I really appreciate your ongoing support of this little endeavour and your willingness to allow my words to land in your inbox each Wednesday. I’m a little surprised to find it still steadily growing and rumbling along nicely, nearly six months after it started. I do plan to take a bit of a summer break soon, but this week has proved ever-so-slightly too busy to be able to offer normal service. I’ve had a print deadline on top of the usual column work and I might well have been recording something for everybody’s favourite music-related podcast too. However, I’ve done the occasional rambling recommendations post previously and I figured it was time for another of those. It’s the approach I used to take to blogging back in the day and it was a search for that spirit that made me launch this in the first place.
There was another themed Saturday night from BBC2 this weekend, focusing on the untouchable genius of George Michael. I have long believed him to be one of the greatest vocalists in musical history and he was one hell of a songwriter too. Watching a rather euphoric hop around his catalogue, stretching right back to early Wham! performances, was great entertainment - even if his absence felt painfully raw once again. That and one of the London performances from his superb 25 Live tour are up on iPlayer now, while several fine documentaries are available via Paramount Plus, which offers a free trial.
While I’m not convinced that playing music videos and saying they were shown on Top Of The Pops quite justifies their place in a show called ‘George Michael At The BBC’, the programme included clips from his legendary Parkinson interview following his Beverly Hills arrest. It’s a riveting exchange and, thankfully, one that has been uploaded in full via YouTube. Just being in his company in this remote way is a treat and it helps to get under the skin of a remarkable artist and man. The ‘A Different Story’ doc on Paramount Plus helps fill in much of the rest.
I was predictably ecstatic to witness Manic Street Preachers mixing things up a little with their setlist during a festival warm-up show at Bath Forum last week. It was the twenty-somethingth time I’ve seen them and I did have a little moment during ‘Everything Must Go’ where I realised it has been twenty-six years since I first sang it back at them. I’m delighted to have had them with me for so long, but I’ve written about their merits here before.
Their support were Picture Parlour, a band who only released their first single on Monday. Some have been raising eyebrows about their connections but, put simply, they were very, very good. They’ve got stage presence, great live sound and, crucially, some rather decent songs. Martin Hall’s involvement explains how that place on the bill was secured and, whatever your spidey senses might suggest about their ascent, they were certainly in fine form.
Starting like it’s going to be ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric’, the curiously named ‘Norwegian Wood’ is a fine opening chapter. A relatively languid verse yields to a strident, emphatic mid-paced singalong chorus. The lovely little jagged guitar attack back to the verses is striking and it’s possible to pick out half a dozen bands’ DNA when you listen really carefully to the track. Based on their performance on Thursday, they’re worth keeping an eye on as there’s plenty more where this came from.
And as for that NME ‘cover’, it’s worth remembering that the site is intended to serve up lively, clickable content. Seems to have worked, eh? NME Networks flogged off their remaining print arm - Uncut and Ultimate Music Guide - to Kelsey Media last month and the online approach has definitely skewed towards even more excitable hype of late. Those shrieking pompously about the sanctity of the music press must have forgotten Melody Maker’s run of Menswear covers, the NME putting Blair, Simon Cowell and - fine by me - East 17 on the front down the years and that’s before we consider the lingering sexism at the heart of those first page choices. Are we being manipulated? Probably? How’s your Blood Records zoetrope, Assai Records obi-strip or Dinked edition splatter disc of your favourite current indie darlings? It’s the music industry, innit? Anyway, good song.
Manics fans will enjoy me moving from mentioning them to a new single from Slowdive, no doubt. ‘Kisses’ was unveiled alongside the announcement of a new album, ‘Everything Is Alive’. That’ll arrive on September 1st and this initial track suggests that they’re picking up not too far from where Slowdive 2.0 commenced with 2017’s self-titled record. Shimmering, glacial and trebly, it sounds lighter and more nimble than those songs, however. The little acoustic guitar breakdown after barely ninety seconds is lovely, a little like Beach House covering New Order.
Fancy taking a punt on something this week? Well, Greg Foat & Gigi Masin collaborating has got to be worth a try, right? Foat coordinated the project and melded his expressive jazz-leaning library music stylings with the neo-classical electronica of Masin. ‘Dolphin’ may say Made in Poland on the back, but a last-minute switch means you actually get a Pallas pressing within the gorgeous cover art. Try a bit of ‘Love Theme’ here:
The imminent pleasures of a weekend Glastonbury coverage may well prompt some extra thoughts, but I’ll not make any promises! Normal service will resume next week and hopefully I can soon tell you about the four-weeks-and-counting earworm that has been improving my life no end.
I saw Rachel Goswell's husband-and-wife Slowdive side project, The Soft Cavalry, supporting Ride in December 2019 (turned out to be my final pre-pandemic gig) in Southampton. They were magnificent and easily good enough to make me part with hard-earned cash for the LP which Rachel and Steve were good enough to sign for me.
I couldn't resist asking Rachel about Slowdive and she mentioned that the new album was imminent, even then, which even allowing for a global lockdown suggests the process might have been somewhat slower than anticipated. I cannot wait for the new one. I have really enjoyed the Soft Cavalry as a stopgap (and revisiting Mojave 3 too) but this is the whole package and I am excited for its release.
I'm a huge George Michael fan so quite enjoyed your commentary on him. I still need to watch the documentary so will definitely check it out now.