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The Word

Word, The

Initially launched in 2003 as Word, Mark Ellen and David Hepworth's post-Q/MOJO baby was a monthly music magazine that ran for 114 issues. It was shuttered in 2012.

304 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Ed Harcourt: From Every Sphere

Review by Pete Paphides, The Word, 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 — ...

Nick Cave: Makes Darkly Melodic Records of Rare Beauty

Interview by Robert Sandall, The Word, 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. ...

Richard Thompson: The Old Kit Bag

Review by David Sinclair, The Word, March 2003

ONE OF THE MANY extraordinary things about Richard Thompson is how resistant he is to the image-making process. After all, here is a man who ...

Kinky, Manuel Galbán, Ry Cooder: Ry Cooder & Manuel Gálban: Mambo Sinuendo; Kinky: Kinky

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2003

Perfuming Each Moment ...

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

Essay by Andy Gill, The Word, 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. ...

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 ...

Elvis Costello: Nobody talks like Elvis Costello

Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2003

On the eve of his second quarter century Elvis looks back, sideways but most of all forward. "I've started to sing from directly inside of ...

Luke Haines: Goodbye To All That

Interview by Roy Wilkinson, The Word, June 2003

Luke Haines is music's Graham Greene, a scowling misanthrope with a highly-placed following and a withering perspective on his homeland. How has the who who's ...

Björk: The Wild One

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Word, 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 ...

Grandaddy: Hobo Sapiens

Report and Interview by David Quantick, The Word, July 2003

Born in a place anyone would be desperate to leave, Grandaddy decided to stay, and earn their wit and wisdom the hard way. Now their ...

John Cooper Clarke: Buster Rhymes

Interview by Andy Gill, The Word, July 2003

Punk's not dead, and neither is its poet laureate, John Cooper Clarke. ...

Mogwai: Happy Songs For Happy People

Review by Toby Manning, The Word, July 2003

All hail the Glaswegian cochlea-botherers ...

Röyksopp: Cloud Eight

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2003

Success came swiftly for Röyksopp, their smart, guileless electronic pop becoming ubiquitous on high-earning TV soundtracks. But this doesn't sit comfortably with a complex Norwegian morality. "We're ...

Steely Dan: Everything Must Go

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, July 2003

They used to be great... they still are ...

Gillian Welch: The Girl With No Name

Profile and Interview by Toby Manning, The Word, August 2003

The fastest-rising folk singer of her generation is an urban college girl writing spare, soulful country tunes set in a bygone America. Her natural mother ...

Simply Red: Mick Hucknall: Songs of Freedom

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

Mick Hucknall is performing a record he made at home, released on Simply Red's label, in a restaurant he owns in Paris. This kind of ...

Neil Young: On The Beach/American Stars 'N Bars/Hawks & Doves/Re•ac•tor

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, August 2003

I SPOKE TO Neil Young in 1992, when one of his riffs was the shortcomings of digital sound. "You ever sit down with a CD ...

Super Furry Animals: Phantom Power

Review by Toby Manning, The Word, August 2003

NORTH WALES' scenery is some of the most beautiful in the world, and yet this beauty belies its elemental dangers, barely a month going by ...

Shaun Ryder: What's the story behind Shaun Ryder killing all those pigeons?

Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Word, August 2003

IN THE LANGUAGE of advertising, Shaun Ryder is an early adopter. A man who tends to walk ahead of the pack and influence those behind ...

Dido: Soup with Dido

Interview by David Quantick, The Word, September 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 ...

Randy Newman: What made Randy Newman invisible at the Oscars?

Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, September 2003

RANDY NEWMAN comes from Hollywood's leading musical family. Two of his uncles were major screen music composers and conductors. His own father was a musician ...

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci: Sleep/Holiday

Review by Pete Paphides, The Word, October 2003

Wales has never sounded so far away or magical ...

Eva Cassidy: The Afterlife Of Eva Cassidy

Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, October 2003

Dorian Lynskey meets Eva Cassidy's lover and producer, family and friends and the key figures in a uniquely sad story to discover exactly why the ...

Liz Phair: Liz Phair

Review by Robert Sandall, The Word, November 2003

IF YOU'VE NEVER heard her earlier records — which, if you've been resident in the UK for the past 10years, you probably haven't — Liz ...

Usher: Urban Expansion

Profile and Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, November 2003

David Beckham's favourite act powers ever onward with his manager-mother, his zero-carb diets, and his own personal jeweller. But what drives Usher's insomniac craving for ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: What does Sophie Ellis-Bextor write after her autograph?

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Word, November 2003

"THE CHEWING GUM's two quid a packet… and this," husks Sophie Ellis-Bextor, fondling a tube of Berocca vitamin fizz-up, "is eight fifty. So I'm going ...

Emmylou Harris: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

Profile and Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, December 2003

For Emmylou Harris it was more than just "practice". She started out playing four shows a night six nights a week, became the "chick singer" ...

Julian Cope: The Missing Link

Profile and Interview by William Shaw, The Word, December 2003

A thin evolutionary strand connects the forgotten sounds of the psychedelic North and a meticulous chronicle of megalithic Europe. It's Julian Cope, a man whose ...

Nick Cave: Out of the Shadows

Interview by James Medd, The Word, December 2003

After years on the dark side of the street, Nick Cave lightens up. ...

Ryan Adams: Rock N Roll

Review by Mark Cooper, The Word, December 2003

So much swagger, so little heart ...

Elliott Smith: Bottle Up And Explode

Retrospective by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, January 2004

Elliott Smith never managed to get past Step One of any 12-step recovery programme, yet he made quixotic music that lifted the lonely and the ...

Kylie Minogue: Body Language

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, January 2004

TAKING THE ZEITGEIST by its shirt tails used to be Madonna's job — having hunches about cutting-edge producers and trends, placing a jazzily-painted nail on ...

Johnny Cash: The Last Great American — Johnny Cash: Unearthed (American)

Review by Mark Cooper, The Word, January 2004

Johnny Cash's final recordings were as powerful as anything in his whole career ...

Miles Davis: The Prince of Darkness: So What: The Life Of Miles Davis by John Szwed (Arrow)

Book Review by Andy Gill, The Word, January 2004

Miles Davis: what demonic spirit possessed him? ...

Tori Amos: Why does Tori Amos want to penetrate the patriarchy?

Interview by Sylvia Patterson, The Word, January 2004

TORI AMOS SWOOPS into the London hotel room like a friendly bat, huge black rectangles of silken cloth dangling from the sleeves of an interesting ...

The Seventies

Retrospective by Danny Baker, The Word, February 2004

"The Seventies' attitudes, cultures and repercussions are almost too incredible for a modern youth to imagine" By Danny Baker ...

The Sixties

Retrospective by Chrissie Hynde, The Word, February 2004

"In the Sixties our motto was: never trust anyone over 30. It was all about youth — and youth was a huge threat", by Chrissie ...

Jonathan Ive: The Father Of Invention

Report and Interview by Sheryl Garratt, The Word, March 2004

In a world where computer technology is a religion and its curvy iconography is changing everything, a shy 37-year-old Englishman is the newly-elected High Priest. ...

Lambchop: Aw C'mon/No You C'mon

Review by Toby Manning, The Word, March 2004

Twiglets! Beer! Community! The kings of country melancholia are having a party ...

Scissor Sisters: Scissor Sisters

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2004

IF FIRST IMPRESSIONS were king, I would hate the Scissor Sisters. ...

