New Music: Easy

           

Graham Norton, legendary Blur's guitarist released "Castle Park" his 9th., studio album and also shares the single "Easy", an adorable tune in which Coxon has been shot wandering typical English streets while playing their guitars, the akbym was recorded during the "A+E" sessions but then Coxon return to Blur and began to touring, after that, another two great projects, the WAEVE band alongside his partner Rose Elinor, so that's the reason behing this album finally saw the lights nearly 15 years after it was recorded. 

New Music: Spin

           

Johnny Marr has shared "Spin" the first single taken from his forthcoming and 5th., album "The Age Of Everything" due out October 2. Marr describes the 10 songs as the most cathartic of his entire career, written in London a developped live during his tour across USA, then recorded in Manchester to capture the joy, energy and tensions of the city, "There is a pressure in today's culture due technology, but seeing it from another perspetiva also could be a sort of possibility, the tune is pretty intense with certain reminds of Electronic. 

Books: Still In A Dream "Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock 1984-1994"

The definitive story of the slackers and shoegazers who reinvented rock. Twenty years after his acclaimed postpunk best-seller, Rip It Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds tells the tale of what happened next: the underground explosion of noisepop, shoegaze, slacker rock and grunge that reverberated through the mid-Eighties into the early Nineties.

Capturing the musical exhilaration of the era along with the alienation of youth during a period of ascendant conservative politics and glitzy mainstream pop, Still in a Dream celebrates a golden age of guitar reinvention, a second psychedelia of mind-blowing sounds pioneered by bands like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. In Britain, groups like Cocteau Twins and Slowdive escaped into shimmering dreamworlds while American underground rockers like Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement blended apathy and urgency into thrilling noise.

A propulsive and personal account from a journalist who covered this music in real time from the frontlines, Still in a Dream vividly recreates a period that was the last blast for the analogue culture of vinyl records and music papers, before the Internet changed everything. 

 

Title: Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock 1984-1994

Pages: 464

Author: Simon Reynolds

Publisher: White Rabbit

Format: Hardcover 

 
 

New Music: Whippings And Apologies (Live)

          

Sparks have announced their first full concert LP, Live on the Moon, recorded, they say, during a one-off performance at the Taruntius Crater near Mare Fecunditatis - on the moon. The 20-track album arrives 14 August via Transgressive Records, with Cate Blanchett providing intro and outro as lunar emcee. The album's first taster, "Whippings and Apologies (Live on the Moon)" – taken from their 1972 record A Woofer In Tweeter’s Clothing – is out now. According to the band – Ron and Russell Mael – the lunar concert followed an invitation after their 2025 world tour. They don't specify who invited them. We can guess NASA, or aliens. “Honoured to be the first band to perform on the moon, let alone at the beautiful Taruntius Crater. We couldn’t have imagined the lunar fan interest, with all tickets being grabbed up within an hour, Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT),” the brothers said in a statement. “Thank you, Moon!”

New Music: Concept Of Love

           

The London collective Ibibio Sound Machine has made a dizzy, cross-cultural form of party music, rooted both in disco and in the Afrobeat that frontwoman Eno Williams grew up with. Now, the collective are ready to announce Chopping Mountain, a new album that's coming later this summer. Ibibio Sound Machine recorded the follow-up to 2024's Pull The Rope at their own South London studios. After they worked with outside collaborators on their last couple of LPs, this one sees band member Max Grunhard once again acting as producer, a role he last occupied on 2019's Doko Mien. Their new single "Concept Of Love" is a dizzy, joyous, robo-funk celebration in which Eno Williams switches back and forth between the English and Ibibio languages. She says that the song "went through many different stages and ended with a soulful, electronic Afro-disco feel. 

Primicia: Otherside (live)

           

Beth Orton has shared her new song "Otherside". The acclaimed songwriter's new album "The Ground Above" represents Beth Orton's first full length endeavour in a number of years, and it's a very special release. Previewing the material at an intimate UK tour – including London’s St Pancras Old Church – Beth Orton served signal of her intent. With "Otherside," what began as a not so simple tale of sleeplessness went on to have me turning over bigger themes, those of resilience in the face of loss, what freedom means to the individual and the collective; the ability to start again and make beautiful a life when it has been torn apart. An embodiment of what it feels like to implore a loved one home, to make it through the night, or to make it through a day, to make good what we dare to dream.” the track comes with a performance clip video directed by Iain and Jane Pollard & Joseph Lynn introducing her live band in the process.

New Music: Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost

           

Kelsey Lu a singer-songwriter from Charlotte, North Carolina, has been raised with the technical precision of a classical cellist, she floats between avant-pop, R&B, and experimental classical, and after seven years of deep-diving into experimental scoring, performance art, and visual storytelling, she shares her new single, "Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost" is the heartbeat of her sophomore album, So Help Me God, a bold reminder that she’s never been one to play by the industry’s rule

New Music: Ugly

           

Manchester-based songwriter Chloe Slater has shared a new single "Ugly". The singer has offered up another astute, powerful offering that tackles social issues head-on; this time, it’s capitalism and consumerism in her crosshairs. "I wrote 'Ugly' after watching a documentary on Netflix called Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy, which looks at where away actually is when we throw things out, Chloe has said of the track, which follows her 2025 single ‘War Crimes’. “The song centres around this almost religious compulsion we have towards consumerism. Our ads are full of commandments, buy now, don't miss out, and we’re promised heaven in the form of status and wealth if we follow the right path.

In Memoriam: The Actress Who Played Mon In Alf "Ann Schedeen" Dies At 77

Anne Schedeen, the actrees who famously played Kate Tanner in "ALF," has died at 77. Her family announced her peaceful passing on Sunday, remembering her as a "force" with "whip smart humor," a "burning hatred for Trump," and deep love for family and dogs. 

