1972: Don Bradshaw-Leather - Distance Between Us by Jonathan Dean on 05-24-2012 Don Bradshaw-Leather was born 1948 in Essex, the son of middle-class Jewish parents. According to Bradshaw-Leather’s sister, “[Don] grew with and into music more by genetic destiny than environmental consequence.” During the long, dark hangover of the Summer of Love, the classically-trained prodigy approached CBS Records with demo recordings. Though it seems incredible in hindsight, a forward-thinking A&R; executive must have seen a potential revenue stream in Bradshaw-Leather’s avant-classical noise. The artist was given a generous advance to record an album. DBL’s sister fills in the ...

By Gumshoe on May 23 2012 Several possible connections popped and fizzed like mentos blasted from a two-liter upon first hearing Celebration Noire . Several of them are extremely muddled; luckily, the whole shebang-bang comes together via tact not often found in music this sludgy and random. Extreme-instrumental, is what I call SVR’s flow; do I hear a golem black-metal shriek? Yep, that’s not normally something I’d expect to hear stuck in the middle of a traffic jam of casio beatz, wood block, insistent sweeping string swathes that seems to almost dive-bomb the arrangement (albeit in a peaceful ...

Nauseating splatters of discoball speckle the floors of Madame Jojo's as fairy lights add yet more glisten beyond an arsenal of elaborate equipment. 'Tis a setting as picturesque as any opaque, barely starry and scarcely black night draped over the capital although this evening's White Heat rundown is a little less idyllic. It's an odd combination of flavours and one you assume few would have the necessarily acquired taste for. For having Jana Hunter's eruditely wistful Baltimore clan Lower Dens slopped on the same plate as Porcelain Raft and Trust  is a little like the sonic ...

Photography by Tim Boddy I was somewhere in the midst of Camden, on the edge of a lock, when the rum began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded, maybe we should go and see some folk music…" and suddenly there was a terrible roar all around and a wall of noise, swooping and screeching and diving, was blaring forth a nightmare post-punk ruckus. And a voice was screaming, "Holy Jesus! Who are these goddamn animals?" These animals were Toronto-based trio Odonis Odonis , a guttural temple punch that may have not been the most ...

Visual accompaniment by Nic Hamilton for «IWAAD» off Actress‘ new masterpiece R.I.P. Hint: Actress plays at Südpol in Lucerne on June 09 w/ Laurel Halo, Bi-tuner, Dans La Visage and others. Further information here. Can’t wait.

David Bowie--"Big Brother" (mp3)   I've pretty much convinced myself that Mel Kiper is Big Brother, the face of the government.  That may seem excessive for America's #1 expert on how the NFL draft will play out each year.  But think about it. His looming, pseudo-benevolent visage on the television almost anywhere we go, his sudden appearance and then instant credibility, his forecasts and prognostications, our inability to remember what he might have said in previous years and whether any of that turned out to be true, the sheer security of his pronouncements, how his hair is styled ...

Born April 22, 1937 Where does one begin to talk about Jack Nicholson?  His off-screen persona is just as famous as his on-screen one.  He’s made many films over his long and storied career and he’s played some wacky, wonderful and unforgettable characters.  When I think of him, I don’t think first of any particular role he’s played or about a certain film he’s been in.  Rather, I picture him sitting courtside at a Lakers game, wearing dark shades and hollering at the players, cheering and smiling from ear-to-ear.  Good ‘ol smiling Jack.  That’s ...

Visage was founded in the late 70s by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan who were also the folk behind new wave club nights at Blitz nightclub in Great Queen Street, London. Initially, the band was composed of Strange, Egan and Midge Ure . Ure and Egan began working with Strange during their last days with the band The Rich Kids , with Strange himself being at a loose end after leaving the new wave band The Photons . The trio recorded a demo which included a cover of the Zager and Evans hit In the Year 2525 . The band's line-up was completed ...

Continuing with our twin series (LOL!), we bring you a mix from Hollie Hensman and Derek George, better known as Brusque Twins. The Montréal duo has a fine new EP called A Voice in the Night out now on the awesome Visage Musique. You can get it from their Bandcamp, or order a physical copy here. The [...]

