So Much For Love By Slow Down Tallahassee Slow down Tallahassee’s debut album has successfully taken 50’s and 60’s boy/girl bubblegum pop influences and transformed them into something much more meaningful than stylised teenage dreams
June 2008,Music review, with guest reviewers , Riot Becki,(ex-Pipettes) Laura Trouble(Screaming Ballerinas), Penny Broadhurst, Vote Showpony,Lily Rae, Luke Taylor (Hemme Fatale, Hot Puppies), Linda Hollywood (Havana Guns) Hosted By Dogwood and Andy Von Pip. Tunes reviewed include MGMT “Electric Feel”, Portished “The Rip”, “Never Gonna Give You Up” The Rick Rollerz, Foxboro Hotubs “Mother Mary” And “Wanderlust” By Bjork…It’s Hilarious !
Legendary Lush guitarist Emma Anderson is interviewed by housewives choice, Andy Von Pip.
“thing is people think Spinal Tap is funny but not really indicative of how it is to be in a band – people think it’s exaggerated . The fact of the matter is… Spinal Tap is actually brilliant because it’s not that far from the truth!”
Poppy and the Jezebels are from Birmingham , but don’t let that put you off, it’s not all Benny, Miss Diane and the Crossroads Motel in Brum these days. These lasses are indeed spring chickens and I wondered how their parents feel about them stepping into the insidious world of rock n roll, a place where wild men like Phillip Schofield lurk in the shadows waiting to corrupt people with their wholesome ideals. One of their dads did say that drugs can be a big problem, as you never know if the girls will share them or not.…(He was of course joking). Indeed the old maxim if your good enough your old enough must be applied, and the band undoubtedly have great talent. They exude a sort of sullen teenage cool, as if they’ve just bunked off detention and sod the consequences and whilst their lyrics sometimes relate to “traumas from teensville” their world view is actually expressed with great eloquence and maturity. Musically they create a sound that deftly walks the line between edgy pop and danceable Indie, an intoxicating concoction that includes the pop rationale of say, The Shop Assistants, mixed with the belligerent experimentation of The Raincoats . There’s also a suggestion of what might have been if the Sugababes had signed to Rough Trade in the early “Overload” days when it looked like they might actually be good.
Folk music, bluegrass? I beg your pardon? I have to confess a few years ago the very thought of folk music used to terrify me, I pictured a shallow gene pool which had produced epically bearded Harold Shipman look-alikes roaring “Hey Nonny,Nonny” clad in arran jumpers, morris dancing maniacally around a network of huge wicker men, erected in order to sacrifice much loved actors such as Edward Woodward. I also suspected they had a penchant for marrying their brother’s nephew’s sister’s wives. This was of course silly of me, they don’t all have beards. The fact is, if I were to analyse some of my favourite singers influences , (such as Billy Bragg, Jose Gonzalez, Half Man Half Biscuit, Frank Turner, Shane McGowan) I would have to concede that they have all been heavily influenced by folk . As for Bluegrass, well, I thought this possibly may have been a term for an Everton football hooligan turned police informer; I was of course completely wrong, its not Evertonians but Chelsea fans. Nowadays there seems to be acoustic folk tinged troubadours popping up everywhere, it’s a genre that’s certainly enjoying a revival and has been recently reinvigorated by singer songwriters such as Beth Orton , Laura Marling , Adem, Mumford and Sons, Lucy And The Caterpillar etc. Another name to add to the list is Ragz, she’s a Liverpool based singer songwriter hailing from Norway, and who by chance I caught supporting Laura Marling a few weeks ago at the Zanzibar. To be quite honest I’d never heard of Ragz, I’d thought whilst the support bands were on I’d have a sneaky pint at the bar and text a few people. So when Ragz started her set I was rather blasé and shamefully not giving her my full attention…but then she started to sing……..Good Lord!!!… this is how sailors of yore must have felt when they were drawn towards the rocks mesmerized by a collection of hauntingly beautiful siren songs, thankfully I wasn’t in a boat (which was handy, as I imagine that would contravene most musical venues health and safety regulations ) and besides Ragz looked friendly enough.
Original Photos By danbandalee Am I a Sexist? This question has been bothering me since it was pointed out that I seem to interview more female fronted bands than male. When I was a