 

Schedeen starred in "ALF" from 1986 to 1990. Her extensive career included guest roles on "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Emergency," "Three's Company," "Cheers" and "Murder, She Wrote." She made her final screen appearance in the 2023 reunion special "ALF on ALF." Schedeen is survived by her husband Christopher Barrett, daughter Tay, and other beloved family member. Schedeen’s death was announced by her family in a Facebook post on Sunday. She was 77.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully," the post reads. "She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of creative energy, whip smart humor, delight in her family, adoration for little dogs, burning hatred for Trump, passion for second-hand thrifting, and love for a good story. We are bereft without her. We loved her so so much, as did all who met her.

She was a force. And it is unimaginable to think about life without her in it,” the post continues. “But as she said, ‘I’m always with you.’ And she’s right. The memories, artwork, belly laughter, handmade jewelry, oil paintings, sculptures, costumes, and all around joie de vivre live on. Raise a margarita in her honor.”

Schedeen starred opposite Max Wright, who played her husband, Willie Tanner, in ALF, an acronym for Alien Life Form. Adopted by the Tanner family, ALF was a fuzzy character voiced and puppeteered by Paul Fusco, who co-created the sitcom with Tom Patchett. Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros occasionally appeared as ALF in costume when full body shots were needed. The character's full name was Gordon "ALF" Shumway.

Born Luanne Ruth Schedeen on Jan. 8, 1949, in Portland, Oregon., Anne Schedeen made her screen debut in a guest role on Lee Majors' sci-fi action series The Six Million Dollar Man in 1974. Schedeen played guest roles on a half-dozen series, including Get Christie Love!, Ironside and McCloud. She also guest-starred in three different roles over 12 episodes in the hit medical series Marcus Welby, MD, from 1974 to 1976. During the same time period, Schedeen also appeared in guest roles in six episodes of the action drama Emergency!

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Schedeen also appeared in guest roles on such TV shows as Bionic Woman, Family, Baretta and The Incredible Hulk. From 1978 to 1982, the actress appeared in various guest roles on five episodes of the hit sitcom Three’s Company.

In the 1980s, Schedeen also appeared in several more TV guest roles on such shows as Cheers, E/R, Simon & Simon, Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote. In 1984, Schedeen starred as Sarah Frank on the TV drama Paper Dolls. Schedeen appeared in all 13 episodes of the series about the modeling and cosmetic industries, which only ran for one season.

But then, her most well-remember role came from 1986 to 1990, Schedeen starred as Kate Tanner on 103 episodes over four seasons on ALF. Schedeen´s last screen appearance came in the 2023 reunion special ALF on ALF, which also featured Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett, as well as Andrea Elson and Benji Gregory, who played the Tanner children Lynn and Brian. Also featured in the special were Max Wright, who died in 2019 at age 75, and Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros, who died in 2016 at 76.

According to her family's Facebook post, she is survived by beloved friends and family including her husband of 55 years Christopher Barrett, darling daughter Tay Barrett, daughter-in-law, Hilary Flynn, sister Sarabeth Schedeen, niece Minnie Land, brother Roland ‘Tony’ Schedeen, sister in-law Julieann Schedeen, and her beloved rescue dogs Roo and Red.

News/Albums: Sparks To Release First Live Album

Sparks have announced their first full concert LP, Live on the Moon, recorded, they say, during a one-off performance at the Taruntius Crater near Mare Fecunditatis - on the moon. The 20-track album arrives 14 August via Transgressive Records, with Cate Blanchett providing intro and outro as lunar emcee.

"Honoured to be the first band to perform on the moon, let alone at the beautiful Taruntius Crater. We couldn’t have imagined the lunar fan interest, with all tickets being grabbed up within an hour, Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT)," the brothers said in a statement. "Thank you, Moon!"

They also noted Blanchett's off-stage contributions during the four-day flight to the moon. "What a riot Cate was on the mission's 4-day flight, helping us pass the time with hours of gravitational-pull jokes and the like!"

Supposedly recorded in front of a sold-out lunar crowd, the setlist spans the duo's five-decade career, from early cuts like "Beat the Clock" and "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" to more recent material such as "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte". The band's current live lineup includes guitarists Eli Pearl and Evan Weiss, bassist Max Whipple, and drummer Darren Weiss.

Back on Earth, Sparks continue a run of summer dates. Following recent performances at London's Live At Chelsea and Glasgow's Kelvingrove Bandstand, remaining 2026 shows include Blackpool Opera House (15 June), Bournemouth International Centre (17 June), Bristol Beacon (18 June) and a spot as special guests of Gorillaz at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (20 June). Festival appearances include Green Man and Rock En Seine, with additional UK dates in York and Southend-on-Sea later in August.

Sparks Live On The Moon Tracklist

“So May We Start”
“Do Things My Own Way”
“Reinforcements”
“Academy Award Performance”
“Goofing Off”
“Beat the Clock”
“Please Don't Fuck Up My World”
“Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab”
“Suburban Homeboy ("Ron Speaks" Version)”
“All You Ever Think About Is Sex”
“Drowned In A Sea Of Tears”
“JanSport Backpack”
“Music That You Can Dance To”
“When Do I Get To Sing "My Way"”
“The Number One Song In Heaven”
“This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us”
“Whippings and Apologies”
“Lord Have Mercy”
“The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte”
“All That”

New Music: Teachers

            

Ed O’ Brien’s Blue Morpho, is a record full of genres but only three radio-friendly tracks, and one of these is "Teachers", a bass-heavy samba piece painted with crisp aural shapes, compiling a crazy smorgasbord of percussion, precision, and power chords, the video has been shot by Kit Monteith.

In Memoriam: The Pop Art Icon Pioneer "David Hockney" Dies At 88

Legendary and iconic British painter "David Hockney" made his name with sunkissed visions of California and never stopped breaking barriers, going on to become one of contemporary art’s most important figures, has died aged 88.

He made his name as a pop artist during the swinging 60s and was perhaps best known for his paintings of swimming pools that helped define the Los Angeles aesthetic. Works such as A Bigger Splash and Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures) depicted hedonistic scenes of love, lust and loss taking place below the city’s sun-soaked skies.

