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Posts Tagged Damon Albarn

Archive

August 26, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

My New EBook: Selected Interviews (Vol. 1)

I’ve just published my new e-book – a selection of some of my favourite interviews. There are new essays and context-notes around each interview and the range of subjects takes in not just musicians but two pro-wrestlers, a filmmaker and a comedian. There are 15 conversations documented from living legends (Joan Baez, Ry Cooder, Mavis […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Amazon, Author, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Cassandra Wilson, Comedian, Comic, Damon Albarn, Drummers You Just Can't Beat, e-book, ebook, Filmmaker, George Clinton, I'm Calling You From The Edge Of The World...Are You There?, I'm Calling You From The Edge Of The World...Are You There? : Selected Interviews From New Zealand (Vol. 1), Interviews, Jeff Beck, Joan Baez, John Waters, Kindle, Mavis Staples, Movie, Music, My New Ebook, My New EBook: Selected Interviews (Vol. 1), Pro-Wrestling, Ric Flair, Rob Schneider, Ry Cooder, Sananda Maitreya, Selected Interviews, Selected Interviews From New Zealand, Simon Sweetman, Sonny Rollins, Steve Vai, Terence Trent D'arby, Todd Rundgren, Vol. 1, Writing ·

Archive

May 1, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Tony Allen

Reports are coming in that Tony Allen has died. He was just shy of his 80th birthday and had remained very active in music across the last decade; in fact he was super prolific – with a diverse range of collaborations across jazz, pop and funk music. But even if he had stopped playing 40 […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Africa, Afrobeat, Damon Albarn, Drummer, Drumming, Drums, Eulogy, Fela Kuti, Nigeria, R.I.P., R.I.P. Tony Allen, Rocket Juice and The Moon, The Good The Bad And The Queen, Tony Allen ·

Archive

September 5, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 183: Nathan Haines

Welcome to episode 183 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved […]
Posted in Blog, Podcasts · Tagged Acast, Apple Podcasts, Damon Albarn, Goldie, iTunes, Jamiroquai, Jazz, La Petite Chocolat, Marlena Shaw, Nathan Haines, OMC, Podbeam, Podcast, Sax, Saxophone, Shift Left, Spotify, Sweetman Podcast, Sweetman Podcast # 183, Sweetman Podcast # 183: Nathan Haines, Sweetman Podcast: Nathan Haines, T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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January 17, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

RNZ Feature: Damon Albarn – A Life In Notes

I’m usually on RNZ once a month to have a chat about some new albums. But now and then I present features on the show too. Most recently I got to talk about George Harrison’s music for almost a whole hour! And then the team behind the summer programming asked me along to chat about Damon […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 2019, A Life In Notes, Blur, Damon Albarn, Damon Albarn – A Life In Notes, Everyday Robots, Feature, Gorillaz, https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/summer-days/audio/2018678333/damon-albarn-a-life-in-notes, January 14, Mali Music, Monday, Monkey, Morning, Morning Show, Music, RNZ, RNZ Feature, RNZ Feature: Damon Albarn – A Life In Notes, Rocket Juice and The Moon, Summer, Summer Times, The Good The Bad And The Queen ·

Archive

April 24, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Brett Anderson: Coal Black Mornings

Coal Black Mornings Brett Anderson Little, Brown [This review originally appeared at The Spinoff] We are drawn, so often, to music memoirs for the clichés of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. The very best ones, however, ignore these tenets. Think Patti Smith’s Just Kids or Bob Dylan’s Chronicles. They also exist for both the mouth-breathing, moisty-palmed […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Bob Dylan, Book Review, Brett Anderson, Brett Anderson: Coal Black Mornings, Britpop, Chronicles, Coal Black Mornings, Damon Albarn, Dog Man Star, https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/05-04-2018/book-of-the-week-he-sells-heart-he-sells-meat/, Just Kids, Little Brown, Memoir, Night Thoughts, Patti Smith, Spinoff, Suede, The Spinoff, This review originally appeared at The Spinoff, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

Archive

April 6, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Five Songs For Friday: # 11 – Five Favourite Cover Versions

