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Jim Irvin

Jim Arundel is a pseudonym for Jim Irvin
Jim Irvin

Giving up singing for a living, Irvin became reviews editor and feature writer at Melody Maker, then founding features editor of MOJO. He also edited the magazine’s acclaimed compendium of classic albums, The MOJO Collection (Canongate Books). He's been a playwright, DJ in a biscuit factory, indie label boss and RollingStone.com’s UK correspondent. He lives in London, continuing to write regularly for MOJO, Word and The Times, and works as a lyricist and composer.

Jim Irvin's site

134 articles

List of articles in the library

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Oasis: Everything Rock Delights In

Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1994

THE MARQUEE, about a month ago. the place is solid with grinning loons, many of whom hold should-know-better jobs in the music business. I'm here ...

R.E.M.

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 1994

YOU CAN JUST HEAR THE PHONE CALL. "The album's ready. Hire the Irish castle!" When the world's biggest bands have something to promote, money's no ...

Deep Purple, Ian Gillan: Ian Gillan

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 1994

THE THIRD VERSION OF DEEP PURPLE TO FEATURE Ian Gillan on lead vocal has just toured the world. Shortly before the Japanese leg, guitarist Ritchie ...

Berry Gordy: To Be Loved – The Music, The Magic, The Memories Of Motown (Headline)

Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 1995

AT THE get-go, Berry Gordy states that "the misconceptions about me and Motown have become so great I finally had to deal with them." Four ...

Stevie Wonder: Conversation Peace (Motown)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 1995

SO UNIQUE, SO ADVENTUROUS WAS Stevie Wonder in his ‘70s heyday that it’s especially upsetting to hear the occasionally hackneyed modern model. Not that we’ve ...

Teenage Fanclub: Mojo Rising: Teenage Fanclub

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995

MAYBE IT'S OPTIMISM born of the knowledge that they have a marvellous new album in the can, but Teenage Fanclub reckon that Spring has arrived. ...

Scott Walker, The Walker Brothers: Scott Walker: “That Francis Bacon, In-The-Face Whoops Factor...”

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995

TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD Noel Scott Engel was on the run from Uncle Sam. He was fleeing from a country that would never connect with his ...

Jack Bruce: Sound Your Funky Horn: Jack Bruce

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995

Jack Bruce selects the high points of his illustrious career. ...

Marvin Gaye: The Master 1961-1984 (Motown)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1995

BIOGRAPHER DAVID RITZ HAS WRITTEN thousands and thousands of words on the ineffable talent of Marvin Gaye. This is possible. So all-encompassing are the pleasures ...

Portishead: Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1995

"That," says a chap in the gents after the show "was THE oddest gig I've ever seen." ...

Andy Summers, The Police: Andy Summers

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1995

TOWARDS THE END OF The Police, I thought we were turning into a backing group for Sting. I thought, I've got more going than this ...

Jane Siberry: The Woman Who Scared Herself

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1995

Your new LP, Maria, sounds very different to your other albums. I gather it was recorded fairly spontaneously. ...

Buffalo Tom: MOJO Rising: Buffalo Tom

Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1995

FIVE ALBUMS into what they now recognise as "a career", erstwhile garage rapscallions Buffalo Tom suddenly find themselves, well, kinda mature. ...

Colin Blunstone: Some Years (Legacy/Epic)

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1995

SOME YEARS BURSTS open with an old Zombies song, 'She Loves The Way They Love Her', delivered in a distinctive, creamy tone, suggesting a delicious ...

The Small Faces: Small Faces: The Immediate Years (Charly)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 1995

MOD, SCHMOD: THE SMALL FACES WERE SO MUCH more. For a start they were a great band for kids. I should know, I was one. ...

DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, La Funk Mob, Money Mark, UNKLE: Mojo Rising: James Lavelle

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1996

Being head of exploding hip-prog record label Mo'Wax is nothing to sneeze at. ...

The Blue Nile: Above It All: The Blue Nile

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1996

When life dishes it out, Paul Buchanan and his group The Blue Nile pack a bag, settle somewhere new and, every half-decade or so, make ...

