Chris Haddon - November 2009

  by Admin

published: 11 / 11 / 2009

intro

Hello and welcome to the November edition of the Pennyblackmusic magazine.In what is an extensive edition in which we are running eleven new interviews that run across the musical spectrum, our lead interview this month...

Hello and welcome to the November edition of the Pennyblackmusic magazine. In what is an extensive edition in which we are running eleven new interviews that run across the musical spectrum, our lead interview this month is with the American alternative band, Yo La Tengo. Now in their 25th year, the group, which comes from Hoboken, New Jersey, has always been versatile, taking in a variety of different styles and genres and filtering them into a coherent sound, one that is as influenced by soul, 60s pop, electronica, folk and psychedelic music as it is punk and indie rock. Mark Rowland speaks to Yo La Tengo’s front man Ira Kaplan about his group’s twelfth and latest album, ‘Popular Songs’, and the adaptable nature of his band. Our other lead interviews this month are with the former Stranglers front man Hugh Cornwell, who speaks to Spencer Robertshaw about his long musical career ; the bestselling American songwriter Jimmy Webb who talks to Lisa Torem about ‘Cottonwood Farm’, the album he has just released with his sons the Webb Brothers, and 50s influenced garage rockers the Raveonettes whose guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Sune Rose Wagner chats to Anthony Strutt about his group’s new album, ‘In and Out of Control’. Other highlights include former Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross and Low Miffs vocalist Leon Condie who speak about their joint musical collaboration, ‘Malcolm Ross and the Low Miffs’; punk-blues guitarist Jon Spencer about his band Heavy Trash and London-based grunge rockers Ten City Nation. There are interviews too with former Lucy Show singer and front man Robert Vandeven about his debut solo album and first album in thirteen years, ‘Lost Days'; Glaswegian post rockers El Dog; Hey Negrita guitarist Matthew Ord about his debut solo album, ‘Early in the Spring’, and up-and-coming Manchester-based indie pop act, the Heartbreaks. In our Profiles section we have articles on 80s blues punks the Gun Club; offbeat American group the Feelies; The Band's bassist and vocalist Rick Danko, who has recently had two live albums releaed posthumously, and new Glasgow-based record label Bubblegum Records. There are live reviews of shows by the Comsat Angels, Idlewild, Bad Lieutenant, Daniel Johnston, the Twilight Sad, the Raveonettes, Yeasayer, the Big Pink, Passion Pit and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. In our Features section, our Leeds-based writer Spencer Robertshaw, who is also a stand-up poet, is beginning a new column, ‘Evidently Spencertown’, which he will be using as a forum to publish a new poem every month. Each poem to remain in harmony with the rest of the site will have some kind of musical theme, and he begins with ‘Stairlift from Heaven’, which is to be recited or sung or sang in the style of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Elsewhere in the Features section, Ben Howarth, after a month’s absence , returns with ‘Condemned to Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and reflects both on the last few years of the column and also his current favourite musicians. In our ‘Soundtrack of Our Lives’ column, in which writers tell of the personal impact of music on their lives, Sarah Johnson writes about discovering Alanis Morrissette and ‘Jagged Little Pill’ as a twelve year old. Lisa Torem in ‘Rock Salt Row’ chats to Dan Cressey about the relationship musicians have with their cars, while in ‘Hitting the Right Note’ Jon Rogers looks at some of those musicians who have used their song writing as a platform for complaining about and bemoaning their lifestyle and situation. In our ‘Re: View’ column, in which we look back at albums from the past, there are articles on Blur’s 2003 album and last record to date, ‘Think Tank’; all girl post punk the Raincoats’ 1979 self-titled debut album, and Chicago-based prog/pop rock group Lobster Newberg’s first album ‘Actress’ which came out earlier this year. Our website of the Month is ‘Mudkiss’, a UK-based punk and alternative magazine. There are also 32 album and single reviews. We ran another 32 album and single reviews in late October. As always, this magazine has come together through the hard work of many talented people. Thank you to Peter Allison, Carl Bookstein, Aaron Brown, Malcolm Carter, Andrew Carver, Dan Cressey, Dixie Ernill, Russell Fwerguson, Ben Howarth, Adrian Huggins, Sarah Johnson, Jon Rogers, Sarah Maybank, Anthony Middleton, Sarah Mwangi, Chris O'Toole, Jon Rogers, Mark Rowland, Maarten Schiethart, Anthony Strutt, Jeff Thiessen, Helen Tipping and Lisa Torem, all of whom contributed articles to this edition or the reviews up-date. Special thanks as always as well our webmaster Richard Banks at Pennyblackmusic HQ. Please remember our Bands Night on Saturday 14th November at the Brixton Windmill in London with the Left Outsides, Madam, Mathew Sawyer and the Ghosts and the European. If you can come, we would really be glad to see you there. We will be back towards the end of the month with another reviews up-date and then in early November with another extensive edition of the magazine with interviews, features, live reviews and more album and single reviews. We hope to be running then interviews with Dean and Britta, the Television Personalities, Maria Muldaur, the Alabama 3, Maps, Dreadzone, Pama International, Trespassers William and Grendel. There will also be our annual Pennyblackmusic Albums of the Year well as the usual range of profiles, features and live, album and single reviews. Thank you as always for reading John Clarkson Magazine Editor www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk

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