Stepping out from under the shadow of Tricky – but refusing to leave her former amour entirely behind – Martina Topley Bird has staked her own claim with one of the albums of the year. Comparisons with Billie Holiday may be flattering but, as she tells Stuart Clark, she’s too “pig-headed” to be anyone other than herself
Austrian Sia Furler’s initial impact a few years back couldn’t have been greater, coupling her work with Zero 7 with her own top ten single ‘Taken For Granted’. Then, nothing. Now with this return the chances are we might have this year’s Martina Topley Bird on our hands.
Ultra-modern twists on the singing styles of jazz, soul and blues are Topley Bird’s trademark, but her understated ease and sultry innocence are very much her own.
The band formerly known as The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have the same explosive line-up as on their previous six outings, including their last meisterwork, Plastic Fang.
I’d hate to be a Massive Attack roadie. Not only do they have four vocalists, six banks of synths, live guitars, drums and percussion to worry about, but there’s a huge ticker-taping video screen to put up and take down every bleedin’ night.
As harsh, propulsive, plangent guitar fills the auditorium, Tricky begins to rasp out the lyrics, his voice coming on like a percussive instrument. The mood is black, strangely beautiful – but frequently impenetrable too.
As cult continental rockers Deus release their fifth album, frontman Tom Barman talks about interviewing David Lynch, collaborating with Glen Hansard and hanging out with Elbow's Guy Garvey.
Beats and pieces: The much-awaited October DJ and Digital Music Academy (DDMA) will be teaching this generation’s budding DJs on Saturday/Sunday October 2nd/3rd at The Digital Hub
Roisin Dwyer catches up with electropop duo MGMT to discuss their greatest rock 'n' roll moment, Jools Holland and their growing reputation as popular music's new trouble-makers.
“I hate these questions,” cries David Holmes, DJ, re-mixer, producer, free associate, film-scorer and friend to the stars. Yet he gamely faces the pan-ish inquisition that is the hotpress mixed grill
Seven years after his last solo LP, David Holmes lost his father. That trauma, and working on the Bobby Sands-era drama Hunger, seem to have brought a new humanity to his work.
