Tabla de contenidos para January 2026 en MOJO

Mark Blake A long-standing MOJO contributor, Mark writes about two of his favourite subjects this issue: The Rolling Stones' underrated Black And Blue and Pink Floyd's masterly Wish You Were Here. His new book, the revealing Pink Floyd: Shine On, one of MOJO's Music Books Of The Year (see p57), is out now. Bob Mehr Now in his third decade writing for MOJO, bestselling author and Grammy-winning essayist Bob connected with one of rock's legends, Dion DiMucci, for this month's MOJO Interview, as the 86-year-old legend looked back on his musical journey and the release of his latest LP/book project, The Rock'N'Roll Philosopher. Andreea Dumata Romanian illustrator Andreea blends vintage design, eerie humour and surreal storytelling into a signature aesthetic. Represented by Debut Art, her clients include Penguin Random House,…

The Chats Pub Feed (NO LABEL, 2019) The beer'n'cigs-obsessed Australian Supergrass turn their ‘shed punk’ attention to eating as a distraction for having no rent money. Cue shouting about pub eats chips and tomato sauce, gravy and meat, and chicken schnitzel with cheese. Burp! Bo Diddley Greasy Spoon (CHECKER, 1965) Rocking and reeling, Bo Diddley gives it up for Clyde's Place and the wildly horrible food it serves (“toe jam on rye,” yum). See also Chaos At The Greasy Spoon by Hatfield And The North and Status Quo's 1970 album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon. Don Henley Sunset Grill (GEFFEN, 1985) Named for a “hole in the wall” burger eaterie at 7439 Sunset Boulevard in LA which Henley favoured, this synthetic yet still greasy Miami Vice-like production takes in street hassle,…

“WHY HAVE Field Music survived 20 years?” wonders Peter Brewis. “Probably because we get on.” Beside him on the Zoom, his brother and collaborator David nods in sober agreement. This understanding has now, remarkably, seen them release nine ever-evolving studio albums, plus soundtracks, collaborations and solo ventures, all on spirited indie Memphis Industries. The two-decade mark was celebrated with three anniversary shows in London, Leeds and their hometown Sunderland earlier in November, with original keyboardist Andy Moore on board. There was also an expanded edition of 2005's self-titled debut, which set the tone for the band's maverick, detailed, ideas-stuffed form of pop. Or “a post-punk Steely Dan,” as one reviewer called them. They chose the name Field Music “because it didn't sound like a band,” says Peter. The Brewis boys…

1 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS Live at LA's Academy Museum Gala in October, the Wrecking Ball hymn to hope gets dedicated to those at the No Kings protests. Find it: YouTube 2 NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS WILD GOD (LIVE GOD) From next month's Live God, a roof-off supercharging of an already potent ritual of communion and togetherness. Find it: YouTube 3 T.REX I'M DAZED Just out on ‘Cosmic Yellow’ vinyl, an unheard Marc track from '75! The loose but energised Bolan boogie's mixed by Steven Wilson. Find it: streaming services 4 FOO FIGHTERS ASKING FOR A FRIEND “Save all your promises until we meet again…” say a pensive Grohl and crew, moving from unease to an avalanche of rock hugeness. Find it: YouTube 5 ANNA CALVI (FT. PERFUME GENIUS) I SEE A DARKNESS…

1 Teen rebel: 15-year-old Dion DiMucci (right) in his Freshman Year at Mount St Michael Academy, Bronx. “I was basically a juvenile delinquent.” 2 Bronx bulls: the Belmonts (from left) Carlo Mastrangelo, DiMucci and Fred Milano, 1960. 3 “I wanted to communicate like Hank Williams and groove like Jimmy Reed” – DiMucci on-stage at Freedomland, Bronx, July 30, 1963. 4 Dream couple: with wife Susan Butterfield in 1965. “I got a good woman by my side for the last 62 years.” 5 “Phil was a character…”: Dion with producer Spector and collaborator Patty Smyth in the 1980s. 6 Having it made in the shades: Dion in the late '60s. 7 Right To Rock: Dion (far right) with Bruce Springsteen and band, plus friends, New York, 2012. 8 The Rock'n'Roll Philosopher:…