Mark Stewart is big. Literally. In size, scale and persona the man is HUGE. When his prop forward bulk looms through the stage door, he seems to trundle with him enormous baggage – this is, after all, the man who propelled The Pop Group through entire genres, leaving new possibilities, new disciplines in their wake. Recent album ‘The Politics Of Envy’ struggled with the legend. Fusing distorted beats with punk rock guitars and political ire, Mark Stewart produced something every bit as contrarian as his post-punk heyday. A difficult listen, the album seems to come to vivid life when confronted with ...

Why Gosford DIY rapper $hmyl may be Australia’s answer to Odd Future’s Tyler The Creator – not that we really wanted one, writes SHAUN PRESCOTT . DIY Aussie hip-hop only goes viral when it's deemed tasteless, or stupid, or hilarious, by the middlebrow folk who share it on their preferred social networks. RAED, that Kingsgrove crew, and Bangs (though Bangs is amazing and fuck the haters) demonstrate that the strongest emotion a bedroom-oriented hip-hop project in Australia can hope for is outright hostility. And let's face it: RAED is punching above his weight, and the Kingsgrove blokes – can ...

John McGeoch was my favourite post-punk, new wave guitarist. He played with five really great bands - Magazine, Visage, Siouxsie  & The Banshees, Armoury Show and PiL (and yes, I regard Visage as a great band as I will shortly demonstrate on this very blog!!) Born in 1955 in Greenock, a shipbuilding town on the banks of the Clyde some 20-odd miles west of Glasgow, he moved to Manchester as an art student in 1975 and soon found himself sharing a flat with Malcolm Garrett whose superb designs would find prominence with Buzzcocks and later in many others. Through this connection he got to know Howard Devoto and he became a founding member of Magazine. He died suddenly in March 2004.  His obituary in The Guardian, penned by Dave Simpson, recalled a tremendous talent:- John McGeoch, one of the most innovative rock guitarists of the past 30 years, has died in his sleep aged 48. The Scotsman - once described by the Smiths' drummer Mike Joyce as "one of the true good guys" - unleashed his unmistakable, dextrous guitar sounds within some of the most revered bands of the post-punk era. He was in Howard Devoto's massively influential Magazine; he spent an enormously productive three years in Siouxsie and the Banshees before going on to join ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon in PIL. While McGeoch's back catalogue is matched by few British guitarists of his generation, his influence continues to reverberate. A host of young bands - from The Strokes to The Rapture - owes something to the myriad of sounds McGeoch pioneered. Equally, he has been credited as an inspiration by U2 and most of the world's biggest rock bands ...

Last night Bruce Springsteen tweeted a video of "American Skin (41 Shots)" and a link to the tracks tour debut in Tampa on March 23. The pushing eight-minutes video is a delight for Boss fans - shot with close-ups of Springteen's sweat dripping visage and finger loving guitar playing, it qualifies as a well delivered option for those who couldn't make the live performance.

By Jspicer on Mar 28 2012 The mixtape, in its literal form, seems eerily obsolete. This website holds onto its visage like grim death, a point of pride among our legion. Those doomed to a world post-mixtape will exist in a sad world, one without hope springing eternal or the discovery of a band that would otherwise never hit our radar. It’s this inspirational well that The Lemon Tape is drawn from. Hell, just look at the hippie, happy cover art. It’s sunshine all over this cassette, coming straight from the unicorn and rainbow capital, Montreal. Shit! Quebec ...

The Quietus reports on the news that Mayhem guitarist/founder Øystein Aarseth aka Euronymous is in the lead among possible famous dead people to to be honored by having their visage plastered on the tail of a Norwegian jumbojet: http://thequietus.com/articles/08346-oystein-aarseth-euronymous-mayhem-norwegian-airlines Also, a big tip-of-the-hat must go to Svein Egil Hatlevik (Zweizz) who was the person who originally nominated Øystein as a candidate. Vote here: http://www.halehelter.no/