Ocean Colour Scene: Camden Electric Ballroom, London

Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1996

OCEAN COLOUR SCENE have got booking the supports sussed. Liverpudlian veterans The Real People turn in a tuneful set. Good call. The DJ gets the ...

Sneaker Pimps

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1996

THE SONG WAS CALLED 'Becoming X'. We gave it a turn on the office stereo, not expecting much. But, about a minute into the dark, ...

Lewis Taylor

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, Summer 1996

This previously unpublished interview was conducted in the summer of 1996 — around the release of Lewis Taylor's self-titled debut album — for a short, ...

Free: Paul Rodgers

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997

THIS INTERVIEW coincided with Paul Rodgers' 1997 album, Now, his first set of original material since Cut Loose in 1983. It was conducted in a ...

Jimmy Webb: An Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997

What first made you want to write a song? ...

Fairport Convention: Now Be Thankful...

Overview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1997

…for 30 years of Fairport Convention. Jim Irvin gets a guided tour through their scrapbook of joy, tears, beers, jigs, reels and panties. ...

Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1997

THE CULMINATION OF A SEVEN YEAR mission to empty his crowded mind onto tape, Ladies And Gentlemen...is Jason Pierce's clamorous meisterwerk. A record that's splendidly ...

Radiohead: The Tourist: An Interview With Thom Yorke

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, June 1997

Thursday 22 May, 1997IT'S A SEARING summer's day in Barcelona, one of Europe's most beautiful cities. Three things are creating a buzz in the Catalonian ...

Radiohead

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1997

Thom Yorke tells Jim Irvin how OK Computer was done.   ...

Radiohead: Zeleste Club, Barcelona

Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1997

FOR THE EUROPEAN launch of their brilliant but peculiar third LP, OK Computer, Radiohead have opted to take it reasonably easy, hang out in one ...

Teenage Fanclub: Sporty, Scary, Posh & Ginger

Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1997

Thursday, May 30, 1996 ...

Jeff Buckley: "It's Never Over"

Obituary by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1997

JUST BEFORE 9PM ON THE EVENING of Thursday, May 29, Jeff Buckley and his friend Keith Foti realised they were lost. ...

The Isley Brothers Reissues

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1997

Isley; Get Into Something; Givin' It Back; Brother, Brother, BrotherFour long-lost albums, each one worth £20 or more on vinyl. Originally on the Isleys' own ...

Radiohead: We Have Lift-Off

Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1997

FEBRUARY 1992. The Melody Maker's young Oxford correspondent pops up Cowley Road to the old Co-Op dining hall, a glamour-free venue – small stage at ...

Mark Hollis, Talk Talk: Mark Hollis Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1998

MARK HOLLIS' self titled debut album was, at one point, going to be a Talk Talk album entitled Mountains Of The Moon, but somewhere between ...

The Beta Band: Moody, Groovy, Big and Bouncy

Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1998

Line-up: Robin Jones (drums/percussion), Steve Mason (Vocals/guitars/percusssion), John McLean (samplers, percussion), Richard Greenstreet (bass). ...

The Story of Pye Records

Sleeve notes by Jim Irvin, Sequel Records, 1998

"AY-YI-YI, THE BEAT IS CRAZY!" ‘Sucu Sucu’, an insanely catchy samba novelty, was a chart sensation in the autumn of 1961. The forgotten theme to ...

Caetano Veloso: Tropicalia CDs: Samba takes a trip

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1998

ON THE DAY that man first trod upon the moon, Brazilian stars Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were bidding a reluctant farewell to their homeland. ...

Them: The Story Of Them Featuring Van Morrison (Deram)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 1998

SOMEHOW THE legend has grown up that Them comprised one stone genius and a bunch of hapless fools, dispensable at whim. It's understandable, as said ...

Electric Light Orchestra: Light Years

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1998

Mid-priced, 2-CD, 38-track collection of all their singles. ...

Beck: Mutations

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 1998

Supposedly one of his "parenthetical" releases in the vein of Stereoscopic Soul Manure and One Foot In The Grave. The "official" follow-up to Odelay is ...

Pete Atkin: Reissues

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, Rob Chapman, MOJO, April 1998

IF YOU spent the early '70s worshipping false idols with feet of clay when you could have been listening to these finely crafted records then ...

Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay: Angel Of Avalon: Sandy Denny

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1998

Revered by everyone from Frank Zappa to The Spice Girls. Led Zeppelin's one and only guest star. One of Britain's greatest singers. Yet her true ...

Jeff Buckley: Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk) (Columbia)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1998

FANS OF Grace might find this album tough going. For one thing, it's hard to divorce the circumstances of its existence from the music – ...

John Lennon: The Lennon Anthology (Parlophone)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 1998

Four CDs of unused takes and unreleased post-Beatle home recordings, divided into four periods: Ascot, New York, The Lost Weekend and Dakota. Comes with intriguingly ...

Maria McKee: Dingwalls, London

Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 1998

SITTING COMFORTABLY? Sexy, tear-duct prickling songs in voice that defies science. ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: Regrets? I’ve Had A Few: Dexys Midnight Runners

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1999

This is the full version of an interview with Kevins Rowland and Archer published in MOJO in 1999. ...

ABBA: The Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, May 1999

Here a full transcript of the interview conducted with Bjorn Ulvaeus for a MOJO feature published in 1999 to mark the opening of Mamma Mia!. ...

ABBA: The Story

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1999

THEY HAD a dream. It was November 1970, and the greatest pop group of the decade was about to get off to a very inauspicious ...

The Beatles, Paul McCartney: Paul McCartney: Run Devil Run

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1999

THE LURE had been the chance of a lengthy one-on-one with Paul McCartney discussing all his solo albums. "You could turn it into a book," ...

George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (Apple)

Review by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2000

New double-disc remastering of George’s solo debut. Now with out-takes, remixes and a re-recorded version of ‘My Sweet Lord’. ...

Free: Songs Of Yesterday

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2000

Well-presented 5-CD box. Three career-spanning discs of album outtakes, alternative mixes and remixes, one of live material and one of assorted Free side-projects. ...

Radiohead: "Thank you, ignite!": Radiohead at Meltdown

Report by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2000

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was a piece for the news section of MOJO in July 2000 previewing songs from the forthcoming Radiohead album that were unveiled ...

The Strokes: The Monarch, Camden Town, London

Live Review by Jim Irvin, launch.com, February 2001

THERE IS a buzz about The Strokes that would shame a swarm of hornets. ...

Air: 10,000 Hz Legend (Source/Virgin)

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2001

Self-proclaimed "grown-up" album from French duo who created 1998’s million-selling retro-pop classic, Moon Safari, and inspired many imitators. ...

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2001

SOME YEARS ago I interviewed Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile for MOJO. A musician known for his restless lifestyle, I asked him if there ...

Serge Gainsbourg: The Tender Pervert: Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful Of Gitanes by Sylvie Simmons (Helter Skelter)

Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2001

A fine new biography brings the louche Gallic genius to life ...

Air: 10,000 Hz Legend

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2001

Self-proclaimed "grown-up" album from French duo who created 1998's million-selling retro-pop classic Moon Safari and inspired many imitators. ...

Electric Light Orchestra: The Bullring Variations: ELO

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 2001

APRIL 20, 2001. The fat drops of rain falling on New York cannot dampen the anticipation that’s crackling along this usually quiet side-street. Here stand ...

Elbow

Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2001

Laid-back troupe shoot from zero to Square One in just over a decade! More power to them, says Jim Irvin. ...

Carole King: Gracefully slick: Carole King: Love Makes The World (Rockingale/Koch)

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001

The Queen of the Brill Building does it her way ...

Pulp: Jarvis Cocker: An Interview

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001

Jim Irvin grills the willowy Pulp frontman about Scott Walker, Ginster's pasties and encounters with his younger self. ...

Macy Gray: Another Girl Another Planet

Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001

HARBOUR NO ILLUSIONS, stardom screws you up. Don’t get used to the luxury and attention, it could leave as quickly as it came. No matter ...

Pulp: Ten Questions For Jarvis Cocker

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001

Jim Irvin grills the willowy Pulp frontman about Scott Walker, Ginster's pasties and encounters with the younger self ...

Pink Floyd: Echoes – The Best Of

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2001

GLOOMY BUGGERS, the Floyd. War, death, bitter childhood, alienation, indoctrination, madness, greed, vicious animal husbandry, imprisonment, old age and, inevitably, death. Hi ho, it's off ...