THEY CALLED IT ‘THE YEAR PUNK broke’. Sonic Youth's late-summer 1991 European tour supported by Nirvana was a tipping point: the moment underground rock became a mainstream commodity. At festivals in Germany and Holland, the slot between the imperial gods of avant-noise and the Seattle insurgents was filled by one man and his 12-string acoustic guitar. Tough gig, but Bob Mould knew the road. As one-third of '80s Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü alongside Grant Hart and Greg Norton, he'd helped build it. His DNA was all over Nevermind's mix of power trio angst and distorted pop euphoria. “I guess there were a number of bands who fabricated this asphalt, that led to Nirvana,” Mould chuckles today. “At least I helped with the raw materials.” At that point, Bob Mould had…

20 CASS McCOMBS Interior Live Oak (DOMINO) “The unreliable narrator's unreliable narrator,” is how MOJO's reviewer described the Californian singer-songwriter, now onto his twelfth album of covertly excellent songcraft. A reunion with his earliest collaborators in San Francisco, Interior Live Oak was as sprawling, subtle and hard to pin down as much of McCombs’ work; 16 songs that variously placed him in the company of Grant McLennan, Elliott Smith and Bill Callahan, held together by their subtle, steadily engrossing consistency. Standout track: Peace 19 MARK PRITCHARD/THOM YORKE Tall Tales (WARP) Radiohead's first tour in seven years inevitably overshadowed their extra-curricular work in 2025, as Colin Greenwood continued shifts in The Bad Seeds and brother Jonny scored another Paul Thomas Anderson movie. Thom Yorke, meanwhile, hooked up with '90s-vintage electronica maven Pritchard (once…

1 MAVIS STAPLES Sad And Beautiful World (ANTI-) 2 CANDI STATON Back To My Roots (BERACAH) 3 LADY WRAY Cover Girl (BIG CROWN) 4 ANNIE AND THE CALDWELLS Can't Lose My (Soul) (LUAKA BOP) 5 GALACTIC AND IRMA THOMAS Audience With The Queen (TCHUOP-ZILLA) 6 SAY SHE SHE Cut & Rewind (DRINK SUM WTR) 7 JOY CROOKES Juniper (INSANITY) 8 LEDISI The Crown (LISTEN BACK ENTERTAINMENT) 9 BROOKE COMBE Dancing At The Edge Of The World (MODERN SKY) 10 LEON BRIDGES Leon (COLUMBIA)…

Willie Nelson Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle LEGACY RECORDINGS. CD/DL/LP THE TWO mightiest country singer-songwriters of the last half-century were Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. They were also close friends and collaborators and recorded three duet albums, including 1983's classic Pancho And Lefty in which they nailed the Townes Van Zandt-penned title track that went to Number 1 on the country charts. When Hag died in 2016, Willie referred to him as “my friend, my brother”. They were also both mavericks, leaving behind the bean counters in Nashville while Nelson moved back to Texas and Haggard stayed in Bakersfield, California. Both were top-shelf instrumentalists, heavily influenced by Western swing king Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys and Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman who was as much a blue-eyed bluesman as…

Off The Fence EASY EYE SOUND. DL/LP The Essex soulman's first for Dan Auerbach's label, following a 13-year stint with Daptone. Van Morrison guests. THE COLCHESTER, Essex singer/guitarist made his first album 40 years ago under the moniker Howlin’ Wilf. Van Morrison was a fan, recruited him into his band and then, when Hunter went solo under his own name in 1996, guested on his debut …Believe What I Say. Now Van's back, lending vocals to Ain't That A Trip, a joyous R&B number that provides one of many highpoints on Hunter's eleventh album. The pair sound fired up as they pay homage to the late-'50s, early-'60s birth-of-soul era that shaped their own respective styles. Off The Fence was produced by Daptone's Gabe Roth (despite Hunter no longer being on the…

Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here 50 (Deluxe Edition) SONY MUSIC. CD/DL/LP/BR THE LATE Brian Humphries was Pink Floyd's long-serving – and long-suffering – sound engineer throughout the late 1970s. In January '75, he reported for duty on Wish You Were Here at EMI's Abbey Road studios. Here, Humphries soon discovered his uninspired employers preferred firing an air rifle at a dartboard to making a new record. Sometimes, Floyd drummer and exhausted new father Nick Mason fell asleep on one of the control room couches. “Hours were wasted,” an exasperated Humphries told MOJO. This lack of inspiration wasn't a recent development. In winter '73, shortly after their last album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, became a UK and US hit, Pink Floyd revisited ‘Household Objects’, a project they'd started…

A FAMILY-RUN business since 1947, The Musical Box is the oldest independent record shop in England. Today it offers a broad range of new and pre-loved vinyl, CDs and, intriguingly, thousands of as-new vintage 7-inch singles in their original boxes. “My mother-in-law Dorothy [Cain] used to over-order on everything,” says Paula Quinn, who runs the shop with her husband Tony. “She had to hide the boxes from her husband.” After maturing in stock rooms for decades, this unique horde now attracts record hunters including Rick Wakeman, who recently stopped by to pick up a mint copy of Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen's 1961 hit I Still Love You All. As well as restoring the shop's original signage, the second floor has been converted into a museum using original memorabilia, historic…

I was listening to Alex Chilton and it occurred to me how different his singing voice was with The Box Tops than it was with Big Star a few years later. What other singers re-invented their voices like this? Geoff Donovan, via e-mail MOJO says: Interesting question! With the caveat that vocal cords do change with age, health and the number of cigs smoked – see how Marianne Faithfull's voice matured while retaining its essential Marianne-ness – there are some intriguing examples of drastic re-boots and suspicions that you're actually listening to someone else. One great practitioner was Tim Buckley, who graduated from relatively normal folk rock singing to the much wilder vocalisations of Starsailor and beyond: similarly, David Sylvian on the early Japan LPs sounds much punkier than his…

Gruff Rhys SUPER FURRY ANIMAL What music are you currently grooving to? KROK by СОЮЗ/SOYUZ. Belarusian Tropicália. An unlikely combination which really works. What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? How about Spirit Of Ede… only joking! When I was younger Transformer by Lou Reed could have been it, A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm is another. But everyone knows them so I'll go for Salem by Endaf Emlyn on Sain Records. Recorded in his kitchen on a 4-track recorder. Or Syrffio Mewn Cariad by Endaf Emlyn, also on Sain. Trawler rock – as opposed to yacht rock – from the west coast of Wales. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Ail…

Brown Sugar (BROWN SUGAR, EMI, 1995) Following in the footsteps of Rick James's Mary Jane, this sultry devotional was a tribute to the sweet leaf. Spacey and sketching out the offbeat funk he'd develop further on Voodoo, Brown Sugar found D'Angelo slyly namechecking his favourite flavours of blunt and admitting his heavy times with this new love have left his eyes “a shade blood burgundy”. Untitled (How Does It Feel) (VOODOO, VIRGIN, 2000) Questlove said Voodoo was their “audition tape for Prince” (they jammed together at a 1997 Prince aftershow). His influence is clearest on this ballad, but its brilliance is all D'Angelo's, from the seemingly infinite vocal parts, to the dazzling way it swoops from intimate, hushed verse to full-blown gospelised chorus. 1000 Deaths (BLACK MESSIAH, RCA, 2014) Channelling…

BURNS NIGHT Jake's incendiary long-players. Feelgood Stupidity (UA, 1976) “WE NEVER really considered ourselves famous, which looking back is ridiculous,” muses Stiff Little Fingers firebrand Jake Burns. “Our albums were going Top 10, we were selling out shows around the country, playing around the world. After 48 years of doing this, I still get thrown when somebody recognises me.” The raspy-voiced singer is speaking from his home in the mountains of West Virginia – 3,000 miles and a lifetime away from SLF's formative years in war-torn 1970s Belfast, a gnarly experience documented on their classic punk debut, Inflammable Material. Synth-pop and “needling” ended the first spell of the group, but since 1987 Burns has been the constant in reunion line-ups. “I guess I do this professionally now,” he chuckles. What…