But Hockney’s six-decade career cannot be defined by a single era. He produced perspective-shifting portraits using photo-collage, experimented with abstract landscape painting and, in later life, investigated the possibilities of creating artworks out of emerging 3D technology.

He is survived by his long-time partner and companion Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima; his great-nephew Richard, who acted as studio assistant in his last years; his brothers Philip and John; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, his publicist Erica Bolton said.

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 1937, Hockney was the fourth of five children in what he described as a "radical working-class family". His parents encouraged their son's early artistic promise. He studied art at Bradford College and sold his first painting – a portrait of his father – for £10 at the Yorkshire Artists Exhibition in 1957.

As a conscientious objector, he completed his two years of national service as a hospital orderly before enrolling at London’s Royal College of Art in 1959. He swiftly gained a reputation as a unique talent, albeit one with a rebellious streak. His refusal to paint a life drawing of a female model almost stopped him from graduating – pointedly, he submitted Life Drawing for a Diploma, which depicted a muscular male figure from an American physique magazine. Hockney also declined to write an essay required for the final examination, believing he should be assessed solely on his artworks. The RCA, aware of the talent it was fostering, bent its rules so it could award him the diploma.

It was the start of a career in which Hockney had no qualms about challenging conservative society. His 1961 painting We Two Boys Together Clinging, named after a Walt Whitman poem, was an early indicator of that. Works that followed, such as 1962's Cleaning Teeth, Early Evening (10pm) W11, with its phallic Colgate tubes and chains, would depict gay life with an honesty and openness that was almost completely at odds with a Britain in which homosexuality remained a criminal offence until 1967.

With his signature bleach-blond hair, round, thick-rimmed spectacles and cigarette dangling from his lip, Hockney became a figure on the 60s party circuit in London and the US. He partied with Andy Warhol, Ossie Clark and Dennis Hopper, earning himself a reputation as a playboy and a flâneur. Yet while he indulged in the pleasure-filled life of a drug-taking bohemian, he never lost sight of his strong Yorkshire work ethic. Even after a stroke in 2012, which temporarily impaired his speech, he continued working.

After moving to LA in the mid-60s, his more mature and restrained works garnered acclaim for their ability to transport deep and complex emotions on to the canvas. Man in Shower in Beverly Hills (1964) found the artist hitting his stride as he developed towards a more realist style. In November 2018, Hockney’s 1972 masterpiece, Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures), sold for $90.3m (£70.2m) at Christie’s, a world record for a living artist at the time. The work, inspired by Hockney’s breakup with his lover, enraptured critics, including the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones, who described it that same year as “a calm distillation of love and sorrow”.

While working on one of his LA paintings, Hockney took a series of reference photographs on a Polaroid camera and accidentally stumbled upon the next stage of his career: photocollage, or “joiners” as he would term them. Through assembling multiple photographs together, Hockney could explore his fascination with perspective. The portraits he created of his mother and the British art dealer John Kasmin exhibited a strong cubist influence that drew comparisons with his idol, Picasso.

In later years, Hockney experimented in many new areas including set and costume design for operas and ballets. Developing technology fascinated the artist: as his career evolved, his art made use of the photocopier, the fax machine, the printer and the iPad – the latter allowing him to create reams of digital paintings that he would excitedly email friends and acquaintances. But his technological interests always came back to one thing: "I'm really only interested in technology that is about pictures,” he told Interview magazine in 2013. “I’m interested in anything that makes a picture."

An avid smoker all his life, Hockney maintained that cigarettes had been beneficial to his mental health. Writing in the Guardian in 2007 he called the UK’s imminent smoking ban "the most grotesque piece of social engineering".

He had moved back to Yorkshire from Los Angeles in 2005, but in 2013 tragedy struck when his 23-year-old assistant Dominic Elliott was found dead at his Bridlington home. Elliott had been found to have consumed household drain cleaner after taking a range of recreational drugs including ecstasy and cocaine. A coroner ruled that Elliott had died as a result of misadventure. Hockney said that for a period he had considered giving up art altogether, as he was unable to draw in the wake of Elliott’s death.

Hockney is believed to have turned down a knighthood on several occasions and once declined an invitation to paint a portrait of the queen. His iconoclasm found its way into the 2001 book Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, in which he challenged much established thinking regarding how the great paintings of the past may have been created. It managed to both enrage and enrapture critics and art historians.

“I don’t reflect too much,"  “I live now. It’s always now.”

Film: The 80s Cult Classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" Turns 40

Premiered on this day back in 1986 "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" a cult classic about some fella named Ferris, and his friends Cameron and Sloane playing hooky and spending a great day in Chicago. A comedy film written, produced and directed by the legendary John Hughes.

The plot was simply: follows high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), who skips school and spends the day in downtown Chicago along with his girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) and best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck). He creatively avoids his school's dean of students Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), his resentful sister Jeannie (Jennifer Grey), and his parents. During the film, Bueller regularly breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera to explain to the audience his thoughts and techniques, and practically this was a key element on the film.

Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week and shot the film, on a minimun budget of $5.8 million, over three months in 1985. Featuring many famous Chicago landmarks including the then Sears Tower and the Art Institute of Chicago, the film was Hughes' love letter to the city: "I really wanted to capture as much of Chicago as I could. Not just in the architecture and landscape, but the spirit." Released by Paramount Pictures, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off became one of the top-grossing films of the year and was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike.

This film is perhaps the finest entry in director John Hughes'  catalog of beloved '80s teen movies, which also features "The Breakfast Club," "Sixteen Candles" and "Pretty in Pink." Yet, there was a moment when it didn't seem like Ferris Bueller, which has stood the test of time — even making it onto today — would ascend to such heights.

