I’m just going to put this out there: it’s going to take a lot – a lot – for an album to top ‘Faithful Man’ as the best of 2012. Lee Fields and The Expressions follow up to 2009’s ‘My World’ is an absolute stunner. As a slab of soul, it’s just immediate. Album opener [...]

People of the UK: I applaud you. While you may be responsible for all manner of horrors, such as Britain’s Got Talent and the unintentional election of a sham of a coalition government, sometimes you’re bang on… Last September, I put forward a simple point: that people like good music – given the chance. While [...]

So that’s 2010, then. A year of staggering comebacks, of fine funk, and of exciting new music. Sitting here on a flight back to NYC after a Christmas break in the UK, it’s probably as good a time as any to fully reflect on the year, and to take the time to acknowledge the albums [...]

Backing bands rarely get the limelight. There are exceptions, of course. Like The Headhunters, stepping out of the shadows cast behind Herbie Hancock, and unleashing expansive jazz-funk on the world. But there are also those bands that just stay in the background, laying down the tracks while the front person takes the glory. Consider, if [...]

Finding good gigs in New York is like shooting fish in a barrel. Even so, this year I must have had a machine gun. Paul Weller at the Apollo. Gil Scott-Heron at the Blue Note. The Specials at Terminal 5. Spiritualized at Radio City. Everything Everything at Arlene’s Grocery. Beth Orton in Rockefeller Park. The [...]