Soft Cell: The Twelve Inch Singles (Mercury)

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2001

Every 12-inch single A and B-side of their career collected into o 3-CD set ...

Elvis Costello: This Year's Model/Blood & Chocolate/Brutal Youth

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2002

One more time: Elvis's rockest creations in 2CD editions, each with a bonus disc featuring material available on earlier reissues, plus previously unreleased demos. ...

Bryan Ferry: Frantic

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2002

BEFORE WE go on, I'd like to apologise for the recent albums by Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney; just as a public service, because, Lord ...

The Association: Just the Right Sound

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2002

IN DECEMBER 1999, the American performing rights company, BMI, published a survey of the most air-played songs of the 20th century. Top of the list ...

Nina Simone: To Love Somebody/Here Comes The Sun/Emergency Ward/Black Gold/It Is Finished

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2002

EUNICE WAYMON never intended to be a pop singer. Her ambition was to be the first great black female classical pianist. She took up playing ...

Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: We Mean You No Harm

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2002

Inhabitants of planet Oklahoma, for 15 years The Flaming Lips happily explored the outer limits of symphonic psych. Then, with 1999's The Soft Bulletin, they ...

Beth Gibbons and Rustin’ Man: Out Of Season (Go Beat)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2002

First ‘solo’ album from Portishead’s singer, in collaboration with Paul Webb, formerly of Talk Talk, with additional input from Portishead colleague, Adrian Utley ...

Supergrass: Life On Other Planets (Parlophone)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2002

After a three year pause, here’s their fourth album, produced by Tony Hoffer (Air, Beck) and largely recorded at Chris Difford’s Sussex studios. Released on ...

The Beatles: The Death of Brian Epstein

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2002

THERE'S A story, probably apocryphal, concerning John Lennon during his infamous 'lost weekend', the period in the mid-'70s when he split from Yoko and devoted ...

George Harrison: Brainwashed

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2002

SO, IT CAME to pass, George Harrison bookended his solo years with his two best albums. Brainwashed is a mature and often profound record, comprising ...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: The Last DJ *****

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2002

BUSINESS AS usual for Petty is a decent business: good melodies, fat, ringing acoustics, his occasionally Dylanish delivery with those little lifts or drops at ...

The Beatles: Get It Better: The Story of Let It Be… Naked

Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 2003

Is it getting back to 'Get Back'? Is it Let It Be exorcised of Spector? Is it the record it always should have been? ...

Evan Dando: Baby I’m Bored (Setanta)

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2003

AS FRONTMAN OF the Lemonheads, Evan Dando displayed several striking talents: Writing deceptively plain songs that slipped beneath your skin and often concealed a profound ...

Fairport Convention: Fairport Convention, What We Did On Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, April 2003

Three reissued albums find Fairport Convention on the edge of greatness ...

Goldfrapp: Black Cherry (Mute) ****

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2003

Second album from sultry singer/musician Alison Goldfrapp and musical partner Will Gregory. ...

Robert Wyatt: Cuckooland

Review and Interview by Mike Barnes, Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 2003

Wyatt's first album for six years features guest appearances by Annie Whitehead, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, David Gilmour and Paul Weller. By Jim Irvin. ...

The Strokes: Room On Fire (Rough Trade)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2003

SOON AFTER HEARING it for the first time, I decided that The Modern Age EP was perfect, a marvel of compressed energy, three thrilling songs, ...

Lewis Taylor: The Lost Album

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 2004

SHORTLY AFTER HIS brilliant debut, Taylor declared his next album would be an even more ambitious blend of soul and West Coast pop, proper ...

Lone Pigeon: Schoozzzmmii

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2004

More patchwork rambling from the gifted Scottish eccentric. ...

The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson at the Royal Festival Hall, London

Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2004

THE UBERFANS WITH medicated stares, the reverent fans who applaud Van Dyke Parks to his seat, the Smile scholars who have flown in from another ...

So Sue Him!: Walter Yetnikoff with David Ritz: Howling At The Moon (Abacus) ***

Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2004

Subtitled "Confessions of a music mogul in an age of excess", the fearsome former figurehead of CBS's enjoyable schmuck-into-mensch saga. ...