The Von Bondies: Pawn Shoppe Heart

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2004

THERE'S SOMETIHG CLOYING about The Von Bondies' style-over-substance approach to garage. ...

XTC: Senses Working Overtime

Retrospective and Interview by Pete Paphides, The Word, 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 ...

N.E.R.D.: Dweebs In Pepperland: N*E*R*D: Fly Or Die (Virgin)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, May 2004

As producers, the Neptunes rule the world. But as N*E*R*D they're losing their way — by Dorian Lynskey ...

Jim White: Drill A Hole In That Substrate And Tell Me What You See

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, May 2004

Pumped full of drive — Jim White's off-kilter alt.country ...

ABBA, Charlotte Church, Donovan, The Dubliners, Bob Dylan, David Essex, Fleetwood Mac, Kim Fowley, Jimi Hendrix, Lalo Schifrin, Paul Simon, The Stooges, The Who, Robbie Williams, Lena Zavaroni: Mike Ross-Trevor: "Are We Rolling?"

Interview by Paul Gorman, The Word, May 2004

In forty years of recording everyone from Dylan and Hendrix to Abba and Lena Zavaroni, a studio engineer sees a lot of strange things. ...

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

Interview by Toby Manning, The Word, 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 ...

Prince: Musicology

Review by Mark Cooper, The Word, June 2004

Slave To The Rhythm. Prince: the old school's head boy gets back to basics. ...

The Killers: Hot Fuss (Lizard King)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2004

MANY PERFORMERS see out their careers with a lucrative stint in Las Vegas but few actually hail from the city beyond the pleasure palace walls. ...

Prince: The Artist Formerly Known As

Interview by Anthony DeCurtis, The Word, August 2004

Prince has dumped the "glyph", reverted to his real name, expunged the profanities from his set-list and now apologises for his past megalomaniac excess — ...

Metallica: Band on the Ruin: Metallica's Some Kind of Monster

Report and Interview by James Medd, The Word, October 2004

Metallica was facing meltdown and group therapy — then the film crew arrived. The result is the greatest music documentary ever made. ...

Björk: Medúlla (One Little Indian)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, October 2004

Stark spirituals, tortured hymns and schizophrenic requiems: Medúlla sees our favourite Icelander at her most ethereally eccentric ...

Crosby and Nash: Crosby & Nash: O Lucky Men!

Interview by Andy Gill, The Word, October 2004

David Crosby is rock's most improbable survivor; Graham Nash one bolshie hippie from Manchester. Together they make music so pure it disappears into the ether. ...

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. ...

Sean Rowley: Post-cool is the rule

Comment by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, October 2004

Sean Rowley's Guilty Pleasures compilation invites you to revel in the musical sins of the 1970s. ...

Elliott Smith: From A Basement On The Hill (Domino)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2004

The posthumous album from the quiet American idol, written From A Basement On The Hill ...

Bob Geldof: Live Aid: The Longest Day

Retrospective by Mark Ellen, The Word, November 2004

We know how Live Aid looked from the outside. But for presenters like Mark Ellen it was a very different story ...

Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra (Sanctuary)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2004

Nancy Sinatra: our seasoned muse comes good, courtesy of Morrissey, Cocker and Bono ...

Pink Floyd: Fight Club

Interview by Andy Gill, The Word, December 2004

If the world-beating line-up of Pink Floyd ever flies again you can thank the drummer. Nick Mason tells Andy Gill his peace-keeping personal history of ...

Robyn Hitchcock: Why Is Robyn Hitchcock Better Off Without Hit Records?

Interview by Pete Paphides, The Word, December 2004

ON FIRST impression, only the birds printed all over his shirt detract from Robyn Hitchcock's professorial air. It was his idea to rendezvous in Swiss ...

Ye Revenge Of Ye Mobbe

Overview by Caitlin Moran, The Word, December 2004

For centuries celebrities have loomed large in our pub-time fairytales. Now electronic media has made our thirst for gossip insatiable. Well at least that's what ...

Bloc Party: Silent Alarm

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2005

Silent Alarm is a promising debut from this year's Franz Ferdinand ...

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: ...

Françoise Hardy: Melancholy Bébé: Françoise Hardy: Tant De Belles Choses

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2005

Forty years on a new album reveals the mature mettle of the great Yé-Yé girl ...

Françoise Hardy: What was the message Dylan sent Françoise Hardy halfway through his Paris concert?

Interview by Mark Ellen, The Word, March 2005

A BLUSTERY STROLL from the Champs Elysée, past the upscale delicatessens of 17ème District, across the deep-pile foyer of a high-security apartment block and you're ...

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 ...

Paul McCartney

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, 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, The Waterboys: Mike Scott

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

Arctic Monkeys, Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am…/Clap Your Hands Say Yeah/Broken Social Scene

Review by David Sinclair, The Word, February 2006

WHEN I TOLD my 16-year-old daughter that I was reviewing the debut album by Arctic Monkeys, she was not particularly impressed. "Yes, yes," she said. ...

Richard Thompson: RT

Review by Toby Manning, The Word, February 2006

A celebration of the life and music of Richard Thompson: folk rock legend so culty they boxed him twice: this time for fans only. ...

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 ...

MySpace: The Missing Link

Report by David Sinclair, The Word, March 2006

Internet phenomenon MySpace provided the Arctic Monkeys with their fast track to fame. It's now adding a million users every week and guess who's just ...

Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy: The Rise, Fall, Rise, Fall and Rise of Stephen Duffy

Retrospective and Interview by Caitlin Moran, The Word, March 2006

He was the founder of Duran Duran whose idealistic visions never quite chimed with the times. CAITLIN MORAN charts the Lazarus-like multiple recovery of the ...

Wilson Pickett: Farewell, Wicked Messenger

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2006

Wilson Pickett: you couldn't sing 'In The Midnight Hour' the way he did without a terrible temper and in this respect the man from Prattville, ...

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 ...

Willie Nile: Streets Of New York

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2006

MUSICIANS NEVER give up, which is more often a cause for sadness than celebration. I reviewed my last Willie Nile record in 1980. I thought ...

Cocteau Twins: Lullabies To Violaine Volumes 1 and 2

Review by David Quantick, The Word, May 2006

THE COCTEAU TWINS, in their 15-year career, were extremely fond of the EP format, so it makes sense for 4AD to bring all these together ...

Lily Allen: The Sound Of The (Garden) Suburbs

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, July 2006

Lily Allen makes urban music with a difference — she's had a life she can't complain about. And via MySpace and a daily blog she's built ...

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? ...

Evan Dando: Keep Off The Grass

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, 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 ...

Bert Jansch: The Black Swan

Review by Graeme Thomson, The Word, October 2006

THE PROBLEM with so many virtuoso musicians is that their technical skill impedes the act of communication: it becomes the focus of all the attention, ...

Michael Jackson: Called To Account

Report by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, October 2006

If Michael Jackson had put his money in a Post Office account he could have bought a small country, but his legendary spending has left ...

Joanna Newsom: The New Kate Bush?

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, November 2006

Angelic voice, radiant songs about "flickering wastelands" and childhood trips to Folk Summer Camp. Meet Joanna Newsom. ...

King Creosote: It's the Wee Folk Hobbit!

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2006

After 20 years, King Creosote — humble cottage-industry troubadour — has reached the Rivendell of a major label and a signing to Elton John's management. ...

