Word, The

Dido: Soup with Dido

Interview by David Quantick, Word, The, 2003

DIDO LIVES in Islington, along with half the Labour Party, the entire cast of EastEnders and the late Arthur Mullard, who used to sit outside ...

Eminem: What's SO F***ing Great About Eminem?

Essay by Andy Gill, Word, The, March 2003

The worst character traits imaginable assembled into violent, cautionary cartoons have produced the charismatic star of the moment, now further immortalised in an acclaimed movie. ...

Nick Cave: Makes Darkly Melodic Records of Rare Beauty

Interview by Robert Sandall, Word, The, March 2003

He gets up at five a.m. and works. He leads an ordered domestic life. Bob Dylan likes him. He is clean and sober. ...

Ed Harcourt: From Every Sphere

Review by Pete Paphides, Word, The, March 2003

IF THEY DON'T write songs like they used to, no one told Ed Harcourt. Before the 26-year-old former chef put out his first album — ...

Simply Red: Mick Hucknall Goes Indie

Profile and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Word, The, July 2003

NOW HERE'S A sentence I never thought I'd write. I have seen the future of music – and its name is Mick Hucknall. Yes, Mick ...

Björk: Björk

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, Word, The, July 2003

"I LOVE HIM, I love him, I love him, I love him/ This time, I'm gonna keep it to myself." Björk is swaying as she ...

XTC: Senses Working Overtime

Retrospective and Interview by Pete Paphides, Word, The, April 2004

When the police found him howling at the moon in a mud-stained Santa suit after calling his mother the worst word imaginable, it was another ...

Steve Earle Gives New Meaning To The Expression 'Lifetime Achievement'

Interview by Toby Manning, Word, The, May 2004

MARRIED SIX TIMES TO FIVE DIFFERENT WOMEN, HE'S ENDURED THE JUNKIE'S LIFE, DONE TIME AND LIVED TO TELL. NOW A CHANGED CHARACTER, HIGH PROFILE CAMPAIGNER ...

Marianne Faithfull: "La Saboteuse"

Interview by Jim Irvin, Word, The, September 2004

IT IS THE EVENING of the day – a very balmy day in San Francisco – and, perhaps, Marianne Faithfull shouldn't be here. ...

Joni Mitchell

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, Word, The, March 2005

Nine was a memorable age for Roberta Joan Anderson. Three things occurred that year, more than 50 years ago, which affect her to this day: ...

Coldplay: X&Y

Review by Jim Irvin, Word, The, June 2005

AS A STAUNCH advocate of pop music that's actually popular, that revels in its ability to make human connections, I can't begrudge Coldplay their unquestionable ...

Paul McCartney

Interview by Graeme Thomson, Word, The, October 2005

JUST WHAT do you do if you are Paul McCartney? You could bathe in liquid gold and shine your shoes with royalty cheques, of course, ...

Mike Scott, Waterboys, The: Mike Scott

Profile and Interview by Graeme Thomson, Word, The, 2006

OF ALL THE PLACES to establish a spiritual community, one mile from a RAF base seems a trifle ill-conceived: transcendence must require every ounce of ...

Talking Heads - Same as it ever was?

Review by Jim Irvin, Word, The, February 2006

I MAY BE mistaken but, as I recall it, the term 'New Wave' was coined to accommodate Talking Heads. Publicists needed a tag other than ...

Cocteau Twins: The Cocteau Twins

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, Word, The, April 2006

IN THE SUMMER of 1981, a member of staff at the Earl's Court branch of Beggars Banquet Records noticed an odd-looking couple loitering outside the ...

Scritti Politti: The Green Piece

Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, Word, The, July 2006

A PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION to begin. Why are we all here? Well, it's because pop music's fucking great, isn't it? ...

Evan Dando: Keep Off The Grass

Interview by Jude Rogers, Word, The, September 2006

...unless you're Evan Dando, in which case the sex/drugs/rock & roll cocktail appears to be your ticket to eternal youth. He's done Bad Things, he ...

David Gilmour

Interview by Jim Irvin, Word, The, September 2007

AS THE 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's debut album, Piper At the Gates Of Dawn rolls around, it's interesting to ruminate on what became of ...

Martha Wainwright: I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too (Drowned In Sound)

Review by Jim Irvin, Word, The, April 2008

DRAPED UPSIDE-DOWN over the couch, high heels pointing at the sky, little black dress hiked high on her thighs, Martha Wainwright is waiting for someone. ...

Steve Miller

Interview by Jim Irvin, Word, The, May 2008

EVERYBODY KNOWS a Steve Miller song, yet he's hardly a household name. For every hit of his you can whistle – 'The Joker', 'Fly Like ...

Ron Geesin, Pink Floyd: Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother Redux

Report by Jim Irvin, Word, The, August 2008

IN JUNE 1984, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, unequivocal as always, told Richard Skinner on Radio 1: "If somebody said to me now: 'Right...here's a million ...

Guns N' Roses: Guns N'Roses: Chinese Democracy

Review by Jim Irvin, Word, The, 2009

"ALL I'VE got is time" sings Axl Rose in the opening, title song of Chinese Democracy. ...

Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny

Review by Jim Irvin, Word, The, September 2010

A monumental box for a great voice. ...

Louis Armstrong: Satchmo

Review by Jim Irvin, Word, The, August 2011

POP OWES much to Louis Armstrong, the first great star of racy music with a groove, making him the effective forefather of Elvis, James Brown, ...

Jonathan Wilson: Gentle Spirit (Bella Union)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Word, The, October 2011

OVER A DECADE AGO, a very nice man named Simon Raymonde – son of cult '60s arranger Ivor – came to my house to answer ...

Tom Waits: Bad as Me

Review by Barney Hoskyns, Word, The, November 2011

IT SHOULDN'T NEED to be said but I'll say it anyway: Tom Waits' career is one of the more extraordinary examples of mutation in the ...

Kevin Avery: Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson (Fantagraphics)

Book Review by Barney Hoskyns, Word, The, December 2011

NOTE: This is a slightly expanded version of the review that ran in The Word. ...