Bergen White: For Women Only

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2004

Soft, sunshine, orch-pop, whatever you call it, this is a proper overlooked classic of the genre from 1970. No, really. Promise. ...

Marianne Faithfull: "La Saboteuse"

Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, October 2004

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

Electric Light Orchestra: ELO: Shine On

Sleeve notes by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2005

IN THE LATE 60s, Jeff Lynne, leader of distinctive psychedelic pop group, The Idle Race, constructed a surprisingly sophisticated demo studio in the front room ...

Joni Mitchell

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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: ...

Jimmy Webb: The Moon's A Harsh Mistress

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2005

The gifted composer of 'Wichita Lineman' and 'MacArthur Park' made five bold, mature solo LPs. Nobody noticed. ...

Coldplay: X&Y

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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 ...

Kate Bush: Aerial (EMI)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2005

TO SUM UP: Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. ...

The Beatles: After Pepper

Essay by Jim Irvin, MOJO, Summer 2005

IT WAS APRIL 1967, the morning after The Beatles had completed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and The Zombies walked into Abbey Road Studios ...

Talking Heads - Same as it ever was?

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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 ...

Talk Talk

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2006

IT WENT ALMOST unnoticed at the time, but in the midst of the big-haired pomp, regimented razzle and bloated clatter which characterised so much music ...

Cocteau Twins: The Cocteau Twins

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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 ...

Midlake

Interview by Jim Irvin, The Times, July 2006

YOU HEAR A rolling figure on electric piano, a melody recalling Fleetwood Mac's 'Rhiannon' and the 'Theme From MASH', a chugging groove reminiscent of 'Don't ...

Scritti Politti: The Green Piece

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

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

Karen Dalton: In My Own Time

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2006

Jim Irvin welcomes the long-awaited CD reissue of the mysterious folk singer's only "proper" album, from 1971. ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: The Projected Passion Revue (Mercury) ***

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2006

NOBODY CRIED in 1981. Public displays of emotion weren't fashionable. The times demanded detachment, cynicism, or utter peacockery. ...

The Beatles: Love (Apple)*****

Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2006

WE'RE NOT unsympathetic to readers who complain of Beatles fatigue, but we reserve the right to counsel: "Deal with it", because for a large section ...

The Beatles, George Martin: George Martin

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2007

THE PENTHOUSE mixing room at the top of Abbey Road Studios. We await Sir George Martin, who is 30 minutes late. "This is most unlike ...

The Beatles, George Martin: The Sound Of Sgt. Pepper

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2007

THE RECORD ALWAYS regarded as a harbinger of pop's future is full of old-fashioned sounds. These are, in order of appearance: a theatre orchestra tuning ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Sly and the Family Stone: Bournemouth Opera House

Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 2007

YOU'RE A LIFE-LONG fan of a band that fell apart long before you were old enough to see them play. Suddenly, you hear that the ...

David Gilmour

Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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 ...

Judy Garland, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright: Rufus Wainwright: Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 2008

Not many would have dared step into Judy's ruby slippers and revisit her most celebrated concert, but this man did. Jim Irvin prepares to weep ...

Steve Miller

Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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 ...

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

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, June 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. ...

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

Report by Jim Irvin, The Word, 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, The Word, 2009

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

T Bone Burnett

Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, April 2009

T-Bone Burnett has been producing records for over 40 years and is busier now than he's ever been, pursuing a lifelong fascination with "the boom ...

Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City)

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, 2010

IT'S NOT going out on any limbs to declare that Joanna Newsom's voice divides opinion. ...

Kevin Coyne: I Want My Crown - The Anthology 1973–1980

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2010

Four–disc appreciation of British singer–songwriterhood's best kept secret. ...

Mickey Newbury: An American Triology

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2010

He was the hottest songwriter in town. But when he made his own records, the world wasn't ready for songs of utter despair accompanied by ...

The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street (Polydor)

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, May 2010

HAVING DRAWN THE Stones' latest, double album from its unsettling, monochrome sleeve, how long did it take contemporary listeners to realise this wouldn't be business ...

Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, September 2010

A monumental box for a great voice. ...