THE CLASSIC SIDES King Of The New York Streets (THE RIGHT STUFF, 2000) While there are various compilations covering Dion's many phases and stages – including his years with Laurie Records, Columbia and Warner Bros. – this Y2K box set remains the best career-spanning survey, chronicling the early doo wop sides to '60s solo hits, his singer-songwriter years to '80s rock comeback. For further listening, Ace Records has done heroic catalogue work with a series of album two-fer packages, best-of collections, and period-specific deep dives. THE SLOW-BURNER Born To Be With You (PHIL SPECTOR INTERNATIONAL, 1975) A fabled if fraught collaboration between Dion and producer Phil Spector, Born To Be With You barely registered when it came out – in fact, the record wasn't even released in the US at…

“LET'S TALK ABOUT AFRICAN MUSIC,” MULATU ASTATKE fixes MOJO with a glare. “Nothing else. The African contribution to the world, that's what we are going to talk about.” It's early on a September morning in a Dutch hotel room, and the don of Ethiopian jazz is in a feisty mood. The composer, multi-instrumentalist and vibraphone master is preparing for what is billed as his final tour, opening in Amsterdam and, in mid-November, reaching London, the city where he experienced a musical epiphany 60-plus years ago. Now 81, he retains the steely resilience and determination that saw him break new ground throughout the 1960s and 1970s and protected him when the government in Addis Ababa brought the curtain down on a golden period for music in the Horn of Africa. Away…

MINNEAPOLIS TRIO HÜSKER DÜ, extant since 1979, had established pioneer status in post-hardcore with 1984's epic double, Zen Arcade, but were already baulking at the genre's need for speed. In not one but two brilliant albums from the following year – New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig – Grant Hart, Bob Mould and Greg Norton would copyright a new blueprint for pop. Subsequently, they'd break new ground by becoming the first band from Black Flag's SST stable to sign with a major label, scorching the earth for the imminent alternative rock revolution, heedless of the impact upon their volatile internal chemistry. As per the title of a new 4-disc live box set showcasing their unstoppable momentum, this is the story of a miracle. Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü guitarist/vocalist): January 30…

1 PULP More (ROUGH TRADE) “YOU DON'T know if anybody's a) going to remember you, or b) be interested in you,” admits Jarvis Cocker, contemplating Pulp's unexpected return to the studio 24 years after We Love Life. Partly spurred on to create something new by the death of bassist Steve Mackey in March 2023, the band united with producer James Ford, pulling together a collection of songs that beautifully translated all their spangled outsider drama into sharpend adulthood. Spike Island turned nostalgia inside out, a defiant last stand in the dying light; Grown Ups viewed the human life cycle with the eye of both astronaut and anthropologist; My Sex and Slow Jam, meanwhile, saw Cocker updating his philosophy of love (although “Screwing in a charity shop/On top of black bin bags/Full…

BRETT ANDERSON Suede's Cheekbones-in-Chief Sprints’ All That Is Over is a great album. They have this almost expressionistic aspect to their music, like a primal howl; it's more about passion than precision and pretty poetry, which is what I am trying to achieve with Suede. They're brilliant live too – their singer Karla [Chubb] has an amazing presence and energy. Rage is a particularly brilliant track – this shouty, chanty thing that I yell along to in the car to annoy my son when I pick him up from school. Richard [Oakes, Suede guitarist] goes to a lot of festivals and checks out new bands. This year, he introduced me to Diiv, from Brooklyn. They've gone through different phases; they're currently shoegaze-y. My favourite is their second album, Is The Is…

This Charming Man (single, October 1983) The Smiths’ second single, and a huge leap in sophistication. Compared to the Peel session version later to appear on Hatful Of Hollow, this zips along. The guitars fizz. And the urgency of Morrissey's desperation is tangible. John Porter: The first version we did in a day at Matrix studios in London. I remember it as being a bit jerky – like a cobbled street. And I think it was Geoff Travis who said, “Can we do it better?” So we went up to Strawberry Studios in Stockport, and did it again, using the one that we did at Matrix as a kind of demo and picking the good bits out. There were lots of great things about The Smiths from the start, but I…