Hughes cleaned things up before audiences saw the finished product in 1986 and have no doubt seen many times since. The idea of it being serious, though, was not lost in the end. Comedy and drama are often two sides of the same coin and enjoy a symbiotic relationship — laughter can come from pain. Cameron, who wrestles with depression in the beginning of the movie, addresses his poor relationship with his father throughout the film, eventually deciding to confront him at the end after he destroys his dad’s prized Ferrari. As time has gone on, some people online have suggested the movie is about mental health, prompting fans to reexamine what the film means. Broderick and Ruck, though, don’t necessarily believe their view of it has transformed over time. 

"No, I still think of it the same as — I don’t think it has changed, really," Broderick says. "Not for me, either, I don’t think," Ruck says. "The thing that John was really, really good at was he gave these characters dignity. Teen comedies, so often it’s just like they're sex-crazed doofuses, and he didn't do that. He was like, No, they're real people, and they've got real fears and real desires. And he honored all that, and we knew that when we were making it.

Hughes' movies are funny, but they almost always weaved comedy in with drama and earnestness, a characteristic that is vital in the genre and apparent in "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off." Like all good comedies, the underpinnings are serious," Broderick says. "You could say it's about mental health or whatever, but he (Cameron) really is depressed at the beginning and has a very tough relationship with his father." In addition to directing the movie, Hughes, who died in 2009, wrote it, which gave him an upper hand in sharing his vision.

Ferris Bueller sits in that rarefied air where everyone (except his sister and Mr. Rooney) seems to like him. A teenager full of bravado was nothing new on TV or in movies, but the brashness of the execution of his plans was. You could make the argument that he set a blueprint for other characters who came later. Zack Morris from “Saved by the Bell” certainly comes to mind — he’s another schemer with a pretty girlfriend, takes advantage of his awkward best friend, is always dueling with his principal and, perhaps most noticeably, he breaks the fourth wall. Ferris may have indeed been an inspiration. Broderick says.

"I think there were a number of things that came after that that kind of used that same format," says Ruck, who also mentions the short-lived TV series "Parker Lewis Can't Lose."

Another “Ferris Bueller” movie, though? Broderick has previously said he and Hughes shot down the idea of doing a sequel, and maybe that was for the best. The day off would be hard to replicate, but it is definitely remembered, appreciated and longed for by moviegoers who identify with Ferris’ quest to have fun.

Forty years later, as multiple generations have grown up watching it, the question isn't What kind of a lasting impact did it have?  The question is What kind of lasting impact didn’t it have?

Books: "The Smiths: A Novella"

Intense and wildly inventive and magnificently surreal, The Smiths: A Novella recounts the impact of an unconventional pop group from Manchester on one man's life. Taking the form of a flâneuring journey through the landscape of memory, our anonymous protagonist is accompanied by the iconic French actress Carole Bouquet, who becomes his guide and interlocutor, asking about his life during the years The Smiths were together and the profound effect of their music upon him.

As the unlikely couple perambulate from the old Selfridge Hotel to West Hollywood by way of a park bench in Cavendish Square, their conversation interrogates and celebrates the joys of outlandish pop genius, the zealous dedication of fans and the cult of outsider disaffection given uproarious voice. As such, this is not a book about The Smiths but one that emerges from their music, their emotional register and their literary resonance.

Michael Bracewell's novella-cum-fairy tale is at once deeply romantic and laced with comedy - not unlike the band themselves - and perhaps (in fictional form) the most astute and celebratory portrait of The Smiths to date. 

 

Title: The Smiths: A Novella

Author: Michael Bracewell 

Pages: 128

Publisher: White Rabbit

Language: English 

Format: Hardcover 

Rocktrospectiva: The Suave And Uplifting "50" Turns 10

Released on 10 June 2016, "50" was the 7th., studio album by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, it was Astley's first studio album in more than 10 years, following Portrait (2005). In the United Kingdom, 50 became Astley's first number-one album since his 1987 debut album Whenever You Need Somebody. All songs on this album were sung, written and recorded by Astley himself. The album was made as a commencement to Astley's 50th birthday in 2016, hence the album's title and spawned the singles "Keep Singing", "Angels On My Side", & "Dance."

As a way to celebrate his 50th birthday with his first album in 11 years, A Rick Astley suit a man in his middle age that came with a vibing and refreshing record. Such changes worked-well and benefited Astley. At his 50, this album was his first set of original pop music since 2001's Keep It On, the album was the proof that Astley still has its own, the way he settled into his voice and surroundings, allowed himself to indulge in a couple of ridiculous moments on the album.

The album was earnest, rooted in American soul, and crafted to British pop specifications, definitely a formula that once brought Astley fame and still suits him well on him until today, no doubt it was a refreshing release, with well produced and well written songs, uplifting beats, inspiring lyrics, rich modern sound with powerful voice and excellent back vocals!

50 Track List:  

 

1. Keep Singing

2. Angels On My Side 

3. Wish Away

4. This Old House

5. Pieces

6. God Says/Dance

7. I Like The Sun

8. Somebody Loves Me

9. Let It Rain

10. Pray With Me

11. Coming Home Tonight

12. Let It Be Tonight 

Rocktrospectiva: The Wicked And Gorgeous "Superstition" Turns 35

Released on 10 June 1991 "Superstition" was the 10th., studio album by the English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, the album spawned three singles, the lead, "Kiss Them for Me", gave the band their first top 40 Billboard Hot 100 entry in the United States, peaking at No. 23, with the album peaking at No. 65 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band widened their musical influences with the arrival of musician Talvin Singh, who played tablas on the songs "Kiss Them for Me" and "Silver Waterfalls", also "Fear (Of The Unknown)" & "Shadowtime".

The band wrote the songs in a residential studio in Wales. The album was then recorded with producer Stephen Hague in London at RAK Studios. Hague used techniques that Siouxsie Sioux did not approve of later, such as computer-based production. She stated: "There are still songs I like on it, like 'Kiss Them for Me' and 'Drifter', but we were trying a different kind of working style, a different kind of discipline, during which I really built a strong case against computers."