The Magic Numbers: Those The Brokes (Heavenly)

Review by Toby Manning, The Word, December 2006

The Soft Parade: Those The Brokes hits the ballad button — a touch too hard ...

Status Quo: Whatever You Want (To Eat): Having Lunch With Status Quo

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, December 2006

Note: This is the original "director's cut" version of the piece that ran in The Word. ...

Ray Charles: Ahmet Ertegun, 1923-2006

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, February 2007

AS MUSIC BUSINESS people go, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun was a giant amongst pygmies, a mover and shaker whose colossal impact on the course ...

Lady Sovereign: Public Warning (Def Jam/Casual)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2007

Public Warning by "white midget" Lady Sovereign — a few years too long in the oven, but funny in parts. ...

Denny Doherty, 1940-2007

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2007

IT'S NOW AN acknowledged item of rock and roll faith that the sun-kissed life of the West Coast hippie aristocracy was underpinned, and ultimately undermined, ...

Flying Burrito Brothers: Sneaky Pete Kleinow, 1934-2007

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2007

AS PEDAL STEEL guitarist with the Flying Burrito Brothers, Sneaky Pete Kleinow probably did more than any other musician to establish that instrument in rock ...

Eric Von Schmidt, 1931–2007

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, April 2007

IT WAS IN "the green pastures of Harvard University", according to the genial introduction on his debut album, that Bob Dylan cribbed the chord-structure of ...

Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith: Elliott Smith et al: It's All Too Beautiful

Report by Graeme Thomson, The Word, June 2007

Pale eulogies on fan sites are giving even obscure dead musicians a career in the afterlife. But does the net build an idealised version of ...

The Only Ones: Night Of The Living Dead

Report and Interview by David Sinclair, The Word, June 2007

COME TOGETHER: After 26 years apart, the Only Ones have climbed aboard the reunion bandwagon. They have more reasons than most, as they tell DAVID ...

Blur: Alex James: Where There's Muck, There's Blur

Interview by James Medd, The Word, July 2007

Britpop pin-up, champagne-guzzler and gentleman farmer... Just how much of Alex James's extraordinary life has gone into his new book? ...

Editors: An End Has A Start

Review by David Quantick, The Word, July 2007

Aloof yet commercial, glacial but rich... Editors are an awful lot more than the Joy Division that never went disco. ...

How Green Is Rock?

Report and Interview by William Shaw, The Word, August 2007

In years to come, will the picture on the right be as unacceptable as the one above? The music business has a green problem, and ...

Georgie Fame: Rik Gunnell, 1931-2007

Obituary by Andy Gill, The Word, August 2007

RIK GUNNELL, who died recently aged 75 in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbuhel, where he owned and ran a bar called The Londoner, was ...

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 ...

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand

Review by Kate Mossman, The Word, November 2007

SEVEN YEARS AGO, Robert Plant rang country music superstar Alison Krauss and one imagines, toying casually with the telephone cord, said something like, "Hey, we ...

Feist: The Lady From The Advert

Profile and Interview by Roy Wilkinson, The Word, December 2007

She's the latest beneficiary of the TV ad "sync" but there's more to folk apparition Feist's story than would fit on a nano ...

Jane Aire & The Belvederes, Elvis Costello, The Damned, Nick Lowe, Rachel Sweet, The Yachts: Various Artists: The Big Stiff Box Set

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, December 2007

THE '70S BEGAN and ended in turmoil, with strikes, crises, terrorism, class war and new political orthodoxies on the march. ...

Amy Winehouse: Life Imitating Art...

Comment by Kate Mossman, The Word, January 2008

...imitating life. When did Amy Winehouse start to inhabit her songs, wonders KATE MOSSMAN. ...

Midlake: Milkmaid Grand Army

Review by David Quantick, The Word, February 2008

The indie Fleetwood Mac reveal a rough bark on their reissued debut EP. ...

Hot Chip: Super Fry Guys: Hot Chip's Made In The Dark (EMI)

Review by John McCready, The Word, February 2008

Hot Chip: Brains from Thunderbirds and his science-block mates create wonderful dance music — that you don't have to dance to. ...

Goldfrapp: Seventh Tree (Mute)

Review by John McCready, The Word, March 2008

Country Casuals: Farewell to Equus Goes Rollerdisco and "Hello trees, Hello flowers" as Goldfrapp undertake their own bucolic Relocation, Relocation ...

Morrissey: Greatest Hits

Review by David Quantick, The Word, March 2008

There's a lot of Morrissey's newer, louder, less subtle music on his latest greatest hits. David Quantick finds his patience is at an end. ...

The Hot 8 Brass Band: Basin Street Boogie

Profile and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2008

The Hot 8 Brass Band are the missing link between traditional New Orleans jazz and hip hop. But three members have been shot dead along ...

Grace Jones, Sly & Robbie, Tom Tom Club: Various Artists: Funky Nassau - The Compass Point Story 1980-1986

Review by John McCready, The Word, April 2008

Imagined in London, bankrolled by pop hits and prog rock — the disco-dub collision at Compass Point Studios created shockwaves. ...

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 ...

Half Man Half Biscuit: CSI: Ambleside

Review by John McCready, The Word, June 2008

Forget the TV-obsessed japery of their John Peel years. Half Man Half Biscuit are now the most perceptive satirists in British music. ...

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. ...

John Martyn: A Golden Age: John Martyn

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, July 2008

NOTE: This is the original "director's cut" version of the piece that ran in the The Word. ...

The Zutons: You Can Do Anything

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, July 2008

Epic yet humble, the third Zutons album shows the cosmic Scousers can do grandeur with a human face. ...

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 ...

Shirley & Dolly Collins: Down In Albion — Shirley and Dolly Collins: The Harvest Years (Harvest)

Review by Graeme Thomson, The Word, September 2008

The collected classics of Shirley and Dolly Collins constitute a phantasmagoria of English folk. Warning: contains crumhorns. ...

Big Brother & The Holding Company: R. Crumb: So Last Century

Report and Interview by Larry Jaffee, The Word, 12 September 2008

The world of R. Crumb – where every record sleeve wishes it was still 1920. ...

Kevin Ayers: Exile On Mean Street

Profile and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, October 2008

Rumpled romantic, booze-fuelled philanderer, gifted golden boy of art-rock, Kevin Ayers fled abroad 40 years ago and now lives a strange, impecunious life wrestling with ...

Giant Sand: Mercury Rev: Snowflake Midnight (V2); Calexico: Carried To Dust (City Slang); Giant Sand: Provisions (Yep Roc)

Review by James Medd, The Word, October 2008

Cosmic cowboys Mercury Rev, mushroom mariachi merchants Calexico, heartbroken hobos Giant Sand. Can you even call this stuff Americana anymore? ...

Saint Etienne: London Conversations (Heavenly/Universal)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, October 2008

IT'S ONE OF life's lovely ironies that Saint Etienne, an English group named after a French football team, tell us everything there is to know ...

Lucinda Williams: Little Honey (Lost Highway)

Review by Graeme Thomson, The Word, November 2008

WHENEVER A MUSICIAN announces that their new offering is the "most eclectic album they've ever made", it's sure to be a rough ride. ...

Guy Peellaert: The man who invented rock and roll

Comment by David Hepworth, The Word, 20 November 2008

I'VE ONLY JUST noticed that Guy Peellaert died the other day. Lots of people have never heard his name but the fact remains that, rightly ...

