LTW newsletter 72
Welcome Warriors,
I'm just taking a quick break from my ‘Do You Believe In the Power of Rock n Roll’ tour so I can get this column to you!
Rain dodging in the UK and avoiding the biblical weather where it seems to have rained forever, I have spent the last couple of days hopping onto Noah’s creaking ark and set sail across the new oceans from Pocklington in Yorkshire to Buxton and then back to my 8th floor flat in Manchester - rejoicing to the angry god that I live high enough to avoid the bad tempered floods that are drip drip dripping this way in this new very wet world.
Somehow, in the endless murky moisture, the spring season is upon us, and the venues are busy. The UK is making lots of great noise and as ever, Manchester is bursting at the seams with more venues than ever and a big programme of bands playing that our trusty crew are documenting, not just here in the rainiest of rainy cities bit across the UK.
The big story this week was that the former members of The Fall have finally got control over their back catalogue to try and salvage it from the mass and mess of rereleases. The first offering will be the classic ten-inch of ‘Slates’. It’s great to see the band members getting the spotlight on them as they were so often overshadowed by the ‘granny and her bongos’ jibes when the Fall was always much more than just the former charismatic late frontman. The glorious and huge back catalogue was crying out for a good curation, and finally, here it is.
https://louderthanwar.com/former-members-of-the-fall-announce-the-release-of-slates-live-ep/
Fellow some time Mancunian long termers James slipped out another new album and ‘Yummy’ is yet another testament to the band’s creative longevity. James is like the ghost band of the Manchester thing. Perhaps because they may have formed here but moved away a long time ago, they never get mentioned in despatches, yet they are constantly one of the biggest bands to come out of the city’s post-punk wars. They have also never lost their muse and the new album sees them further moving forward without ever losing site of what they do so well.
https://louderthanwar.com/james-yummy-album-review-album-of-the-week/
The first festival in the city this year was the annual Manchester Punk Festival, which underlined yet again just how vibrant and youthful that scene is, with several city centre venues bursting at the seams with raucous, loud and speedy bands. Punk by right should have died decades ago, but the scene remains as strong as ever, and what the festival is great at is platforming many of these bands and being perhaps the best barometer of the vibrant healthiness of the next generation of that scene.
https://louderthanwar.com/manchester-punk-festival-2024-festival-review/
We were sorry to hear of the passing of the drummer extraordinaire, Keith LeBlanc, whose groundbreaking rhythms was a profound influence and also of Ultravox bassist, Chris Cross. Both musician's decades of service will be remembered for a long time.
https://louderthanwar.com/keith-leblanc-rip/ (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)
https://louderthanwar.com/chris-cross-ultravox-dies-at-71/
It’s always a delight to get a new offering from Carol Hodges - the keyboard player and singer from many of the current Steve Ignorant and Crass projects. The multi talented Carol’s new single is from her upcoming autumn album and is the heaviest thing she has ever done, musically, it should mark her transition from the cult underground to the mainstream, says Ged Babey.
https://louderthanwar.com/carol-hodge-manoeuvres-video-and-single-review/
Amy Britton reviews Chaos, the debut album from riot grrrl-infused trio The Baby Seals, a fun and furious takedown of modern misogyny.
https://louderthanwar.com/the-baby-seals-chaos-album-review/
In deep space time is meaningless and may not even exist. This seems to the interzone that Hawkwind exist in. Suspended in permanent suspension living for ever and releasing endless albums. We caught up with their newest adventure here…
A new book from James Christie (AKA Mick), ‘The dark chronicles the punk rock years’ takes us through the ups and downs of his experiences in the UK punk scene of the late 80s to mid-noughties. Thankfully, detailing more ups than downs, his style makes for great reading, more like chatting to a mate down the pub than reading a book. Nathan Brown gets transported back in time.
https://louderthanwar.com/the-dark-chronicles-the-punk-rock-years-1988-2006-music-racism-and-snogging-birds-by-james-christie-book-review/
Paloma Faith returns for two nights at the Bridgewater Hall, promoting her dark yet sassy heartbreak album to her devoted fanbase, all following along to see where this emotional journey takes her. MK Bennett dances away the heartache.
https://louderthanwar.com/paloma-faith-bridgewater-hall-manchester-live-review/
J Mascis, the Dinosaur legend, popped into Gorilla in Manchester and played a great show of rarities-packed solo set that stripped his songs down from the volume overload and exposed their intricate melodic beauty and introspective nature.
https://louderthanwar.com/j-mascis-gorilla-manchester-live-review/
Tallinn Music Week in Estonia was always built around the positive and unifying vision of its founder, Helen Sildna. Her art idealism has been a driving force throughout the 16 editions of the event and has helped Estonia become one of the best countries in Europe – a high tech artful glimpse into a modern world beyond the alpha male raging of modern politics. Where does it stand in 2024 - John Robb was there to find out.
https://louderthanwar.com/tallinn-music-week-2024-live-review-can-art-and-culture-make-a-difference-in-a-world-falling-apart-at-the-seams/
