Ruckzug to Neu!’s “Pastoral Psychedelicism”

 “Boy, to put Neu! into words –  the drummer was playing in a way that when you listened to it, allowed your thoughts to flow; allowed emotions to come from within and occupy the active parts of the mind, I thought. It allowed beauty to get there. The guy had somehow found a way to free himself from the tyranny of stupid of blues, rock – of all conventions that I’d ever heard. Some sort of a pastoral psychedelicism.”

Michael Rother on the “Hallogallo 2010” Tour © Jon Pareles

Is there any higher praise than Iggy Pop, describing Neu!’s achievements and influence while opening a coconut with an electric drill?

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In the Dark Places

“Our young men hid with guns,

in the dirt and in the dark places”

An unforgettably affecting and haunting song from PJ Harvey’s masterpiece “Let England Shake”, Mercury Prize Winner, 2011.

Gangstagrass – the lovechild of hip-hop & bluegrass?

It shouldn’t work, it couldn’t work, but against all the Laws of Music, it does. ‘It’ being the unique new sound created by Gangstagrass, a New York-based collective who wrote the stunning track used in the title sequence of ‘Justified’, a brilliant new TV series based on an Elmore Leonard short story.

Screamadelica – Worshipping at the Church of Primal Scream

Kensington Olympia London, 26^th November 2010

As Primal Scream raced toward track no. 7 on their 1991 album ‘Screamadelica’, (being played in its entirety and in order) I witnessed more than just another gig. It was a religious event for believers and atheists alike.