The Killers: Razorlight: Slipway Fires (Mercury); The Killers: Day And Age (Mercury)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2008

Young Men In A Hurry: What's the verdict on those tricky third albums from Razorlight and the Killers? It's all a bit forced. ...

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. ...

On the Downturn Train

Report and Interview by Robert Sandall, The Word, January 2009

The cold wind of recession is already freezing record companies — but what will it mean for the kind of music that artists want to ...

Various Artists: A Complete Introduction To Northern Soul (Universal)

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, January 2009

A COMPLETE HISTORY? Yes. A Short Introduction? Yes. But A Complete Introduction? Surely a contradiction in terms. ...

Graham Nash

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, March 2009

IT HAS NEVER occurred to me before Graham Nash points it out, but 'Marrakesh Express' isn't just a breezily literal account of the illicit delights ...

The Bird and the Bee: Greg Kurstin: Mister Fairy Dust

Interview by James Medd, The Word, March 2009

When Lily Allen, Kylie, Britney, Beck, Flaming Lips, Ladyhawke or Little Boots need a multi-instrumentalist or musical director, they send for Greg Kurstin. And for ...

R.E.M.: Murmur (Deluxe Edition)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2009

IT CAME FROM the South, as all the best American myths do: a strange collection of songs by a group named after a stage in ...

The Cramps: Lux Interior, 1946-2009

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2009

SOMETIME IN THE mid-'70s, Erick Purkhiser of Stow, Ohio, exchanged his given name for words he found in an automobile catalogue. ...

Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, April 2009

Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan rewrote their pasts. The same goes for Ramblin' Jack Elliott. ...

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 ...

The Who: Sell Out: Deluxe Edition (Polydor)

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2009

The Who Sell Out was muddled enough with all those fake ads getting in the way. It's certainly not made "deluxe" by such additions as ...

Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (V2)

Review by James Medd, The Word, June 2009

The hot-air balloon, the electric iron and the current trend for shiny '70s and '80s-inspired synthpop: the French tend to get there first. ...

Liz Phair: Exile In Guyville (15th Anniversary Edition)

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, August 2009

All's Phair In Love And War: Raw, rude and "very 1993", Liz Phair led Girl Power's first offensive. ...

Prefab Sprout: Erase And Rewind: Paddy McAloon

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, September 2009

Paddy McAloon’s lost folly has just been released after 17 years. Many and complex were the obstacles in its path, as he tells GRAEME THOMSON. ...

Yo La Tengo: You Never Knew There Was So Much In It

Profile and Interview by James Medd, The Word, September 2009

James Medd meets Yo La Tengo – American music's feverishly industrious purveyors of jazz-folk-funk-samba-epic-ballad-space-rock. ...

Muse: Dystopian Rhapsody: Muse's The Resistance

Review by Kate Mossman, The Word, October 2009

Queen-like symphonies, "thought police", a nameless evil... Muse are wrestling with Something Very Important — that never quite arrives. ...

Nick Cave: Original Sin

Interview by James Medd, The Word, October 2009

Nick Cave's new fiction hero is a monstrous expression of the male psyche grotesquely obsessed with sex, he tells James Medd. Did he evolve from ...

Manu Chao, Nirvana, R.E.M., Slade, Martha Wainwright, Tom Waits: Nirvana: Live At Reading and other live albums

Review by James Medd, The Word, December 2009

They keep saying this is the golden age of live music. So why don't live albums sound as good as they used to? Nirvana: Live At ...

Nick Drake: Robert Kirby, 1948-2009

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, December 2009

THE SPARSENESS of the three albums Nick Drake released in his lifetime are part of their enduring appeal. On two of those albums, string arrangements ...

David McAlmont, Michael Nyman: This Just In: David McAlmont and Michael Nyman

Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, December 2009

A bizarre collaboration between David McAlmont and Michael Nyman revives the dying art of the topical news story in song. ...

Various Artists: Disco Discharge – Classic Disco, Euro Disco, Gay Disco, Disco Ladies

Review by Jon Savage, The Word, December 2009

AS IS THEIR wont, the Pet Shop Boys really summed it up on 'Can You Forgive Her?':"She's made you some kind of laughing stock/Because you ...

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. ...

Tom Waits: Albums of the Decade: Tom Waits' Real Gone

Review by James Medd, The Word, January 2010

ISTHERE A musician whose stock is higher? It's certainly hard to think of another whose songs are covered by both the singer of Led Zeppelin ...

Hot Chip: One Life Stand (Parlophone)

Review by Simon Price, The Word, February 2010

THE NAME, of course, is one of pop's great double entendres. As well as carrying the sense of overloaded silicon circuitry, "Hot Chip" — like ...

Taylor Swift: Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Kate Mossman, The Word, 10 February 2010

Taylor Swift's conquest of the teenage-girl market is so controlling it's creepy. In the front stalls: Kate Mossman. ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Sly Stone: Listen To the Voices – Sly Stone In The Studio 1965-1970 (Ace)

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, May 2010

Sly Stone's pharmaceutical habits attracted an undue level of bad press, but the studio would always be a place of refuge. ...

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 ...

Jonsi: Go (Parlophone)

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, July 2010

HEY, THIS IS a first. I'm reviewing this record on an InterCity train. I've accessed it via Spotify and been able to put it — ...

Propaganda: A Secret Wish (ZTT/Salvo)

Review by John McCready, The Word, September 2010

Fizzing with conflicting creative energies, Propaganda could have been a disaster. Instead they constructed a masterpiece. ...

Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny

Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, September 2010

A monumental box for a great voice. ...

Joan As Police Woman: What I Like

Interview by James Medd, The Word, January 2011

Joan As Police Woman aka Joan Wasser, fearsome singer, songwriter and serial collaborator, formerly of Antony & the Johnsons and Jeff Buckley's girlfriend ...

Pet Shop Boys: Neil Tennant: "Twitter Is Sickly"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, January 2011

Social-network agnostic, high-church robe-fancier; supreme pop strategist — Neil Tennant casts a weather eye over the wind-lashed landscape of learning. ...

Lady Gaga, Muse: Spectacles: Muse and Lady Gaga

Report and Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, January 2011

Muse pushed the envelope of live spectacle, while Lady Gaga was oddly intimate. Who won? ...

James Booker, Alison Krauss, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Various Artists: 40 Years Of Rounder Records

Review by Kate Mossman, The Word, January 2011

Now in new hands, Rounder Records looks back after four decades of progressive signings in country, blues and folk. ...

Anaïs Mitchell: Going Underworld

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, February 2011

Anaïs Mitchell reworked the Opheus myth into the micro-folk stage show Hadestown in '06. My, how its grown... ...

Cat Power: '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'

Retrospective by James Medd, The Word, February 2011

SHORN OF A RIFF and chorus that are both as familiar as any in rock and roll, just verses and rhythm and a single guitar, ...

Cristina, Peggy Lee, Leiber and Stoller: Cristina's 'Is That All There Is?'

Retrospective by Jude Rogers, The Word, February 2011

HERE ARE TWO gutsy blondes, a million miles apart musically, turning people's heads with the same Leiber and Stoller song. ...

Gregg Allman: Low Country Blues

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, February 2011

T-Bone Burnett brings Gregg Allman back from the brink with a blues injection. It's the best solo album he's ever made. ...

