Spector phil

Stephin Merritt brings the noise

It is, I guess, a quintessential Bruce moment. The house lights are on, and as I walk across the floor of the O2 Arena, everyone is bellowing along unself-consciously to “Born To Run”. For the best part of two and a half hours, the E Street Band have played with a thickness, a relentlessness, a charged virtuosity that is pretty astounding. Now, they’re peaking, and it seems conceivable that they could keep going all night.

The legendary soulman dies at home in San Diego

Counting Crows' Adam Duritz tells us why 'Happiness...' is his top choice

Today: Mick Jones tells us his choice! Plus, vote for yours!

Rare candour from a musician in a press release today. This is Stephin Merritt talking about the Magnetic Fields album, “Distortion”. The goal, he says, was “to sound more like Jesus And Mary Chain than Jesus And Mary Chain.”

The biggest selling release of 2007 gets a facelift

I remembered to bring in some Lee Hazlewood this morning, so we're starting the day with "Requiem For An Almost Lady". John Robinson, our Reviews Editor, just told me how he once received a "hate fax" from the great man, after calling him, affectionately, a "prickly old bastard" in a live preview.

BAT FOR LASHES Brighton belle Natasha Khan is “Bat” and any possible doubts about the fairy wings and floral hair decorations she and her three musicians often favour will be dispelled as soon as they begin their set in the Obelisk Arena at Latitude on Saturday.

HAPPENINGS TEN YEARS TIME AGO May 14 to 20, 1997 Crosby, Stills & Nash are inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame. Neil Young also gets the call, as part of Buffalo Springfield, while other inductees are Joni Mitchell, The Bee Gees, The Jackson Five, Parliament/Funkadelic, and The Young Rascals.