The early Genesis material is far better than the wishy-washy commercial crap the band churned out in the eighties and nineties – in my humble opinion. Genesis was one of the best progressive rock bands of the seventies. Peter Gabriel was the lead vocalist and Phil Collins was on drums (where he belonged). Gabriel left […]
Who would have thought, when Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett teamed up in the late nineties, that Gorillaz would still be around today? They themselves didn’t anticipate such longevity for their side-project. They hinted Plastic Beach would be the last Gorillaz album. One year later, The Fall was released. It was recorded over thirty two […]
The Hacker (Michel Amato) is an electronic producer from France. Inspired by Depeche Mode and early electro, he released Melodies En Sous-sol on his own Good Life label – following several 12″ singles on DJ Hell’s Gigolo label. Then he collaborated with Miss Kittin on First Album. It was good timing (right at the start […]
The fact that The Human League is still around after thirty four years is nothing short of miraculous. It has never been easy for Phil Oakey and co. When the band formed in 1977, there were three men (the fourth man joined the band in 1978). They originally called themselves The Future. Inspired by Kraftwerk, […]
Hybrid’s first album (Wide Angle) raised the bar for dance music. The Welshmen were not the first producers to combine trance and breakbeats (BT and Way Out West started doing it a few years earlier). However, with the addition of real strings and dark atmospheric effects, Hybrid improved the formula. A year later, the album […]
Total From Joy Division To New Order was released last year. Unless you absolutely must have the mediocre Hellbent (recorded in 2005) it’s pointless. Four New Order singles collections had already been released – and there are even more Joy Division compilations (which is ridiculous because Joy Division only released two albums). If you want […]
I got into Junior Boys (that sounds bad) in 2006. That was when album number two was released. So This Is Goodbye immediately reminded me of Cabaret Voltaire – on the opening track (Double Shadow). Just a minute and a half into the song, I knew I’d found something special. Count Souvenirs sounds a lot […]
Kraftwerk invented synth-pop music. In fact, the four Germans even invented some of their own instruments! Kraftwerk is also the only band in history to have a gap of seventeen years between albums, splitting up due to cycling differences. I’m getting way ahead. Kraftwerk was way ahead, when Autobahn was released in 1974. Three albums […]
LCD Soundsystem finally disbanded last year – after releasing The London Sessions. In typically unconventional style, all of the tracks were recorded in jam sessions. Even the albums have a loose and free-flowing feel to them. Between 2005 and 2010, LCD Soundsystem released three proper albums. The debut album kicks off with the unusual single, […]
John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) was the perfect choice for vocals on Leftfield’s epic Open Up. That was the track which catapulted Leftfield into the mainstream. Prior to its release in 1993, Leftfield’s Song Of Life had failed to attract too much attention (much less the first single, Not Forgotten). It took the London-based duo a […]