John Cooper Clarke: "The Secret Of Longevity Is Idleness"

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, February 2011

Spidery bard, beanpole buddha of suburbia, GCSE syllabus fixture — John Cooper Clarke plants his flag on the summit of Mount Wisdom. ...

Johnnie Allan, Chuck Berry: Johnnie Allan's 'Promised Land'

Retrospective by Andy Gill, The Word, February 2011

ON 5th MARCH 1960, the same day that his rival Elvis Presley was being discharged from the army and welcomed back as an all-American icon, ...

Anna Calvi, Joan As Police Woman, Mélanie Pain: Mélanie Pain: My Name/Joan As Police Woman: The Deep Field/Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi

Review by James Medd, The Word, February 2011

Three records rich in charm and melancholy. Give it up for Mélanie Pain, Joan As Police Woman and Anna Calvi. ...

Michael Jackson: Michael

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2011

The splintered psychology of Jacko is laid bare in a "final" album, recorded over 25 years and finished after his death. ...

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, ...

Elton John: The Man Who Loved Records

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, March 2011

No downloads for Sir Elton John, thank you. No miming either. And don't get him started on Simon Cowell. Rob Fitzpatrick meets a passionate purist ...

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. ...

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Review by James Medd, The Word, March 2011

PJ Harvey is "a human being affected by politics" in an absorbing new record suffused with imagery from wars past and present. And they said ...

Bonzo Dog Band: The Bonzo Dog Band: A Dog's Life

Review by David Quantick, The Word, March 2011

The ever-rising legacy of the Bonzo Dog Band — every shade of music and humour faithfully packaged in one 3CD box. ...

Queens Of The Stone Age: "How Do I Reprogamme This Robot?" mused JOSH HOMME "And Make Trance-Dance Repetitive Rock For Girls?"

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, April 2011

IT'S PRONOUNCED "hommy", rhymes with "mommy". Everyone gets it wrong, but Homme seems more fitting anyway for this great big tank of manhood, the Queens ...

Smog: Bill Callahan: Searching For Smog

Profile and Interview by James Medd, The Word, April 2011

How, after 11 albums, has the mysterious Bill Callahan stayed so supremely unknowable? ...

Katy B, Jamie Woon: Jamie Woon: Mirrorwriting, Katy B: On A Mission

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, April 2011

TWO GRADUATES from the school of dubstep — a brooding introvert and a Saturday-night extrovert— bypass the awkward stage. ...

Lennon, Lenin, The Oz Schoolkids Issue And Me

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, The Word, April 2011

In 1970 Charles Shaar Murray answered an ad in furry freak magazine Oz for a bunch of juveniles to edit a Schoolkids issue. Next thing ...

Paul Simon: So Beautiful Or So What

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2011

After a 70-year emotional odyssey, Paul Simon offloads his hard-won black humour and shrugging folk wisdom. ...

Blancmange, The Human League: The Human League: Credo/Blancmange: Blanc Burn

Review by John McCready, The Word, April 2011

Shiny new albums by Blancmange and the Human League show they'll stop at nothing in the service of "electronic ideals". ...

The Strokes, The Vaccines: The Strokes: Angles/The Vaccines: What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, April 2011

Every few months, along comes another band ready to "save rock and roll". Who'll take care of it this time: the Strokes, back after six ...

Fleet Foxes: Modern Life Is Rubbish

Interview by Andy Gill, The Word, May 2011

Fleet Foxes dust down their antique marxophones and twanging one-string zithers — and record it all on tape. ...

Alison Krauss: Key coordinates for the First Lady Of Bluegrass ALISON KRAUSS are Paul Rodgers + ELO x Ralph Stanley

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, May 2011

PAPARAZZI CAME to the Baglioni Hotel at Hyde Park Gate this morning to catch Debbie Harry, who's staying in Room Four. They went into bonus ...

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 ...

Mickey Newbury: American Trilogy (Saint Cecilia Knows/Mountain Retreat)

Review by Rob Young, The Word, May 2011

Mickey Newbury's songs were made famous by other people. In his own hands they reveal a strange and magical thumbprint. ...

Fleet Foxes: Pack Mentality: Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Bella Union)

Review by Rob Young, The Word, May 2011

Fleet Foxes return, warmer and more bracing, with a set of vivid utopian folk songs for an age of modern austerity ...

Rock Critic Superpower Summit: Nick Kent meets Greil Marcus

Interview by Nick Kent, The Word, May 2011

On-site action terrorist Nick Kent and stay-at-home scholar Greil Marcus. Would they mesh or clash if The Word brought them together? ...

The Beatles, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor: David Browne: Fire And Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story Of 1970 (Da Capo)

Book Review by Rob Young, The Word, June 2011

AROUND 15 MAY 1970, Neil Young glanced at Time magazine's coverage of the killing of four students at Kent State, grabbed a guitar and within ...

Kate Bush: Double Exposure: Kate Bush: Director's Cut (EMI/Fish People)

Review by Graeme Thomson, The Word, June 2011

Kate Bush re-examines a handful of her own songs. The result? Restoration, radical reinvention and unfettered weirdness… ...

Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones: Keith Richards: The Rake's Progress

Interview by Mark Ellen, The Word, June 2011

From the coal smoke of '40s Dartford to a one-million concert audience in the 21st Century, Keith Richards' rollicking memoir is the tale of an ...

Loudon Wainwright III: "Don't be an actor"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, June 2011

Bounder, famously fallible patriarch, six-stringed self-analyst and chronicler — consider the dust-caked dictums of Loudon Wainwright III ...

Mercury Rev: The Big Sleep

Report and Interview by James Medd, The Word, June 2011

Mercury Rev's masterpiece was inspired by an orchestral record of Rip Van Winkle from childhood. Deserter's Songs has just reawaken. ...

PJ Harvey: Polly Harvey: An Interview

Interview by James Medd, The Word, June 2011

SHE'S SO ON-BRAND, it's like 20 years never passed: a black sleeveless vest top over a physique suggesting food is not an interest, the black ...

Robert Johnson: The Centennial Collection

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, June 2011

Robert Johnson used a variety of tricks to hide his remarkable technique from copyists, even dancing while he played. ...

The Fugs — Suppose They Gave A War And Nobody Came?

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, June 2011

"KILL FOR PEACE" ironists The Fugs have reunited after 27 years and are "preparing to go out in a blaze of leaflets". ...

The National: An Interview with Matt Berninger

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, June 2011

It's been a long, slow slog to the summit for The National — "You either plant your flag or you're forgotten" ...

Bon Iver: Bon Iver (4AD)

Review by Rob Young, The Word, July 2011

After the world's greatest break-up album, Bon Iver has pulled himself out of the quagmire of regret — with invigorating results. ...

Duane Eddy: "All Pilots Are Musicians"

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, July 2011

Downhome philosopher, barrier-busting King Of Twang noise-bringer — Duane Eddy strums the semi-acoustic soundbox of sagacity. ...

Rory Gallagher: Blues for the Muse

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, The Word, July 2011

A lost studio album is out – by Rory Gallagher, the man who put all he had into his music and took nothing back in ...

Roy Harper: Songs Of Love And Loss: Volumes 1 & 2

Review by Rob Hughes, The Word, July 2011

Like Marmite and modern jazz, Roy Harper tends to polarise opinion. The man allergic to authority gets a digital reboot. ...

