All Things Considered

Roger Eagle
Posted by Simon Lewin

Passion-fuelled blogging at its best... Caught By The River have been running a series of blogs dedicated to the memory of club promoter Roger Eagle who ran a nightclub in Liverpool called Eric's. Opened in 1976, I probably became aware of Eric's first when they were hosting gigs by Teardrop Explodes, Echo & The Bunnymen etc. If you want to find out more - and for the chance of downloading a couple of commemorative goodies (for a couple of days only) head to Caught By The River.

Posted by Simon Lewin on May 6th, 2009

Friendly Fires
Posted by Kate Sullivan

I'm a sucker for cowbells and (some) boy bands and last night I enjoyed a little bit of both.

Friendly Fires - four lads from St Albans - played at Norwich's UEA following sets from two American bands tipped for great success, Boy Crisis and Hockey (yes, more boy bands).

Friendly Fires make a cool mix of pop and rave (nu-rave?), lots of percussion and heavy drums. Their music reminds me of the excellent LCD Soundsystem - both are full of energy and attitude but Friendly Fires win the dance accolade with some damn fine uninhibited shape shifting from the talented lead singer, Ed McFarlane.

Posted by Kate Sullivan on April 30th, 2009

Neil Cowley Trio – live dates
Posted by Simon Lewin

The Neil Cowley Trio have been steadily announcing a series of worldwide dates. Just before they head off to the US there's a chance to catch the trio in London at Ronnie Scott's. And those booking tickets for the gig on Thursday 4th June might be eligible for a free digital download EP. Full details on the band's website. (Photo: Matt Crossick).

Posted by Simon Lewin on April 13th, 2009

Devon Sproule
Posted by Simon Lewin

A musical interlude. Devon Sproule plays 'Old Virginia Block' on Jools Holland. She appears at the Shepherds Bush Empire on Thursday 14th May.

Posted by Simon Lewin on April 8th, 2009

British Sea Power
Posted by Simon Lewin

Picked up on this via our friends at Caught By The River. British Sea Power have provided a soundtrack for the 1934 'Man of Aran' which will be released via Rough Trade and screened in London on the 23rd at the British Film Institute.

Posted by Simon Lewin on April 4th, 2009

Barney Bubbles
Posted by Simon Lewin

I remember Dad having a couple of the variations of this Ian Dury album - printed on a series of different wallpapers.

"Reasons To Be Cheerful" by Paul Gorman celebrates the work of graphic designer Barney Bubbles.

Here's an extract of a review by Alice Rawsthorn from the New York Times:

"After years of scraping by on a pittance from designing record covers for indie labels, Barney Bubbles had turned 40 and needed to make some money. He did the rounds of the big London record companies, only to be told by several executives that they had met with younger designers who were passing off his work as their own.

Shameful though that was, it was not entirely surprising. Shy, introspective and fragile, Barney Bubbles shunned publicity and seldom signed his designs. On the rare occasions that he did, it was mostly under an alias. He credited himself on one record sleeve by drawing a dog, and cited his tax code on another. When the magazine The Face asked him for a portrait to illustrate the only interview he ever did, in 1981, he gave them fragments of different photographs."

 

Posted by Simon Lewin on February 24th, 2009

What a Feeling…
Posted by Kate Sullivan

If, like me, you’re a fan of Mitchell and Webb, The Peep Show and watching celebrities dance (I know there are lots of you out there), you too are bound to have a chuckle at this clip of the shameless and talented mover that is Robert Webb.

Here he is performing ‘What a Feeling’ from the 1983 hit film Flashdance aired on the BBC 1 show ‘Let's Dance for Comic Relief' on Saturday.

Posted by Kate Sullivan on February 23rd, 2009

Kind of Blue
Posted by Simon Lewin

Picked up a copy of the 50th Anniversary release of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue at Rough Trade the other day. Two CD set plus DVD documentary and live set. Recommended.

Posted by Simon Lewin on February 22nd, 2009

Doves
Posted by Simon Lewin

New Doves album out very soon and UK tour dates announced. See you at Norwich.

Posted by Simon Lewin on February 20th, 2009

Caught By The River
Posted by Simon Lewin

I'm intrigued. Our friends over at Caught By The River has something up their sleeves - a free gift for subscribers to their newsletters. A downloadable compilation album no less, due to be sent out on Wednesday.

Music plays a big part at this fishing website (...that's not just about fishing), so I'll be looking out for my newsletter on Wednesday. There's still time to sign-up - just head for the box on the right hand side of their site.

Posted by Simon Lewin on February 10th, 2009