Randy Newman, Nina Simone: Nina Simone's 'Baltimore'

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, The Word, February 2011

WHEN RANDY NEWMAN'S Little Criminals was released late in 1977, ending a three-year drought for the irony tsar of Tin Pan Alley, critics queued up ...

Elbow: Build A Rocket Boys!

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2011

IT'S THREE AND A HALF MINUTES into Build A Rocket Boys, and Elbow are sounding like a band. And that band is Genesis, circa 1973, ...

Jello Biafra, Peter Hammill: Peter Hammill and Jello Biafra: Prog vs. Punk – Who Won?

Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2011

One was uncool but enduring, the other hip but short-lived. Two pioneers, Peter Hammill and Jello Biafra, fight their respective corners. ...

Foo Fighters: Lightning In A Bottle: Foo Fighters: Wasting Light (RCA)

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, May 2011

Supercharged spontaneity captured straight to tape — yet Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters remain emotionally elusive ...

Giorgio Moroder: Ex Machina

Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2011

The Italian from Munich changed how records were made ...

Foo Fighters, Lil Wayne: View From The Top: Foo Fighters: Back And Forth/Lil Wayne: The Carter

Film/DVD/TV Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, August 2011

The rock soap opera of Foo Fighters' journey to a happy place versus the soul-sapping, airlocked celebrity world of Lil Wayne ...

Jon Anderson, Yes: Yes: Fly From Here/Jon Anderson: Survival And Other Stories

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, September 2011

Cruelly replaced by a tribute-band replica, Jon Anderson manages to conjure more magic than his former Yes colleagues. ...

Louis Armstrong: Satchmo

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, October 2011

The new Louis Armstrong box set isn't the vast trunk you'd expect, more an overnight hag — but it has everything you need. ...

Kate Bush: The Frost Report: Kate Bush: 50 Words For Snow (Fish People/EMI)

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, December 2011

A winter's tale from Kate Bush: low pressure, deep drifts, a cold front moving in — and a crisp cameo from Stephen Fry. ...

Adele: Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Film/DVD/TV Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, February 2012

Adele Adkins, USA-slaying superstar from Tottenham, plays the Albert Hall. It's being ordinary what makes her so popular. ...

Bill Fay: Man In The Shed: Bill Fay: Life Is People (Dead Oceans) *****

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2012

BILL FAY has been making music for at least 45 years. For many of them, his work as a professional musician — a single and ...

Marcos Valle: Marcos Valle/Garra/Vento Sul/Previsão Do Tempo (Light In The Attic)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2012

Four long-unavailable Brazilian classics by surfing bossa nova star seeking to ride newer waves. ...

Fleetwood Mac: We Want To Be Together

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2015

IT SHOULDN'T WORK, but it does: the drummer fractionally behind the beat and the bass slightly ahead. For close to 50 years, Mick Fleetwood and ...

Fleetwood Mac: Eye Witness: Fleetwood Mac Start Work On The Follow-Up To Rumours

Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 2015

After a huge world tour and a two-month break, Fleetwood Mac reconvene in an expensively-customised L.A. studio to make the follow-up to the biggest selling ...

Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2016

THEIR BUSINESS CARD might read: "Radiohead: Dealers in Unease since 1992." Confounding expectation has been somewhere in everything they've done, from Pablo Honey's declarations of ...

Terry Reid: The Other Side Of The River (Future Days)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2016

TERRY REID'S place in rock history is secure if only for his decision not to be the lead singer of Led Zeppelin (it wouldn't have ...

Kate Bush: Not Drowning But Waving

Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2017

Forty years into her career, Kate Bush is still looking for fresh ways to exhaust herself. Before The Dawn, her run of 22 live shows ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: Bob Marley & The Wailers Live!, Bob Marley — The Legend Live

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 2017

Bob Marley in stages, on stages. ...

10cc: Before, During, After – The Story Of 10cc (Universal)

Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2017

The echoes of four years of chart-bound art'n'smarts. The legacy of 10cc. ...

Jeff Buckley in the U.K.

Book Excerpt by Jim Irvin, 'From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye' (Post Hill), May 2018

Excerpted from Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye by Jeff's former manager Dave Lory and former MOJO man Jim Irvin (Post Hill Press). ...

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