Arctic Monkeys: Surfeit Safari: Arctic Monkeys: Suck It And See (Domino)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, July 2011

Arctic Monkeys latest adventure — an overload of hyper-chiselled lyricism and a touch too much of yer manly riff-rock ...

Andy Kershaw

Interview by James Medd, The Word, August 2011

"THE FIRST 50 years have been eventful, haven't they?" asks Andy Kershaw, reassuringly still the cocky young'un off The Whistle Test despite 2009's half-century. ...

Fountains of Wayne: Sky Full Of Holes

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, August 2011

Lost souls and unsung heroes still stalk the landscape for Fountains Of Wayne — but has the well of compassion run dry? ...

Johnny Cash: When Johnny Came Marching Home

Retrospective by Graeme Thomson, The Word, August 2011

In 1993 Johnny Cash sat on Rick Rubin's sofa and began playing songs — just as a "getting to know you" exercise. It turned out ...

Justin Townes Earle: Ripped Genes

Profile and Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, August 2011

Steve Earle is your dad. You're sent to a boot camp for teenage delinquents. But watch what happened next for Justin Townes Earle... ...

Stephen Malkmus: Things I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, August 2011

Pavement founder turned Jick-In-Chief, Thin Lizzy nut, chaser of "the cinematic '70s", jealous of Joanna Newsom. ...

Suzi Quatro: Things I Like

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, August 2011

Leather-clad pop cat, amateur Soviet historian and Tony Hancock aficionado. Do not disturb between 4 and 6pm.                                                  *   ...

They Might Be Giants: If You Can't Take A Yoke (You Shouldn't Have Joined)

Retrospective and Interview by James Medd, The Word, August 2011

Johns Flansburgh and Linnell formed They Might Be Giants during punk's "amnesty for oddballs". In the 30 years since, they've represented for Marmite-flavoured ebullience in ...

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 ...

Goldie, Pat Metheny: When Goldie Met Metheny

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, August 2011

Obsessed drum'n'bass muscle writes daily letters to jazz wizard (and to Beethoven and Elgar). Eventually he posts one. Word arranges a summit ...

Amy LaVere — Film Noir

Profile and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, September 2011

CHILDLIKE VOICE, murder ballads with a dark country shuffle... Amy Lavere thinks of her songs as "mini-movies". ...

Björk: Manchester International Festival

Live Review by Rob Hughes, The Word, September 2011

Björk's new live show: sci-fi, gothic soundtrack and head-scrambling visuals. Each song comes with an interactive app. ...

Paul Simon: How does Paul Simon deal with his compulsive side?

Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, September 2011

THE MEASURE OF Paul Simon's output first came home to me over 20 years ago when I went to see him perform at Wembley Arena. ...

Glen Campbell, J. D. Souther: J.D. Souther: Natural History/Glen Campbell: Ghost On The Canvas

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, September 2011

Half-centuries of rugged individualism are celebrated in two finely-chiselled new records. ...

Jonathan Wilson: Gentle Spirit (Bella Union)

Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Word, September 2011

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

Mary Anne Hobbs: Things I Like

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, September 2011

Music-deprived teenager turned DJ, bikini motorcyclist, Raymond Carver fan. Reads Stuart Maconie on repeat. ...

Patti Smith: Outside Society – Greatest Hits

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, September 2011

Patti Smith wouldn't thank you for calling her a pop star. In fact, there's no higher praise — as this compilation attests. ...

Roy Harper

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, September 2011

"Unwanted Alien" — the stamp on Roy Harper's passport in 1962. It's been the story of his life: troubled outsider tries to break in. ...

Ganglians, The Horrors, Wooden Shjips: The Horrors: Skying/Ganglians: Still Living/Wooden Shjips: West

Review by Rob Hughes, The Word, September 2011

Three of the planet's most diffident, messy and murky indie bands throw open the doors and let the pop stream in. ...

Bobby "Blue" Bland: The Old Steady: Soul Of The Man: Bobby "Blue" Bland by Charles Farley (University Press of Mississippi)

Book Review by Andy Gill, The Word, September 2011

FORGET JAMES BROWN: the hardest working man in show business is surely bluesman Bobby "Blue" Bland, who played over 300 shows per year, for decades ...

Tony Bennett: "Legalise drugs!"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, September 2011

Reformed doper, WW2 footsoldier, gilt-tonsilled balladeer — Tony Bennett takes a cable car to the top of Mount Wisdom ...

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. ...

Crowded House

Retrospective and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, October 2011

Crowded House's recording career was becalmed in 1990 until an unplanned injection of sibling rivalry sparked off the masterpiece that was Woodface. It couldn't last ...

Feist: Metals

Review by Pete Paphides, The Word, October 2011

The ravishing, quasi-pagan soundscapes of Feist's third album connect most powerfully just before dawn. Prepare to be spooked. ...

Ian McCulloch: Things I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, October 2011

Head Bunnyman; admires The Doors' "sea shanties" the lyrics of Shania Twain, the poetry of John Betjeman and the voice of Alan Yentob ...

The Coasters, The Drifters, Ben E. King, Big Mama Thornton: Jerry Leiber, 1933-2011

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, October 2011

The man who made "15-minute radio plays" into hits. ...

Little Feat: 40 Feat – The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, October 2011

Five years of inspiration and another 35 of re-creation in a box of Little Feat, the band that nearly became the next big thing. ...

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. ...

Mara Carlyle: Torched Songs

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, October 2011

Mara Carlyle's album was jinxed — delayed for years in legal wrangles, then all the stock was burnt in a riot-related warehouse fire. But in ...

Meg Baird: Seasons On Earth

Review by Rob Young, The Word, October 2011

Those in search of rapturous folk meditations with all the urgency of the '60s revivalists... tune in to Meg Baird. ...

Nick Lowe: The Old Magic

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, October 2011

Come raise a glass in the small, vivid, brilliantly disordered universe of Nick Lowe — its life, just not quite as we know it. ...

Pajama Club: Marital Records

Profile and Interview by David Hepworth, The Word, October 2011

The moment their kids left home, Neil and Sharon Finn formed a new band. Pajama Club is their "empty-nest album". ...

Peter Gabriel: "Don't try to be liked"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, October 2011

Sage, musicologist, digital pathfinder, born-again dad — Peter Gabriel offloads his recyclable bag of wisdom ...

Queen, Roger Taylor: Queen: Bismillah! We Will Not Let You Go!

Retrospective and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, October 2011

At the age of 11, Kate Mossman began a manic seven-year obsession with the baroque fantasies of Queen – but thought she'd now made a ...

Thomas Dolby: Appliance Of Science

Interview by James Medd, The Word, October 2011

Name a musician that hasn't felt the magic plug-in of hyperactive studio dweeb Thomas Dolby. ...

Half Man Half Biscuit: 90 Bisodol (Crimond)

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, November 2011

Antacid, pierced glook and regional epithets — the enduring joy of a new album from Birkenhead's finest satirists. ...

David Bowie: Keeping Up With The Jones: The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie and the 1970s by Peter Doggett (Bodley Head)

Book Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, November 2011

For ten solid, supercharged years Bowie was always one step ahead. Peter Doggett considers a decade of "magical thinking" ...

Marc Ribot, Tom Waits: Marc Ribot: Swamp Thing

Profile and Interview by James Medd, The Word, November 2011

The genius fog-filled guitarist who pushed Tom Waits' signature sound off the piano stool. ...

