An Oral History of Glastonbury Festival 1992

AN ORAL HISTORY OF GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL 1992 A 29 year time-trip back with those who were there

Take a 29 year time-trip back to the world's greatest festival with those who were there

There is never one Glastonbury Festival. There are as many Glastonbury Festivals as there are people who attend. Thus it ever was, even back in 1992 when the capacity was only 70,000 (plus multitudinous fence-jumpers!). What follows, then, is a cross section of memories, from bands, performers, journalists, rave crews, and those behind the scenes.

Album: Maroon 5 - Jordi

★ MAROON 5 - JORDI A startingly bleak journey into the heart of giga-success

A startlingly bleak journey into the heart of giga-success

Well this is bleak. Seven studio albums, three live albums, two compilation albums, one remix album, three EPs, 33 singles, 23 music videos, 120 million sales and streams well into the tens of billions seem to have completely erased what personality Maroon 5 might ever have had.

Album: Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

★★★ WOLF ALICE - BLUE WEEKEND Individual and creatively dynamic

A big venue proposition who remain individual and creatively dynamic

When Wolf Alice appeared a decade ago, you’d have to have been a soothsayer of Merlin-like proportions to predict the career trajectory they’ve had since. Certainly, prior to their debut album, this writer took them for just another female-fronted London indie guitar band, following the same old formula.

1971, Apple TV+ review - rock'n'roll's golden year?

★★★★ 1971, APPLE TV+ Was this rock'n'roll's golden year?

Amazing music, incredible footage, and more amazing music: welcome to 1971

Back in the mid-Eighties, BBC television started broadcasting The Rock'n' Roll Years, one of the first rock music retrospectives. Each half-hour episode focused on a year, with news reports and music intermixed to give a revealing look at the development of rock culture against the context of current affairs.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Sunshine Theatre

SUNSHINE THEATRE Stunning early Seventies Welsh quartet are rediscovered

Stunning early Seventies Welsh quartet are rediscovered

Sunshine Theatre were based around Aberdare in South Wales. In 1971, they recorded their only single. Fifty copies of “Mountain” / “I Want” were pressed. The quartet also used the name Albert and gigged with fellow Welsh outfits Budgie and Man. In August 1972, they played at Malvern Festival. There was an appearance on the Welsh TV pop programme Disc a Dawn. And that was it.

Music books to end lockdown: Sam Lee, Hawkwind, Dylan, Richard Thompson, and the Electric Muses

MUSIC BOOKS TO END LOCKDOWN Sam Lee, Hawkwind, Dylan, Richard Thompson, and the Electric Muses

From nightingale song to sonic attack via folk rock and the world's greatest songwriter, spring 2021's best music books

It won’t be long now before concert halls and back rooms, arts centres and festival grounds fill with people again, and live music, undistanced, unmasked, and in your face, comes back to us. In expectation of this gradual reopening of the stage doors of perception, this round-up of recent, new and forthcoming music books surveys an artist roster disparate enough to grace the finest of festival bills.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Déjà Vu 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG Déjà Vu 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

California combo's fabled second album gets a monster 4-disc reissue

With over eight million copies sold in its 50-year lifespan, Déjà Vu was, as Cameron Crowe writes in the booklet accompanying this compendious four-CD edition, “one of the most famous second albums in rock history”.

Album: The Black Keys – Delta Kream

★★★★ THE BLACK KEYS - DELTA KREAM The blues-rock duo return to their roots

The blues-rock duo return to their roots for an off-the-cuff covers album

Blues legends Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside have long provided inspiration for singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney, otherwise known as The Black Keys. They provided source material for the opening tracks of their 2002 debut The Big Come Up, while the 2008 EP Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough wore its influence on its sleeve. Literally.

Album: Van Morrison - Latest Record Project Volume 1

★★ VAN MORRISON - LATEST RECORD PROJECT VOL 1 Bad case of lockdown blues

The king of Celtic soul suffers a bad case of lockdown blues

If you want to understand the psychic harm that prolonged lockdown can do to a man, then take a listen to Van Morrison's new 28-song set. Actually, you don't need to listen, the song titles say enough: “Where Have All the Rebels Gone?”; “Stop Bitching, Do Something”; “Deadbeat Saturday Night”; “They Own the Media”; “Why Are You on Facebook?”