Feature: "Let The Red Rag Fly" (The Quietus)

"It's hard to divorce music from its creators, and if 'Picture Book' is judged in the light of Mick Hucknall's subsequent slide into serial-shagging champagne socialist capable of disgusting even the coffee table owning, tabloid reading masses who buy his records then it's unlikely that it's going to get a fair hearing."

Still, never one to shirk my responsibilities, here's a defence of Simply Red's debut album, the politically charged and desperately underrated 'Picture Book'...

Feature: "Let The Red Rag Fly" (The Quietus)

Feature: "Musical Minimalist" (Slow Travel Berlin)

Berlin's always been known to foster an impressive musical scene, but until recently it's been largely focussed on electronic music. Now there's a new breed of avant garde musicians making a name for themselves, and Erased Tapes' and Bella Union's Peter Broderick is one of them. I spoke to him for Slow Travel Berlin..

Feature: "Musical Minimalist" (Slow Travel Berlin)

Feature: "Video Nasties" (JMag)

It was M.I.A.'s 'Born Free' that highlighted just how the new breed of music videos tries to get our attention, something I already looked at for Intelligent Life. Australia's JMag asked me to investigate the new phenomenon of Music Video Nasties a little further. Click the pic to read more...

"If you want your band to be seen, break a few taboos with your next video clip..."

Feature: "Video Nasties" (JMag)

Feature: "I've Got A Crush On You - The Revival Of The Berlin Festival" (The Quietus)

Back on home turf, and it's time to see what the troubled Berlin Festival can offer. "It’s taken time for this event to establish itself in the city, its reputation tarnished by tales of bad sound and low ticket sales in the past, but the 2010 line up, a sterling collection of international acts covering an impressive range of styles, suggests organisers have made a significant push to turn things around."

Did they succeed? You'll have to read this to find out...

Feature: "I've Got A Crush On You - The Revival Of The Berlin Festival" (The Quietus)

Album Review: Francesco Tristano - Idiosynkrasia (Uncut)

3/5
Luxembourgian brings the piano into the 21st Century

This unlikely collaboration finds Detroit’s legendary Carl Craig producing Juillard-trained pianist Tristano for a groundbreaking hour of rewired techno, house and classical music. Like a less abstract Murcof – who produced Tristano’s debut – the results blur boundaries between acoustic and electronic sounds, Craig treating Tristano’s grand then sending it shimmering over layers of percussion and effects. So “Mambo” builds to a stormy climax from a bass line stabbed out on a Hauschka-like muted piano amidst minimalist electronica, while “Idiosynkrasia” eagerly eyes the dancefloor. But it’s the hypnotic 11-minute “Hello – Inner Space Dub” that flies furthest.

Album Review: Francesco Tristano - Idiosynkrasia (Uncut)