Chic, Nile Rodgers: Nile Rodgers: The Winter Of Our Discotheque

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, November 2011

Chic's Nile Rodgers recalls the chilling dance-music backlash of 1979 — "the more dominant tribe basically saying, It's time to thin out the herd" ...

Thea Gilmore: The Long Goodbye

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, November 2011

THEA GILMORE has written music for ten lost Sandy Denny lyrics. Creative time-travel or over-milking a legacy? ...

Tom Waits: Bad as Me

Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Word, 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 ...

Florence and the Machine: Florence + The Machine Ceremonials (Island)

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, December 2011

Fabulous theatre, preposterous lyrics, tribal rhythms — has Florence made the most overblown female solo album in years? ...

Kate Bush: The Mystery Dance

Interview by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, December 2011

A Kate Bush song can be a game, a riddle, a library, a plane ticket, a night at the movies, a love affair, an hallucination, ...

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

Book Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Word, December 2011

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

Roots Manuva: Things I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, December 2011

HIP-HOP DREAM-WEAVER, advocate of the Ray Charles boutique label system, Rastamouse apologist. ...

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. ...

Amy Winehouse: Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Island)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, January 2012

Danse Macabre: Subdued cover versions and a posthumous "duet" — the final album from Amy Winehouse is an unsettling experience ...

Anna Calvi: Things I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, January 2012

Siren of art-house blues-rock, raised on Beefheart and modelled on Edith Piaf. Ashamed of her attraction to Glee. ...

Charlie McCoy: Fad Gadget

Retrospective and Interview by James Medd, The Word, January 2012

Multi-instrumental session vet Charlie McCoy has a motto: have harmonica, be eternally employable. ...

Elbow: Guy Garvey: Elbow ambassador; Joni Mitchell torch-carrier

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, January 2012

ANY WOMAN interviewing guy GARVEY will inevitably drift to thoughts of what he would be like to live with. This is because every anecdote that ...

David Bowie, Peter Frampton, The Herd, Humble Pie: Peter Frampton: Fables Of The Resurrection

Interview by David Quantick, The Word, January 2012

He had the biggest-selling album of all time and then "completely tanked" for 28 years. Peter Frampton, this is your rebooted life! ...

Florence and the Machine: Q&A: Florence Welch

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, January 2012

Pop sorceress, Oscars attendee ...

Roy Wood

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, January 2012

Anyone else apart from Roy Wood ever been sued by a prime minister? ...

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. ...

The Belle Stars, Dennis Bovell, Ian Dury, Joy Division, Paul McCartney, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Jaco Pastorius, The Specials, The Stone Roses, The Stranglers, The Strokes, Suede, Talking Heads, Warpaint: Bassists: Let's Stick Together

Overview by James Medd, The Word, February 2012

They are "the glue" that cements the music, the mysterious put-upon souls plying their crucial trade in a cloud of dry ice by the drum-riser. ...

Beth Jeans Houghton: Eat To The Beat

Interview by James Medd, The Word, February 2012

Managers, labels, producers — all of them got short shrift. Beth Jeans Houghton knows precisely how she wants things to be — "edible". ...

Evan Dando, The Lemonheads: Evan Dando: Different Drum

Profile by James Medd, The Word, February 2012

Evan Dando's dismissal as the work-shy poster boy of bubble-grunge masks a monumental talent. Reconsider this man! argues James Medd. ...

First Aid Kit: The Lion's Roar

Review by Rob Young, The Word, February 2012

Gorgeous close-harmony singing and undiluted Americana —from the wide-open prairies of Stockholm ...

Simple Minds: Jim Kerr: The Things I Like

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, February 2012

Simple Mind, Celtic FC supporter, fan of prog and proto-punk. Buys much of his new music via TV ads ...

June Tabor: Things I Like

Guide by Rob Hughes, The Word, February 2012

Folk luminary, former librarian, Anne Briggs acolyte and breadmaker. Well-versed in the history of war. ...

Bon Iver, Kathleen Edwards: Kathleen Edwards and Bon Iver: Love Triangle

Report and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, February 2012

There's three in this relationship — Kathleen Edwards, Bon Iver and the big, sad, shimmering record they've made together. ...

Kent Hartman: The Wrecking Crew – The Inside Story Of Rock And Roll's Best-Kept Secret

Book Review by James Medd, The Word, February 2012

If it's Monday it must be the Beach Boys, Tuesday it's Sinatra. The fantasy life of L.A.'s fabled sessioneers told as soap opera ...

Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, February 2012

Laughing Len's new outing seems to imply it could be his last. But then again, he's done that before... ...

Various Artists: Country & Western Hit Parade 1961-1965

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, February 2012

At the height of rock and roll, country music fought hack with a string of urban-hillbilly hits. But did they go too far? ...

Chris Isaak

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, March 2012

Moon pies, Brylcreem, Elvis... Why has Chris Isaak been stuck in the '50s since the 1960s? ...

Etta James 1938-2012

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, March 2012

JOHNNY OTIS was relaxing in his San Francisco hotel room one afternoon in 1954 when his manager called from the lobby and said he was ...

Henry Rollins: "Playing your hits is living a lie"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2012

Punk pugilist turned spoken-word turbo-philosopher, Henry Rollins puts the wanting world in a headlock ...

The Black Keys: How The Black Keys Rose Without Trace

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, March 2012

"There's a lot that goes into being a band aside from the music," say the quiet pair from Ohio. "We pay attention to that stuff." ...

Ladyhawke: Walls and Bridges

Profile and Interview by James Medd, The Word, March 2012

Like David Byrne and Gary Numan, Ladyhawke suffers from Asperger's — a tough call in an industry based entirely on communication. ...

Pet Shop Boys: Format 1995-2009

Review by Jude Rogers, The Word, March 2012

Pet Shop Boys' later B-sides — now compiled into a titillating album — offer an alternative narrative to the last two decades. ...

Alex Chilton: Show Your Working!: Alex Chilton: Free Again: The 1970 Sessions (Omnivore/Ace)

Review by Andy Gill, The Word, March 2012

Former teen idol Alex Chilton found his feet writing songs. The first efforts were strange, charming and totally schizophrenic. ...

Spiritualized: Sweet Heart Sweet Light

Review by Simon Price, The Word, March 2012

His last creative fix was religion, now its sugar-coated psych-pop. Has "J Spaceman' finally found redemption? ...

Wilco: The Bigger Picture

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, March 2012

Music, pop-up stores, all-ages art, cabaret: Wilco's Solid Sound Festival is "what we can't get across in a live two-hour show" ...

ABBA, The Beatles, John Cale, Elvis Costello, Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, The Libertines, Megadeth, Oasis, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen: Writing To Reach You

Overview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, March 2012

Because sometimes the only way musicians can actually talk to each other is by writing songs ...

Andrew Bird, The Dirty Three: Andrew Bird: Break It Yourself/The Dirty Three: Toward the Low Sun (both Bella Union)

Review by James Medd, The Word, April 2012

AS A RULE, violins have no place in rock. Fairport Convention went wrong at Liege & Lief, ELO were all about the synths and 'Geno' ...

Bow Wow Wow: Annabella Lwin: What She Likes

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, April 2012

McLaren protégée, voice of Bow Wow Wow, Pitbull fan and romcom freak. Identifies with Marie Antoinette. ...