Snocaps Snocaps ANTI-. CD/DL/LP ACCORDING TO a statement issued by core members Katie and Allison Crutchfield, Snocaps is not a long-term project. There will be this unheralded release – a Halloween surprise, it turned out – a scattering of live dates, and then the twin sisters’ project will, they say, “be put on ice”. Both artists have established musical lives beyond, after all: Katie released Tigers Blood, her sixth album as Waxahatchee, in 2024, while Allison has combined stints in her sister's band with her own group Swearin’ and a solo career. The fleeting nature of Snocaps isn't out of keeping with the siblings’ working patterns so far. They have been making music since they were 15, holed up in their family's basement in Birmingham, Alabama, teaching themselves drums (Allison)…

Sha La Das Your Picture DIAMOND WEST. CD/DL/LP THIS MAY not be the hottest take of the month but, despite what many will say about it, this is no doo wop record. Bill Schalda and his three sons – Paul, Will and Carmine – serve up their take on teenage affairs of the heart with plenty of “oohs” and “aahs”, but they lack the sine qua nons that define that style. Yes, they are led by a high tenor, but there's no bass vocalist, nor is there any nonsense sung in lieu of the instruments that angel-voiced a cappella-minded street toughs lacked in the 1950s. Producer Thomas Brenneck, who called in the Schaldas while working with Daptone's Charles Bradley then spotted their potential, highlights this distinction, suggesting his plan was…

The last time Roger Waters spoke to MOJO he said that making Wish You Were Here was “torture!” Was it that bad? “Compared to the records we'd made before and since, it was like hitting a brick wall. To start with, we didn't have an idea between us. We did it all wrong, though. We should have delayed going back into the studio and toured The Dark Side Of The Moon for longer. Something else that gets forgotten is that we were all, if not growing up, definitely growing older. We weren't four lovable mop tops any more.” At first, you returned to the Household Objects project (begun in 1970/1), making music with hammers, elastic bands and wine glasses. Whose idea what that? “Not mine, mate. But I wouldn't admit…

FRANCO-BELGIAN singer and artist VÉRONIQUE VINCENT (below, b.1957) sang with Brussels chanson/new wavers The Honeymoon Killers and appeared on an NME cover with the band in 1982. She also joined avant-world-fusionists Aksak Maboul, the group formed by Crammed Discs mainman Marc Hollander. She later collaborated with Laetitia Sadier. SONGWRITER RICHARD ADDRISI (b.1941) was part of the family acrobatic troupe the Flying Addrisis before he and sibling Don formed singing duo the Addrisi Brothers. When success proved elusive they turned to songwriting, and struck gold when they penned The Association's 1967 smash Never My Love: they also wrote US hit Time For Livin’ for the band. In the '70s, the Addrisi Brothers also hit the US charts with We've Got To Get It On Again and Slow Dancin’ Don't Turn Me On.…

Write to us at: MOJO, H Bauer Publishing, The Lantern, 75 Hampstead Road, London, NW1 2PL. E-mail to: mojoreaders@bauermedia.co.uk IN 2025 VAN MORRISON TURNED 80, MADE his best album in 35 years, and showed unexpected signs of warming to the business of being interviewed. If many conversations with him over the years betrayed a reluctance to go into the mystic, this time Morrison at least approached its neighbourhood. Pressed by MOJO's Andrew Male to explain his ongoing quest for “a sense of wonder”, Morrison invoked William Blake. “It's about transcending the mundane,” he said. Perhaps, though, the idea isn't really mystical; perhaps it's what all great music does to us, in different ways. This month, we listen anew to the kitchen-sink epiphanies of The Smiths; visit funky Addis in the…

I would have been 12, 13, taking in everything on the radio in a house where there was no record player and no one played an instrument. That string of singles that Creedence put out in the late '60s to '70, '71, they immediately got me. I picked the rootsiest thing that was on the radio at the time: the singles came out, you heard them for 10 weeks and then you never heard them again. A beautiful thing. Definitely, Have You Ever Seen The Rain was the strongest thing, a killer track. It was slower than their other songs, and a bit grander, and that really appealed to me. That flick of the guitar it leads off with… they were an incredible band – kick-ass rhythm section, the guitars…

