Billy Bragg | Tooth & Nail Cooking Vinyl
There are few musicians that I take time to listen , really listen , to the poetry that makes the song . Billy Bragg is one of those few .
From his earl y days as a punk rocker on Talking with the Taxman ( 1986 ) to the folk / r ock Wilco collaboration Mermaid Avenue ( 1998 ), Bragg has al ways sung with passion and purpose .
Along comes his la test release , Tooth & Nail , after a fiv e year hiatus , and the w ords pour out with the same Billy Bragg conviction . This time it ’ s less about politics and mor e about love and ageing . The melancholy tempo of the trac ks perfectly match the 55-y ear-old ’ s wavery voice as he con vincingly paints pictures of homelessness , greed , and lost love .
If you ’ re into the likes of Dylan , Young , Waits , or Guthrie (“ I Ain ’ t Got No Home ” is a Guthrie cover ), then you are going to love Bragg ’ s latest book of poetry , er , I mean album . – Glen Ingram
Andy Stott | Luxury Problems Modern Love
Andy Stott is a DJ and dub techno producer from Manchester , England . He ’ s dark and quirky , preferring to craft strange soundscapes and minimalist mood music than bash out dancefloor fillers . That isn ’ t to say his tunes are strictly ambient . His la te- 2012 release is an oppr essive and menacing album , but it does come with a rh ythm section . These aren ’ t your typical 4 / 4 house beats , though . Instead , his sound is reminiscent of Josh Wink and Plastikman .
Some of the alb um ’ s tracks feature vocal samples of Stott ’ s old piano teac her Alison Skidmore , an opera tic vocalist . These come acr oss like a beautiful but sinister industr ial interpretation of opera .
This is lush , wellcomposed and complex music that matches the mood of being awake far too long , prowling foreign city streets in the dark . Don ’ t go into this album depressed — you might not come out the other side . – Matt J . Simmons
[ sic ] magazine travels
That ’ s right , we ’ re doing wha t airline magazines do , except we don ’ t have CICK planes to help us . ( But I bet [ sic ] would make a wicked paper air plane .) Above , we took a jaunt to Calgary and below , we found a reader in a Montr eal café . Sure , our roots are in Smither s , but we ’ re spreading our sic-ness elsewhere . If you ’ re road tripping this spring / summer , you ’ ll likely see us infiltrating coffee shops and book stores all over northern BC .
When you next fl y into the blue yonder , snap a shot of yourself with our little rag and send it to us . Who knows , maybe it ’ ll win you something , like a prize . editor @ smithersradio . com .
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