Annabella Lwin: What She Likes

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, April 2012

McLaren protegee, voice of Bow Wow Wow, Pitbull fan and romcom freak. Identifies with Marie Antoinette. ...

Dion: The Bard Of Bronx County

Profile and Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, April 2012

HOW DID THEY miss Dion DiMucci when they were casting for The Sopranos? Even at 72 and now resident in Florida, doo-wop's Bronx apostle still ...

John Martyn: One World... One John

Film/DVD/TV Review by Laura Barton, The Word, April 2012

A new John Martyn film is well-intentioned and clearly created with love — but falls short of the grand setting he deserves. ...

Paul Weller: "Be Mutton Dressed As Ram!"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, April 2012

Curmudgeonly theorist, phone-hacked serial dad, raffish poster-boy for inquisitive middle age — Paul Weller gives himself a good talking-to ...

Paul Weller: Sonik Kicks

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, April 2012

Paul Weller's unchanging image limits our view of him. His third "experimental" record fizzes with aural innovation. ...

P.P. Arnold, Sandy Denny, Thea Gilmore, Joan As Police Woman, Maddy Prior, Scritti Politti, Trembling Bells: Sandy Denny: The Battle Of Evermore

Report and Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, April 2012

The Sandy Denny tribute show is expanding, a long-running fight to "give her songs a future". ...

Talk Talk: The Party's Over/It's My Life/The Colour Of Spring/Spirit Of Eden

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, April 2012

It was only when Talk Talk dropped the pop and headed into the ether that they created the template for serious modern rock. ...

Whitney Houston, 1963-2012

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2012

IN SEPTEMBER 2009, Whitney Houston performed in Central Park for the TV show Good Morning America. ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers: Bob Marley: The Lost Prophet

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, The Word, May 2012

A new documentary presents Bob Marley in the raw, in the round, in close-up and in perspective. CHARLES SHAAR MURRAY recalls their weed-scented encounter in ...

Bonnie Raitt: Slipstream

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, The Word, May 2012

AFTER SEVEN YEARS OFF THE RADAR, Bonnie Raitt takes on a set of sophisticated, often contemporary covers — and wins. ...

Jack White: Exit Wounds: Jack White: Blunderbuss (XL)

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, May 2012

Jack White certainly isn't gunning for his ex, but their split seems to have fired some of his most riveting work yet ...

Janis Joplin: The Pearl Sessions

Review by Laura Barton, The Word, May 2012

Janis Joplin was a great storyteller. Here's the final album — with notes, sketches, first drafts and alternative endings. ...

Joan Baez: "Don't re-live the sixties"

Interview by Jude Rogers, The Word, May 2012

Martin Luther King support act, first folk superstar, Downton Abbey obsessive — Joan Baez offers a little steely-voice sagacity ...

The Divine Comedy: Neil Hannon On Lyric-Writing

Interview by James Medd, The Word, May 2012

It takes weeks to make it sound this easy, says Divine Comedy songsmith. ...

Richard Hawley: Standing At The Sky's Edge

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, May 2012

It's trippy up north. Richard Hawley has made a full-blown, widescreen psychedelic rock album — and it's a masterpiece. ...

Rufus Wainwright: What I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, May 2012

Songwriting, film-scoring opera-pop dandy with formative Thomas Hardy habit. Puccini apologist and Family Guy fanatic. ...

T. Rex: Electric Warrior (De Luxe Edition)

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, May 2012

Marc Bolan's magical flair for a pop hook was giddy and touching — and owed as much to Chuck Berry as Roy Harper. ...

Depeche Mode: Vince Clarke and Martin Gore: Silent Mode

Report and Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, May 2012

Vince Clarke and Martin Gore were out of touch for 30 years, then made a record by email, only speaking to discuss the title. Weird ...

Beach House, Niki & the Dove: Beach House: Bloom/Niki & The Dove: Instinct

Review by Dorian Lynskey, The Word, June 2012

ONE OF THE most underrated qualities in music is doing one thing very well. We instinctively cherish the wayward souls, the confounders of expectation, the ...

Dexys Midnight Runners: Dexys: One Day I'm Going To Soar

Review by Stuart Maconie, The Word, June 2012

The rebooted Dexys' soulful and stirring despatches are hobbled by stiff arrangements that never really take flight. ...

Gaz Coombes: The Things I Like

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, June 2012

Mutton-chopped Britpop anthem-penner, absurdist and Muppeteer. Sucker for slow, intense camera work. ...

Levon Helm, 1940-2012

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, June 2012

'THE NIGHT THEY drove old Dixie down' is the perfect emblem for the life and career of Levon Helm. This one song, written by Robbie ...

Lucky Luke, Trembling Bells: Lucky Luke: Travelling For A Living/Trembling Bells: The Marble Downs

Review by Pete Paphides, The Word, June 2012

Lucky Luke were the greatest folk band that never was. They live on in Trembling Bells — now with added Will Oldham. ...

The Beautiful South, The Housemartins: Paul Heaton: "Armed Revolution Is The Only Cure"

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, June 2012

Baleful tunesmith, habitual cyclist, pub-owner, radical — Paul Heaton puts a foot on the ball and surveys the pitch ...

Paul Heaton: "Armed Revolution Is The Only Cure"

Interview by Rob Hughes, The Word, June 2012

Baleful tunesmith, habitual cyclist, pub-owner, radical — Paul Heaton puts a foot on the ball and surveys the pitch. ...

The Blue Nile: Love In A Cold Climate

Interview by Graeme Thomson, The Word, June 2012

Every band falls out in the end — even glacially paced chill-ambient sound-weavers the Blue Nile. ...

The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols: The Dandy Warhols: This Machine/The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Aufheben

Review by Simon Price, The Word, June 2012

The ongoing rivalry between two woozy West Coast bands is mystifying — particularly when one is peddling pure pastiche. ...

Regina Spektor: What has Regina Spektor found in the poet-singers of her native Russia?

Interview by James Medd, The Word, June 2012

NEW YORK IS JUST WAKING UP TO spring, but inside Russian Samovar on 52nd Street hearty borscht and warming horseradish vodka are still on the ...

Donna Summer, 1948-2012

Obituary by David Hepworth, The Word, July 2012

AT A TIME when pop music seems to be dominated by solo female artists, it's hard to imagine that they were once a relative rarity. ...

Ray Davies, The Kinks: The dramatic ups and downs of Ray Davies

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, July 2012

RAY DAVIES is not an easy man to pin down. Our interview is planned for 5pm at a café in Highgate. No, hang on; it's ...

Anohni (Antony & the Johnsons): "Women have suffered for so long" says Antony Hegarty. "And we need to support each other"

Interview by Kate Mossman, The Word, August 2012

ANTONY HEGARTY is a very persuasive man. He rarely smiles, he doesn't crack jokes, but there's something about that whisper, which at first sounds cool ...

Chrissie Hynde: 27 Minutes With… Chrissie Hynde

Memoir by Mark Ellen, The Word, August 2012

BACK IN FEBRUARY 2004, a literary dinner was held in an Islington restaurant to honour the scriptwriter Paul Schrader. ...

Ed Sheeran: And another thing: Miserable songs

Comment by David Hepworth, The Word, August 2012

Writing miserable songs doesn't make you deep, boys and girls ...

Elton John: Panning for Gold

Retrospective by Andy Gill, The Word, August 2012

Elton John was prospecting in the land of his dreams long before he set foot in the States as a flamboyant frontiersman. ...

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