Many years back – a decade ago at least, I reckon, the editor of the then-Real Groove magazine asked me to compile a list of five favourite cover versions; he never ended up using it but wrote back to tell me he thought my list was weird but cool. I liked that. You hardly ever […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged #11, Alone Again Or, Back In The High Life, Calexico, Cover, Cover Versions, Damon Albarn, Five Favourite Cover Versions, Five Songs For Friday, Five Songs For Friday: # 11, Five Songs For Friday: # 11 – Five Favourite Cover Versions, FM, Gin & Juice, Joe Cocker, John Darnielle, Love, Nathan Haines, novelty cover, Snoop Dogg, Steely Dan, Steve Winwood, The Beatles, The Gourds, The Mountain Goats, Warren Zevon, With A Little Help From My Friends ·

Archive

January 17, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 591

Gorillaz, Gorillaz (2001) I remember the song Clint Eastwood and loving it straight away. (And I’ve never got sick of it). But I wasn’t straight away sold on Gorillaz. See, I wasn’t at all a Blur fan and I wasn’t that into Damon Albarn. Wasn’t sure if he was any sort of real deal, or […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 2001, Blur, Clint Eastwood, Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, Interview, LP, Ravenous, Record, The Vinyl Countdown # 591, Think Tank, Tomorrow Comes Today, Vinyl ·

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November 24, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 604

Blur, The Story of a Charmless Man [Single] (1996) I was never that much of a Blur fan – not at the time. My interest in their music started after, when Damon Albarn started doing (more) interesting things outside of the band. I then went back and listened to the music of Blur through that […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1996, A-side, B-side, Blur, Brit-Pop, Charmless Man, Damon Albarn, LP, Record, Single, The Horrors, The Story of a Charmless Man, The Vinyl Countdown # 604, Trainspotting, Vinyl ·

Archive

January 9, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Africa Express: Presents Terry Riley’s In C Mali

Africa Express Presents Terry Riley’s In C Mali Transgressive Records It’s been fifty years since Terry Riley’s magical/important/influential In C and here we have a fresh spin on it via Africa Express’ recreation/tribute/rendition. It takes the concept, the mood, the mode and places it in an African context – or places an African context around […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Africa, Africa Express, Africa Express Presents:, Andre De Ridder, Brian Eno, Damon Albarn, In C, In C Mali, Mali, Minimalism, Nick Zinner, Terry Riley, Terry Riley's In C Mali, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, World Music ·

Archive

November 14, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Tony Allen: Film of Life

Tony Allen Film of Life Jazz Village If you already know Tony Allen’s work – as master African drummer behind Fela Kuti, co-creator of Afrobeat, then you won’t be surprised to know that he’s still soldiering on and, at 74, making music as good as anything he’s offered in the past. But if you’ve heard […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Damon Albarn, Fela Kuti, Film of Life, Manu Dibango, Tony Allen ·

Archive

November 12, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Stubs: # 18 – Gorillaz, Auckland, 2010

I had to go up to Auckland for Gorillaz – had to, as in wanted to, because, you see, I had a really good interview with Damon Albarn. So good, that The Guardian tried to pass it off as their own work pretty much. And it went all around the world quoted in various places […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 2010, Auckland, Auckland Airport, Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, Koru, Koru Lounge, Stubs: # 18 – Gorillaz ·

Archive

July 31, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

V/A: Africa Express Presents Maison Des Jeunes

Various Artists Africa Express Presents: Maison Des Jeunes Transgressive Records Damon Albarn hasn’t hit it out of the park with every project he’s been involved in since Blur but it’s pretty close – the strike-rate is impressive and here, with Maison Des Jeunes Albarn overseas/spearheads an album that was put together after a week-long trip […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Africa, Africa Express, Africa Express Presents: Maison Des Jeunes, Album Review, Brian Eno, Compilation, Damon Albarn, David Maclean, Django Django, Ghostpoet, Maison Des Jeunes, Mali, Nick Zinner, Transgressive Records, Two Inch Punch, V/A, Various Artists ·
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