Belinda Carlisle blends optimism with innocence on “Big Big Love”
“I mean, I have new material out. It was just because my son ran into Dianne Warren. I was planning on retiring – and then she said come to the studio, I have some songs for you and I can’t say no because they’re so good” – said global pop star Belinda Carlisle in a...
Veteran artists returning with new music in 2023
We are almost three weeks late with this post. We typically try to publish this annual post around the 1st of the year. My sincere apologies for the delay. 2022 started off with the dark cloud of the Omicron Covid-19 variant making us all collectively question whether...
The criminally under-rated “Erotica” by Madonna turns 30
By UK-based guest blogger Eric Generic "I don't think you know what day it is...." Oh, we do. It's Wednesday, October 14th, 1992 in the UK and the first all-new Madonna album since mid-1990 is upon us.... Madonna had taken a year off before, in 1988, after a one-two...
The ABBA Voyage: Friday night and the lights are low
By guest blogger K Ramesh When ABBA Voyage premiered in London in May, I felt we were witnessing the future of music shows. Even the staid old “newspaper”, The Economist went gaga. It felt like an “iPhone moment”. Yesterday, I finally went to the show. What do I think...
Léon distills ethereal beauty from heartbreak at Brooklyn Steel
Date: June 29, 2022 Venue: Brooklyn Steel (Brooklyn - New York) As the primary DJ and curator for our 24/7 global online radio broadcast, one of my biggest sources of frustration with the modern musical mainstream is this idea that only a tiny fraction of today’s best...
Foals choose life on “Life Is Yours”
By guest blogger James Goley "Life Is Yours" marks 14 years of FOALS and their 7th album. No mean feat for one of the OG ‘NME’ crowd of the late 00’s. Where others have failed, the band seem to grow their fanbase with every release, outliving their peers who were...
Duran Duran’s “Rio” at 40 – Still showing us all she can
By guest blogger Eric Generic She was born on May 10, 1982. The second album from New Romantic pop gods, Duran Duran. Home to a trilogy of classic singles (apologies to a fourth that, um, wasn't). Her name is Rio and she turns 40 today. More than any other...
With “Two”, Dubstar have resurrected their imperial phase
In our interview with Culture Club frontman Boy George in 2013, he emphatically indicated that "Nostalgia has a limited shelf life". Bands that rose to prominence in yesteryear are aware of this reality but often either succumb to it or willingly make peace with it...
Poets Of The Fall play to their strengths on “Ghostlight”
In our 2012 article titled “Poet of the Fall prove that rock is far from dead”, we described Finnish rock band Poets Of The Fall as one of rock music’s best kept secrets – despite the fact that they have nurtured a large and ardent fanbase across the globe, and have...
a-ha proves yet again that they are a musical treasure at the Wiltern
Date: April 8, 2022 Venue: The Wiltern (Los Angeles) Narratives have the potent ability to make or break a music act. They can also do a disservice to a band by being at odds with the reality of the band. Not many music acts have been the victim of as many false...
The “Tipping Point” by Tears For Fears is thought-provoking and honest
In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Curt Smith of groundbreaking New Wave duo Tears For Fears said the following about record companies – “They want cookie-cutter acts. For us, making a record would be a money-losing proposition”. This seems to be the unfortunate...
Veteran artists returning with new music in 2022
2021 has been yet another challenging year as the world tries to grapple with the new normal with Covid19 variants repeatedly surfacing in different parts of the world and thus extinguishing any newfound optimism as communities globally try to move forward with their...