The band were confident, on a roll, and ready to give their music a fresh approach, hoping to refine the concept as much as they had on Peepshow and Boomerang. Stephen Hague, producer of synthpop albums by OMD, New Order, and The Communards, approached them and expressed great interest in working with them.  

Although Siouxsie would admit years later that the mix wasn't "wicked enough," she initially thought so, and after meeting with him to confirm, they accepted, from a formal standpoint, it was a brilliant move, because after months of hiatus, the raw material they had consisted of demos that Steven Severin had recorded at home, using technology that was new to him. "Some songs started when Severin was getting the hang of the computer," Budgie explained in 1991, "and he would bring us music sequences, which in turn was a fantastic way to start working with a new producer, because they could communicate quickly by transferring data from one computer to another. That was one of the directions we went in."  

Although they recorded some things live and part of the repertoire emerged from improvisations among the band members, the technological aspect dominated the recording sessions and, ultimately, the aesthetic result of the sound. Superstition has its defenders, but it is usually the predictable target of the fiercest criticism in the Siouxsie and the Banshees catalog, being less conditioned by a dominant musical trend than in the pre-internet era and more accustomed to listening to everything at any time, it's less appealing to dismiss Superstition—once again—as bland and tasteless than to contextualize it and appreciate its strengths. If there was something wrong on the album, if there was one, wasn't taking the direction chosen by Stephen Hague, but rather not being able to fully trust it and discarding the more rock-oriented songs that couldn't thrive with this approach. 

Besides being the most uneven of the bunch in terms of composition, formulaic simplicity like "Cry", "Got To Get Up", and "Silly Thing" dilutes all their intended power into a sound so docile and artificial that it even sounds childish. Superstition has another, completely different and more fortunate facet, proof that, stripped of its shortcomings, the most beautiful piece for many in the repertoire, "Softly", had an undeniable air of the compositions that Angelo Badalamenti wrote for David Lynch's muse, with Siouxsie exhaling the notes, giving them the shape of striped snow, which only manages to sway on the breeze of a glacial keyboard and cello, surrounding her without ever reaching the ground. Excellent dreamlike nuances also adorned "Drifter" – which unfolded in a more somber atmosphere – and the anguished nocturnal feel of  "Little Sister", while the melodic weight makes "The Ghost In You" was so melancholic and beautiful, "Shadowtime" a crystalline layered pop, displaying an elegant impetus tune, and the classic "Kiss Them For Me."

Reviews were mixed at the time, althought praised the production and textures especially on single "Kiss Them For Me", the doomy "Drifter", and the Twin Peaks dreamscape sound on "Softly", a wicked gorgeous and glamorous album, that covered obsession, phobia, perspective and emotional tyranny.

 

Superstition Track List:  

 

1. Kiss Them For Me

2. Fear ( Of The Unknown)

3. Cry

4. Drifter

5. Little Sister

6. Shadowtime

7. Silly Thing

8. Got To Get Up

9. Silver Waterfalls

10. Softly

11. The Ghost In You

It Came From The Nineties: Hoy hace 35 Años "Show De Fuegos Artificiales"

Hoy hace 35 años una famosa cadena de comida rápida celebraba su 20 años de existencia, y para darle las gracias a su clientela, decidieron tirar la casa por la ventana, y publicitaron un evento que con el tiempo se quedo establecido como una tradición. 

 

La velada incluía un concierto de un cantante Mexicano muy famoso por esos años, tendría su presentación en el desaparecido "Estadio Del Ejercito" y a las 10 de la noche daría comienzo el más espectacular e inolvidable "Show De Luces Artificiales" tal y como lo publicitaban traído de los Estados Unidos, para agradecer la preferencia local. 

 

El show tuvo lugar en el "Campo de Marte"  y llego a gustar tanto que la cadena de comida rápida decidió repetir el mismo show para las celebraciones navideñas de ese mismo año, comenzando una tradición que se viene realizando desde entonces para las Navidades y que solía celebrarse en el fin de semana previo a la Navidad, luego cambio a inicios de ese mes, hasta llegar a celebrarse a mediados de Noviembre desde hace ya una década, curiosamente su origen fue para los 20 años de existencia de la cadena que hoy esta cumpliendo 55  y no para celebrar la Navidad como muchos lo creen. 

 

El anuncio fue publicado en el ya desaparecido semanario Gente Joven que venía incluido en el diario Prensa Libre los días Sábados, en esa edición de hace 35 años, el top 40 oficial para Guatemala tenía como No. 1 a los malogrados The Real Milli Vanilli con "Keep On Running" banda que se promovió para enmendar la polémica con Milli Vanilli un año antes, el podio era completado por Extreme y su balada "More Than Words" y el proyecto Italiano Black Box con "Strike It Up", además de un artículo sobre la cantante juvenil Debbie Gibson.

Books: Truly Gifted Kids: A Book About A Band Called Prefab Sprout

 

A celebration of a much-cherished pop group and a long-overdue companion to their unique musical output. 

The Rolling Stone Magazine called him ‘the last pop genius’, while Richard Osman claimed he is ‘the most unfairly overlooked lyricist of his generation’. Talking about some guy named Paddy McAloon which is undoubtedly one of the great songwriters of the last half-century. As the leader of Prefab Sprout, he's overseen ten heavily praised albums.

 

Including the classic Steve McQueen, along with a trail of hit singles, among them ‘When Love Breaks Down’ and ‘The King of Rock ’n’ Roll’. His songs have been sung by Kylie and Cher. Others were written for Madonna, Sinatra and Streisand.

 

But despite the commercial success and abundant critical acclaim, McAloon remains an enigmatic figure within the bright, brash world of pop. The semi-reclusive Prefab Sprout have seldom followed paths trod by others. They rarely toured. They took their time to make records. They always danced to their own drum.

 

As a lifelong fan of the band, acclaimed writer Nige Tassell attempts to illuminate the mystery, to uncloak the enigma. Truly Gifted Kids is the deepest dive ever made into McAloon’s craft, exploring the motivations and methods of a man who, 13 years since the band’s last album, still obsessively marries melody to words on a daily basis, in the process building up an enormous stockpile of songs that no one will hear. Occasionally esoteric and freeform, and always original. 

