Posts Tagged British
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October 28, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 97: The Associates – “Sulk”
This one totally passed me by – I mean, obviously, I’m including it here on this list…but I mean I’d never really been aware of The Associates at all. As far as I can tell. I certainly didn’t even know about the album Sulk. And look, I like synth-pop as much as the next person…provided […]Archive
October 24, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 96: Venom – “Black Metal”
So, as per the rules of this challenge – going through the book and listening to albums I’ve never previously heard – I just checked out Black Metal by Venom. I am not disappointed that I did. But I also don’t care at all. This could sum up my mood towards a lot of the […]Archive
October 10, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 93: Haircut One Hundred – “Pelican West ”
So, the band Haircut One Hundred (or Haircut 100) totally passed me by. I really don’t know them at all. I know the name, I’ve seen it mentioned, the first two songs here felt instantly familiar – probably have heard them out and about, as part of compilations, in DJ sets, etc – but I […]Archive
October 4, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 92: Madness – “The Rise & Fall”
It was probably The Young Ones that introduced me to Madness – and madness! And when I watched them, the first few times, I was a (very) young one and I thought it was one big long series of 12 eps, not two separate sets of six eps each. So I was impressed that Madness […]Archive
September 22, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 90: The Psychedelic Furs – “Talk Talk Talk”
Terrific band The Psychedelic Furs and I thought I knew them pretty well, love the debut and particularly love their third album, Forever Now; that’s a go-to for me – Love My Way is the song, one of my all-time favourites by anyone ever, and a DJ-staple. And I had a compilation that covered a […]Archive
September 10, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 86: Heaven 17 – “Penthouse and Pavement”
Another example of why this challenge has been good for me. I know of Heaven 17 of course – I even know Temptation very well and a few others. But I have never listened to a Heaven 17 album, at least not knowingly; at least not until I finally sat down with Penthouse and Pavement […]Archive
June 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
James Rhodes: Fire On All Sides
Fire On All Sides James Rhodes Quercus James Rhodes, the classical pianist with rock’n’roll swagger, is a prodigy-level player that’s not there to please the purists but is – in his love of the music and his ability as conduit for it – far closer to being a purist than any of the snobs he […]Archive
April 25, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 411
UB40, Signing Off (1980) My dad played tapes in the car a lot when we were young – UB40 was a big deal. And he had this album – and, later, The Greatest Hits one – (I think that was my brother’s, but the whole family got a kick out of it, sure). I loved […]Archive
March 14, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
NZ Festival Writers & Readers: A C Grayling – Democracy In Crisis
A C Grayling: Democracy in Crisis Renoulf Foyer, MFC Sunday, March 11 This Writers & Readers session was a straight-up lecture by British author, philosopher, public intellectual A C Grayling. The topic Democracy in Crisis coming from his latest work, Democracy And Its Crisis. He also spoke the previous night, although I missed that on […]Archive
March 13, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Revisiting Live at Knebworth (1990)
The grounds of Knebworth House have played host to some huge rock concerts over the years. This British venue was where the re-formed Deep Purple first played in 1985. A year later it was where Queen played its final live show (with Freddie Mercury). In 1979 it was the scene for two Led Zeppelin shows, the band’s return to the UK stage after […]Archive
March 5, 2018 by Simon Sweetman