Features

Tim Hecker, London St Giles-In-The-Fields, February 6, 2012

A strange night at St Giles-In-The-Fields with Tim Hecker, which turned out to be something more like a real-time sound installation rather than a concert. This, I guess, is not a new problem with organ recitals: Hecker is sat in the organ loft, playing the church’s venerable instrument while the audience sit below, with their backs to him, in complete darkness, looking at the altar, and the silhouettes of two large speaker stacks.

Gunn-Truscinski Duo, “Ocean Parkway”, Chris Forsyth & Koen Holtkamp, “Early Astral”

For the past couple of years, I’ve been writing a Wild Mercury Sound column in the print edition of Uncut; a slightly awkward thing that I’m genuinely happy to be done with.

Arbouretum & Hush Arbors: “Aureola”

A bit of a misunderstanding with regard to this album from Hush Arbors and Arbouretum, “Aureola”, which at first looked to be a collaboration between two acts I’ve written a fair amount about over the years.

The Fifth Uncut Playlist Of 2012

Lots of goodness in the playlist this week, but before we get there, a quick heads-up for the new issue of Uncut which should be out about now.

Michael Chapman, Dean McPhee, Daniel Land live: January 29, 2012

There is a fairly telling moment, about three-quarters of the way through this mostly excellent night of three guitarists, at the Lexington, between the Angel and King’s Cross.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse: “Horse Back”

Late Saturday afternoon, I was sat at the computer checking football scores when I received an email from Mark Golley, as passionate and assiduous a Neil Young fan as I’ve ever come across. “Check out the front page of neilyoung.com,” it advised.

Ry Cooder’s Los Angeles Stories

Post-war Los Angeles was doubtless a swell place to live if you were a movie star, Hollywood mogul, business tycoon, captain of industry, political big-wig, gangster or otherwise a money-bags, cosseted by wealth, not much in life you couldn’t afford.

Lubomyr Melnyk: “The Voice Of Trees”

Mildly annoying evening last night, as I watched the ecstatic tweets coming in from the Lubomyr Melnyk show at Café Oto, unable to be there myself. Comfort came from the Ukrainian pianist’s new album, “The Voice Of Trees”, which I think has been one of my favourite personal discoveries of the last month or two.
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