 

Truly Gifted Kids pulls together stories, interviews, analysis, history and travelogue to fashion a fulsome portrait of the band, with its chief creative force at the very centre. During his investigations, Tassell both acts as an ad-hoc roadie for solo Sprout Martin McAloon and goes undercover in search of pop music’s most famous motorbike.

 

At its beating, romantic heart, Truly Gifted Kids is a celebration of a much-cherished pop group, a long-overdue companion to their wonderful music. The book will be available on 13 August 2026.

 

Title: Truly Gifted Kids: A Book About A Band Called Prefab Sprout

Author: Nige Tassell

Pages: 400

Publisher: New Modern

Format: Hardcover

Rocktrospectiva: The Beautiful And Magical "Dreamland" Turns 30

Released on 7 June 1996 "Dreamland" was the debut studio album by Robert Miles, the album earned critical acclaim in Europe, where it was a hit, and was also released in the United States about a month later, with a new track sung by Maria Nayler, "One and One." This new track became very popular and was later released as a single in the US and Germany, the album was also supported by two hit singles "Children" and "Fable".

 

Italian pianist Roberto Concina then turned DJ aka  Robert Miles scored a massive international hit with his wonderful, dreamy dance cut "Children" taken from this debut album Dreamland. Practically, the album  sounded as if it were one continuous song or set of beats with similar chord progressions, stretched over an hour, and this was practically its essence, sonic dreamscape so engaging and danceable. 

 

Something like a two in a one, danceable and chill out album, the sort of record that used to take the listener into another dimension and forget about everything, tunes full of melancholy, blissful, simplicity and smoothness, amongst its highlight you can count also "Fable" another cool track with the winning formula as "Children", using ehtereal female chant vocals with danceable tunes. 

 

Curiously, the formula is the same around track three, but when listener arrived by track four it can realize that this album was really only one long, continuous song, check track 5 "In My Dreams," servesd to turn things around, utilizing different break beats and a key change towards the song's finish. That is followed by the album's true highlight, for many "One and One," a gorgeous, touching, dreamy song, featuring tender vocals by Maria Naylar, which also became a massive international hit, and remains one of the most sincere dance songs of its era. 

 

"Princess of Light" came next and returned to the previous formula, but still managed to remain intoxicating. "In the Dawn" featured more straight-up, trance-like beats, and the album ends with the original version of "Children" and the album's closer, "Red Zone." possesed a undeniably dreamlike, intoxicating quality, which can be appreciated by young and old, and, if nothing else.

 

For several critics, this album was the peak of electronic music at the mid of the 90s., it had rhythm grooves, ethereal sound, groovy beats everything needed to take you into a another world back then.

 

Dreamland Track List: 

 

1. Children (Dream version)

2. Favle (Message version)

3. Fantasya

4. Landscape

5. In My Dreams

6. Princess Of light

7. Fable (Dream version)

8. In The Dawn

9. Children (Original version)

10. Red Zone

New Music: It Only Takes One Lion

           

Belle and Sebastian wrote Scotland anthem after dramatic World Cup qualifier, Stuart Murdoch had watched his side’s playoff victory over Denmark through his fingers before deciding to write his own anthem to a team he has followed for more than 50 years. "Most people recognised instantly the next day that they’d witnessed the most important Scottish game ever. "It Only Takes One Lion" starts by hinting at the travails of the team ("You gave us hope, you gave us despair"), turns into a bombastic four-on-the-floor singalong with self-deprecating lyrics ("This is Scotland, where everybody knows you start with nothing"), and nods to the Tartan Army ("you can join an army that’s for peace").  The song’s danceable beat was inspired by the team’s current anthem, Baccara’s 1977 hit, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, which has been blasted out at Hampden Park after recent Scotland victories. “I like the thought that they just might play It Only Takes One Lion after a game, that’s what I fantasise about,” Murdoch says. The song, which the band debuted as part of an encore at an April gig at the Royal Albert Hall and is out on 2 June, coincides with Scotland preparing to play in their first World Cup tournament since 1998.

Rocktrospectiva: The Gorgeous "Let's Get Out Of This Country" Turns 20

Released on 6 June 2006 "Let's Get Out Of This Country" was the 3rd., studio album by the Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura. It was recorded in Sweden with the producer Jari Haapalainen, and arranged by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John.

The album addresses themes of heartbreak, escapism and boredom. It received positive reviews from music critics, who noted that the band had distinguished themselves from Belle and Sebastian. Let's Get Out of This Country yielded four singles, "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken", "Let's Get Out Of This Country", "If Looks Could Kill", & "Tears For Affairs."

Composed by singer Tracyanne Campbell, after the release of the 2003 release of Underachievers Please Try Harder, vocalist John Henderson left Camera Obscura in 2004. The band did not want to self-produce another record, and Stephen McRobbie of The Pastels recommended Jari Haapalainen, guitarist for The Bear Quartet. The band practiced for several weeks before travelling to work with Haapalainen for two weeks in Stockholm. Accustomed to recording over the course of multiple sessions, the band decided to take a more disciplined approach. They recorded 15 songs and selected 10 for the album, all of which were written by Tracyanne Campbell. Because of the short time in which the album was recorded, the final tracks closely resemble the original live recordings.

Let's Get Out of This Country marked a transition for the band from acoustic sounds to more upbeat rock. The music was influenced by the Motown Sound, Lee Hazlewood's collaborations with Nancy Sinatra and David Lynch's soundtracks. Haapalainen helped the band to modernize their sound and avoid the pastiche present in some of their earlier efforts.

