The Goon Sax, live in Brighton (a partial tribute to Chris Cornell)

BRIGHTON KOMEDIA:

I have never felt very comfortable with my body.

More great songs. And albums. From 2016.

Not to be confused with the previous post.

My albums. And songs. Of 2016

I sat in a convivial pub the other night as around me convivial sorts chattered and laughed. I could barely hear a word. Every so often, the sound of what appeared to be a band tuning up threatened to break down even that little of my personal space. I do not need, not REQUIRE an excess of noise. I love music but not when it no longer sounds like music. The first few in this list are walk-homes, and have been played in any number of situations – on the train, on the train, in a car, late at night, for comfort, for company, for challenge, for conversation. Sometimes, even my family has heard them. The rest fade into silence, or a default Anticipation Is So Much Better category where my imagining of their sound is always comforting than the sound itself (assuming I have heard it). Some of these are here because I wholeheartedly approve of them. Some are here as a nod to my lost community. Some are even here because they make me happy. If you still require a rating system, then using the one patented by Scott Creney several years back all of these rate One (out of One). I have provided links to where I wrote about the music in question, if applicable.

Biggest disappointment? Easy. Dexys.

star ratings in music reviews (0/*****)

I was sent the following questions from a music journalism student at Huddersfield Uni. I thought I would share my answers with you.

Giving me a million reasons; what I listen to when I hear a new album

I try to never focus too hard, first listen.

The greatest performance

“Go on, cry cry, your tears won’t change a thing”.

10 Bob Dylan songs you should die before you hear

You win. Again. All you bastards with your linear narratives. All you male bastards, writing entire worlds out of existence.

Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize for Literature ; some facts

Bob Dylan winning a Nobel Prize for Literature says nothing about the quality of Dylan’s work and everything about the age, ethnicity and gender of the Nobel Prize for Literature judges.

I want to write about Tough Tits ; no fucks given and none taken

I recall stories of Earth early on.

My Guardian (Aus) editor never wrote back. An appreciation of Melbourne band Terry

My Guardian (Aus) editor never wrote back. This is what I wrote.

R.I.P Eleanor Barooshian. So sorry you were never afforded the respect you deserved

Too angry to type properly. The Cake have given me countless hours of enjoyment, and to see Eleanor and her ladies dismissed so casually, and with such gendered bias…

turn the amps up! ; some words on Together the People, day 1

We’ve been in the garden, enjoying the sounds of Together the People wafting up to us from Preston Park.

10 alternative titles for the new Primal Scream album

Chaosmosis suggests a little too much spontaneity, a little too much rock’n’roll freedom for the 11th album from what is essentially 2016’s answer to the worldweary nostalgia of The Soup Dragons, without any decent tunes, or beats. Or ideas. Or visuals. Or vocals. Or production. 

song of the day 6. frazey ford

That time of night again. Another grey day survived, no judos. Time for one final trawl through the Facebook feed.

nuw misoc

I listened to them so you don’t have to – 3. The 1975

Shit year for music. Well-named then. 

I listened to them so you don’t have to – 2. Elbow

Seems like enough people reacted to the first entry in this series that I can justify a second entry. 

I listened to them so you don’t have to – 1. The Doors

Conventional wisdom has it that distance makes the heart grow fonder. 

An insta-reaction to The New Yorker’s article on the role of the music critic in the age of the ‘insta release’

Here is the article.

I admire Wendy James greatly for this…

Not however for the way she still likes to parade her breasts. (Hey! I have nothing against Wendy James’ breasts. In fact, I think it kinda cool the way she remains unashamed of her sexuality. Carry on this way, she could be the next Dr Who.)

Kendrick Lamar: New Album First Listen

Here is the track-listing. Exciting, huh?

A rejoinder to Noisey’s entirely pointless ‘is the album review dead’ article

Damn it. I’ve given the game away in the heading.

Here’s what I done tonight. Watching Hinds and an indie boy band in Brighton.

The last draft I wrote here was for a dead person.

Rock and roll “knowledge” versus clear sexism. Which side are you on?

I am not interested in whether a couple of old dudes turned up to a young dude’s party, and got refused entry. Shit happens.

tips for conducting a successful interview

More thanks to folk on Facebook: