jrawcliffe has written the following articles:
Something’s not right here. On stage stands the same band of musicians who blew the roof off Sheffield’s Octagon Centre less than two years ago. After setting such spectacular standards on their last visit, this time they are unrecognisable. It’s just four days since the release of Spiritualized’s latest a»
Right now, it’s probably not very fashionable to admit to having a soft spot for Drum ‘n’ Bass. Once hailed as the future, these days it is a movement whose most famous figurehead, Goldie, is now best known for being mates with Les Dennis. Credibility issues aside though, D’n’B is a genre still capable »
Sheffield-based six-piece Pink Grease follow up their debut release ‘Working All Day’ with a new 12”, ‘Waiting So Long’. The band’s second single will feature two other tracks, ‘Shake’ and ‘Soul Pacco’, and will be released through Horse Glue records on March 24th. Pink Grease ta»
The speculation surrounding the future of Sheffield’s National Centre for Popular Music has ended with the news that the building will be sold to Sheffield Hallam University. Yorkshire Forward, the development group who own the centre, issued a press release to confirm they have accepted a £1.85m of»
This is the first single from Sheffield ‘electro-sleaze’ rockers, Pink Grease. It’s unlikely you’ll hear a more deranged, mind-blowingly brilliant debut in the whole of 2003. ‘Working All Day’ is a delirious, incomprehensible whirlwind of fuzzy guitars and screaming vocals, played at a hundred mil»
Barfly Sheffield looks to have hosted its final gig – for the moment at least. The news comes just over a year since the club opened at the National Centre for Popular Music on Paternoster Row. After relocating to »
While her ‘So Addictive’ album mapped out a thrilling future for soul/hip-hop/dance music, Missy Elliott’s comeback (has she ever actually been away?) single draws on the past for inspiration. ‘Work It’ possesses a filthy, irresistible, old-skool groove. Missy and Timbaland have turne»
A campaign has been launched to ensure Sheffield’s National Centre for Popular Music retains its status as a public venue. Pressure group Pride in Sheffield are in the process of putting together a business plan to secure the NCPM’s role as a performance and exhibition space. The group say they are»
Last month, two significant slices of Sheffield’s musical heritage reappeared side by side. A lavishly reissued version of The Human League’s classic album ‘Dare’ was soon joined on record shop shelves by ‘The Original Sound Of Sheffield 78-82’, a new compilation containing tracks from C»
Does the world still need Supergrass? Did it ever need Supergrass at all? They don’t have a manifesto, they aren’t innovators. They are the simplest of pop groups, who rely solely on instinct when it comes to writing songs. Their most accomplished music touches brilliance - when they are on form, Supergrass »
If you blinked last month, the chances are you will have missed the triumphant return of Supergrass. Such as it was. The limited-edition, seven inch-only ‘Never Done Nothing Like That Before’ lasted just 90 seconds and barely registered with anybody, but it was an unpolished gem that suggested the »
Barfly Sheffield reopens in a new venue this week - just days after being evicted from the National Centre for Popular Music. Club.Zero will become the home for one of the city’s most successful live music clubs as of Tuesday 23 July. Located on Matilda Street, the new venue is just a few hundred y»
The mere sight of him is enough to set alarm bells ringing. Resplendent in luminous pink shell suit and black platform shoes, the diminutive figure of Bobby Conn eyes the slightly nervous crowd and welcomes us into his weird world. “Come a little closer,” he hisses, “there’s no point in playing to an audience »
Quite possibly the best funk-ska-reggae-art-pop duo ever to emerge from the Isle of Wight, The Bees have already acquired a reputation for doing things differently. Their debut album, ‘Sunshine Hit Me’, was recorded in a garden shed, and contains an unlikely mix of disheveled rocksteady rhythms, recorder»
After an extended hiatus, Supergrass release their first new material for almost three years on July 1st. A new single, ‘Never Done Nothing Like That Before’, will be available on seven-inch vinyl only, and will be limited to just 1,500 copies. The band recently finished recor»
Jim Putnam has been creating works of introspective beauty from his California base for the last eight years. Recording as The Radar Brothers with Steve Goodfriend and Senon Williams, ‘And The Surrounding Mountains’ is his third full-length masterpiece, and as a collection of psyched»
The ‘Rooty’ album is definitely a grower, although depending on your opinion, it either grows more pleasurable or more annoying with every listen. Previous single ‘Where’s Your Head At’ was the perfect trailer for Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe’s second LP – a brash, repetitive racket th»
Chas Chandler is quite rightly regarded as the man responsible for masterminding the commercial success of Jimi Hendrix. After years playing bass with The Animals, Chandler knew better than most how to construct a potent three-minute pop song. He wasted no time imparting this knowledge to Hendrix »
In a cynical world, Rock ‘n’ Roll still has the capacity to shock, surprise, delight and inspire when you least expect it to. Tonight, in front of less than 80 people, The Mooney Suzuki turn in the kind of performance that changes lives. Four young men from New York City, with two albums already release»
Whatever happened to our Rock ‘n’ Roll? Well, it seems Black Rebel Motorcycle Club nicked all the best bits, distilled them into a four-minute track and called it ‘Spread Your Love’. A dirty, Stooges-style fuzz bass riff is the starting point for one of the strongest songs from an excellen»
Another month, another trio of French electronic maestros. Télépopmusik issue a debut album which, as its title obliquely suggests, is the musical equivalent of a mongrel. Beginning as a series of unobtrusive soft house beats, ‘Genetic World’ soon mutates into something more eccentric, quickly deve»
"This is not my story, I'm not Prince Hamlet, nor was ever meant to be. This is not a book about me. I'm a minor character in my own story. Truly Dickensian hero, bit of a wally, bit of a cipher, surrounded by bizarre and larger-than-life characters. This is about the music and the people who made the music, »
As most people already know, by far the best way to deal with attention-seeking children is to ignore their spoilt antics completely. If it is inadvisable to express encouragement or sympathy towards these brats, then absolutely the last thing you should ever do with a juvenile show-off is grant them a record deal, ha»
No longer riding the wave of publicity that temporarily sweeps along every Mercury Music Prize winning act, Gomez’s return in 2002 has been a low key affair. With an album of new material to explore, the musicianly five-piece return to the city where the most distinctive member of their line-up was unearthed.»
Although the first version of ‘In Search Of...’, released last year, was a brilliantly structured mix of electro funk and digital rock, it clearly wasn’t good enough to satisfy its creators, The Neptunes. They will surely be happy with their second attempt. The reincarnation of ‘In Search Of...' is a co»
The cross-breeding tendencies of current French dance acts mean the ‘family tree’ style diagram inside the sleeve of ‘My House In Montmartre’ resembles a London tube map. Since the mid 1990’s, a handful of artists have shared each others bands, remixes, and multiple aliases, to create a complex web of act»
It’s amazing what can come of a few chance meetings in a record shop. It was during his time working at London’s ‘Blackmarket Records’ that Jay Hannan became acquainted with Ben Watt, and together the pair became Lazy Dog - deep house DJ’s and soulful Sunday night party hosts. After almost f»
Pioneering House duo Leftfield have split to pursue 'solo projects'. In a statement, Neil Barnes and Paul Daley urged fans not to be downhearted, saying; “This should be seen as a new beginning in an ongoing process.” Neil Barnes thanked “everyone from fans to promoter»
Never has an award ceremony so accurately reflected its industry as this year’s Brit Awards, the annual music business back-slapping convention at Earl’s Court. I wasn’t there - didn’t get an invite - but I’m glad, because, had I attended, I would probably have slipped into a coma after about five minute»
For those of us who believed that ‘10,000 Htz Legend’ was easily the best record Air had made so far, the prospect of hearing re-jigged versions of such cyber-prog symphonies as ‘Electronic Performers and ‘Radian’ was a tantalizing one. If only those two tracks were featured here. Of »