Campbell, who was dealing with a breakup and the death of her grandmother, wrote many of the songs to be about heartbreak and lovelessness. The lyrics also deal with escapism and feelings of loneliness. Campbell named the American country singers Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette as influences. The album's title was chosen to reflect what she recalled as "being quite bored with myself and everything in my life, wanting to do something new and give myself a bit of a shake

The album received positive reviews from music critics, several called the album as a gorgeous pop album, to say the least. The band prove that there's such a thing as brawny twee…[The album] is indie pop but that's baroque but not self-indulgent, finally the band had become "comfortable with its craft" and that its stronger songwriting was reflected in the album's "leisurely melodic lines".

Camera Obscura had previously been compared to Belle and Sebastian, another Glaswegian band, because of similarities in the bands' style of "melancholy, grandiose retro-styled" indie pop, and reviewers noted a new contrast between the two acts, finally this album found "Camera Obscura stepping out from the considerable shadow cast by Stuart Murdoch and pals, brimming with a newfound confidence and a bolder, more ambitious sonic palette"

Let's Get Out Of This Country Track List:  

 

1. Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken

2. Tears For Affairs

3. Come Back Margaret

4. Dory Previn

5. The False Contender

6. Let's Get Out Of This Country

7. Country Mile

8. If Looks Could Kill

9. I Need All The Friends I Can Get

10. Razzle Dazzle Rose 

Rocktrospectiva: The Cult-Classic "Tigermilk" Turns 30

Released on 6 June 1996 "Tigermilk" was the debut studio album from Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian. Originally given a limited release of 1,000 copies by Electric Honey, the album was subsequently re-released in 1999 by Jeepster Records.

 

The album was named after an instrumental that did not end up on the album — it was later performed on Belle and Sebastian's early tours. All of the songs on the album were written by Stuart Murdoch between 1993 and 1996, and originally performed solo on the Glasgow open mic circuit. Though he performs on the album, trumpet player Mick Cooke was not then an official member of the band. 

 

Going back to 1994, Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David met on a programme for unemployed musicians called Beatbox, funded by Stow College in Glasgow, Scotland. David offered to play bass on Murdoch's demos despite having little experience with the instrument. The recordings caught the attention of Richard Colburn, who shared a flat with David at the time and was attending a music business course at Stow, run by Alan Rankine of the Associates. The end goal of the course was to take two songs from the class and record and release them through the college's in-house record label Electric Honey. Colburn provided a demo tape Murdoch and David had recorded titled Rhode Island (later released as the Dog on Wheels EP). The college was extremely impressed and chose to support Murdoch's goal in creating a full album as opposed to a single. 

 

In early 1996, Murdoch and David reportedly enlisted the first four musicians they came across at the city's Grosvenor Café to play on the record, settling on a line-up of Murdoch, David, guitarist Stevie Jackson, drummer Richard Colburn, keyboardist Chris Geddes, and cellist Isobel Campbell. Their initial performances took places at venues such as church crypts, libraries, and house parties. Murdoch recalls that the group was still quite loose knit at the time Tigermilk was recorded and that the full ensemble had not played together before getting into the studio. Many of the supporting instrument parts were shaped as the group recorded. After recording, though, "we were a group, no question."The band subsequently spent three days recording, finishing with an album's worth of songs.

 

The album has been considered a sort of a gentle masterpiece, the opening track "The State I Am In", bhad a slickly loose instrumentation, harmonies which haunt the fringe of fear, and a wealth of emotionally crippled reflection. Nine of the ten songs featured on the album were recorded live over a three-day period, followed by two days of mixing. The only track not recorded during these sessions, "Electronic Renaissance", originated as a demo Murdoch made at Beatbox using Cubase, and was mastered directly from a cassette recording Murdoch had made of the song being played on a local radio station, hence its lo-fidelity sound. Due to its stylistic difference from the other songs, its inclusion on the album initially proved controversial.

 

Electric Honey issued Tigermilk in mid-1996, initially limited to 1,000 copies, which sold out in months. The band received praise from BBC radio DJs John Peel and Mark Radcliffe, subsequently earning them a radio session for the latter DJ in July 1996. Colburn said "then record companies and fans started calling, and we thought 'My God, what have we done?'" They soon signed to the London-based label Jeepster Records. And finally Tigermilk was reissued in 1999; by this point, copies of the original were being sold for $600.

 

The album's cover photograph was taken by Murdoch and features his then-girlfriend Joanne Kenney. She also appeared on the cover of the Dog on Wheels EP. Tigermilk was well-received upon its initial release, and earned a glowing review from Scottish culture magazine The List

 

Tigermilk Track List: 

 

1. The State I Am In 

2. Expectations

3. She's Losing It

4. You're Just A Baby

5. Electronic Renaissance

6. I Could Be Dreaming

7. We Rule The School

8. My Wandering Days Are Over

9. I Don't Love Anyone

10. Mary Jo.

Rocktrospectiva: The Massive "Invisible Touch" Turns 40

Released on 6 June 1986 "Invisible Touch" was the 13th., studio album by the English rock band Genesis, the band reconvened in October 1985 to write and record Invisible Touch with engineer and producer Hugh Padgham. As with their previous album, it was written entirely through group improvisations and no material developed prior to recording was used. Invisible Touch was a worldwide success and reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 3 on the US Billboard 200. It remains the band's highest selling album after it was certified multi-platinum for over 1.2 million copies sold in the UK and 6 million sold in the US. 

Genesis became the first band and foreign act to have five singles from one album reach the top five on the US Billboard Hot 100, with "Invisible Touch" being their first and only song to reach No. 1 on the charts, others singles released were "Throwing It All Away", "In Too Deep", "Land Of Confusion" & "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight."

The group followed this with a period of inactivity to allow each member to continue their respective solo careers; Mike Rutherford formed his group Mike + The Mechanics and had success with their debut album, Tony Banks concentrated on film scores and released Soundtracks (1986), and Phil Collins released his third solo album No Jacket Required (1985), which was a major worldwide commercial hit. In the summer of 1985, towards the end of his solo tour, Collins confirmed that Genesis had agreed to start work on a new album that October. This put an end to a false announcement that aired on BBC Radio 1 suggesting the three had split. Rutherford felt that the break affected the group's musical style: "We had done so much work outside the band, it seemed we had gone through a lot more musical changes, although the development is largely unconscious."

