, sure, and we would do that. But surely we’d also get to Bat Out Of Hell – love it or hate it, the album is huge. And then there’s the acting work, […]Archive
October 15, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
A Love Supreme: John Coltrane’s Life-Changing Sound
My brother arrived home from university with The Stardust Sessions and A Love Supreme. These two albums were life-changing. That’s such a cliché but it’s a cliché for a reason – it’s something that does happen, that has happened often. I carried on playing sport, going to school. In so many ways life was the […]Archive
October 14, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The DJ Shadow Masterpiece: Endtroducing…
Fifteen years ago DJ Shadow released his debut long-player, Endtroducing… It is a cut’n’paste instrumental hip-hop album; it effectively created that subgenre, all but creating an actual subculture. It wasn’t music from another world – it was music from so many other worlds. I heard the album for the first time in 1997 – I […]Archive
October 12, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Daniel Johnston’s World: Alone With The Magic of that Music
A few years back I went to a film festival screening of the documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It was an incredible experience sitting through this film as part of the festival; a sold-out theatre. There were hoots of laughter and there were tears. After, the theatre’s foyer was abuzz – many people were […]Archive
October 12, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Jaco Pastorius by Jaco Pastorius: One of My Favourite Albums
Here’s one of my favourite albums – I don’t want to say of all time, because that feels a bit trite, but I’ve certainly loved this album since I first heard it, nearly 20 years ago – and nearly 20 years after it was released. Jaco Pastorius’ eponymous debut arrived in 1976. Bobby Colomby, the […]Archive
October 11, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Rolling With The Stones: A Lifelong Journey
Growing up the first two Rolling Stones albums I heard were Undercover and Dirty Work. Now, these won’t ever figure highly on lists of favourite Rolling Stones records, but I have a connection to them because, as is often the case with music, the first album/s you hear from a significant artist will remain a […]Archive
October 10, 2016 by Simon Sweetman