Invisible Touch was recorded between October 1985 and February 1986 at The Farm, the band's private recording studio in Chiddingfold, Surrey. They were joined by engineer and producer Hugh Padgham, who had worked with the band since Abacab (1981) and produced the album with the group, with Paul Gommersall as assistant engineer.

The group approached the writing sessions for Invisible Touch with a greater sense of confidence, as they had now become a big live act in the US and had reached a new level of commercial success worldwide. As with Genesis, they entered the studio with no preconceived ideas and developed songs from recorded jams and improvisations, a process Collins compared to as "close to jazz". The group considered their strongest songs were those arranged in this way, so they repeated this approach for Invisible Touch. 

The album features Collins playing on a Simmons electronic drum kit. In order to capture more of a sound from the Simmons kit rather than feeding it directly into the mixing desk, Padgham also fed the tracks through a mixer and into a PA system before playing it "very, very loud" in the studio. Padgham later said that the Simmons sounded "a bit thin and toneless." Collins also used a Roland Pad-8, an electronic pad that triggers percussion sounds from the MIDI instruments used on the album, including a Roland TR-707 drum machine with Latin-inspired samples and Collins' own E-mu Emulator.

The lyrics to a track were written after the music was recorded, and were penned by a single member as the group considered the individual had a strong enough direction to carry the song's message through. Collins wrote the words for "Invisible Touch", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", and "In Too Deep"; Rutherford wrote for "Land of Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away"; Banks wrote "Domino" and "Anything She Does".

The group arranged a greater number of songs for Invisible Touch than before, which required additional time to select which tracks to release. This was not the case with Genesis, where strong enough ideas were more scarce; Banks said that "if a song was around, we put it on"

The album opened with the smash "Invisible Touch" originated as the band were working on "The Last Domino", the second part of "Domino". During the session Rutherford began to play an improvised guitar riff with an added echo effect, to which Collins replied with the off-the-cuff lyric, "She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah". This led to Collins writing the lyrics to the song, with his improvised line becoming its chorus hook. The group wanted to keep the song simple in structure, but thought an eight-bar bridge with a key change and using a sequenced keyboard part complemented the arrangement. Banks produced eight different versions in step time, some ideas for which he had thought of ahead of time while others were a rough improvisation. The chosen version was the "most random" one. The basis for "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" came about from Banks, who spent some time improvising with different keyboard sounds over a rhythm Collins and Rutherford were playing.  Similar to that of "Invisible Touch", Collins then came out with the word "monkey" and explored it vocally which led to the song's working title to be "Monkey/Zulu". The rest of the lyrics were then written around the word.

The lyrics to "Land of Confusion" were written by Rutherford, and they were the last set of words written for the album. Rutherford was behind schedule to get the lyrics to the song finished, but thought the "time was right" for him to write a protest song. The lyrics to "In Too Deep" were written by Collins after he was approached to write a song for the soundtrack of the British crime drama film Mona Lisa (1986). He wrote the chorus during some spare time at a hotel in Sydney, Australia, but he was unable to write verses for it until the band were recording the song in the studio. They had difficulty in writing a chorus, so Collins suggested the part that he had written.

Banks gained inspiration for "Anything She Does" from pictures of scantily clad women the band would cut out and place on the wall of their recording studio. It features a brass sound that Banks sampled from "some tape" that he had; he clarified that the brass was not from the Phenix Horns, the brass section for Earth, Wind and Fire that were previously used on Abacab. "Domino" is a track split into two sections—"In the Glow of the Night" and "The Last Domino". Banks wrote the lyrics based on the idea that politicians often fail to think through their ideas and the consequences of their actions. Rutherford thinks "Domino" is "one of the best things" the band has done. He was aware that due to the popularity of MTV and the increased pressure to deliver hit singles, people would often forget about their longer songs like "Domino" in favor of the shorter, more commercial hits.

"Throwing It All Away" developed from a guitar riff from Rutherford, who also wrote the lyrics. Collins described it as like a "one-note samba". It was a heavy guitar song in its original form, with Collins "drumming in a John Bonham style". As the chorus developed, its mood changed to that of a softer one "matched by the single love-song lyric". "The Brazilian" is an instrumental based around a sample that Banks had recorded on his E-mu Emulator playing throughout the track, which he achieved by sticking a knife onto the keyboard. He realised he could have done it electronically, but the knife "looks better that way."

Three additional songs - "Do the Neurotic," "Feeding The Fire," and "I'd Rather Be You" - were recorded during the album's sessions but were cut from the album's final track selection. They were subsequently released as B-sides across the five singles released from the album. 

The album received a mixed reaction from music critics upon release by stating that "every tune is carefully pruned so that each flourish delivers not an instrumental epiphany but a solid hook. Much of the credit for this belongs to Tony Banks, whose synth style has never seemed more appropriate; it's his keyboards that set the mood for 'In the Glow of the Night' and maintain the tension in 'Tonight, Tonight, Tonight'. Others were not enthusiast and stated the album "could easily pass as a Collins album. His thin voice and familiar MOR&B songwriting dominate, with only occasional evidence of input from Rutherford and Banks". He also suggested the record "was made to provide material for the next season of Miami Vice". Althought things have changed in the years to come, originally the album has perceived as a bit of a Phil Collins solo album disguised as a Genesis album ... Genesis' poppiest album, a sleek, streamlined affair built on electronic percussion and dressed in synths" and he said "the heavy emphasis on pop tunes does serve the singer, not the band". 

 

Invisible Touch Track List:  

 

1. Invisible Touch

2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

3. Land Of Confusion

4. In Too Deep

5. Anything She Does

6. Domino: In The Glow Of The Night

                 The Last Domino

7. Throwing It All Away

8. The Brazilian