“SUCCESS IS GREAT,” SAYS DION DiMucci, reflecting on the hard-earned lessons of a 70-year career, “but success and fulfilment are two different things. You have a hit record, and it's like a narcotic – you get high on that but it doesn't mean you're going to be happy. There was a time I had gold records on the wall and a lot of money in the bank, and it didn't do anything for me. I'm in a much better place now.” At 86 years old Dion is truly The Last Man Standing. Present at the dawn of rock'n'roll's big bang, he scored early doo wop hits fronting the Belmonts and then turned out a series of epochal sides as a solo artist (Runaround Sue, The Wanderer). He was there the…

MULATU ASTATKE Mulatu Of Ethiopia (Worthy, 1972) Though working in Addis as an arranger for the Amha label, Astatke found time to return to New York to record his third Worthy LP – his vibes to the fore while wah wah effects lend a funky Blaxploitation-era feel. Seek out the longer mono version available on Strut. MULATU ASTATKE/THE HELIOCENTRICS Inspiration Information (Strut, 2009) Astatke had barely seen a studio for 30 years but arrived for this collab with new compositions (Chik Chikka; Cha Cha) to add to tracks the band had already recorded. “He sounded exactly like he does on record,” remembers drummer Malcolm Catto, “but we had to steer him away from slap bass!” MULATU ASTATKE AND HOODNA ORCHESTRA Tension (Batov, 2024) Invited to play a gig with the…

75 JAMES BRANDON LEWIS QUARTET Abstraction Is Deliverance (INTAKT) 74 MF TOMLINSON Die To Wake Up From A Dream (PRAH) 73 SHARP PINS Radio DDR (K) 72 BILLY WOODS Golliwog (BACKWOODZ STUDIO) 71 BRAD MEHLDAU Ride Into The Sun (NONESUCH) 70 HEARTWORMS Glutton For Punishment (SPEEDY WUNDERGROUND) 69 SUZANNE VEGA Flying With Angels (COOKING VINYL) 68 JOHN FOGERTY Legacy (CONCORD) 67 LAEL NEALE Altogether Stranger (SUB POP) 66 WILLIAM TYLER Time Indefinite (PSYCHIC HOTLINE) 65 GRUFF RHYS Dim Probs (ROCK ACTION) 64 CYMANDE Renascence (BMG) 63 ANNAHSTASIA Tether (DRINK SUM WTR) 62 BRIAN D'ADDARIO Till The Morning (HEADSTACK) 61 BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD Forever Howlong (NINJA TUNE) 60 TORTOISE Touch (INTERNATIONAL ANTHEM) 59 NEIL YOUNG Talkin To The Trees (REPRISE) 58 HANNAH COHEN Earthstar Mountain (BELLA UNION) 57 HOLDEN & ZIMPEL The Universe Will Take Care Of You (BORDER COMMUNITY) 56 HAIM I Quit (POLYDOR) 55 TAV FALCO Desire On…

1 SALIF KEITA So Kono (NØ FØRMAT!) 2 YASMINE HAMDAN I Remember I Forget (CRAMMED DISCS) 3 NADA Nitrito (SANTERIA) 4 SONGHOY BLUES Héritage (TRANSGRESSIVE) 5 AFRICA EXPRESS Presents… Bahidorá (WORLD CIRCUIT) 6 ANOUSHKA SHANKAR Chapter III: We Return To Light (LEITER) 7 MDOU MOCTAR Tears Of Injustice (MATADOR) 8 WITCH Sogolo (PARTISAN) 9 PARK JIHA All Living Things (GLITTERBEAT) 10 JULIA MESTRE Maravilhosamente Bem (MR BONGO)…

“I'M LATE!” apologises Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, having just about extricated himself from The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon's advanced Christmas preparations. Such is life for the drummer, author, Oscar-winning documentarian and habitual spinner-of-plates, whose overrunning duties as Fallon's bandleader meant he almost missed being told he'd won MOJO's Music Film Of The Year for Sly Lives! AKA The Burden Of Black Genius. His second documentary feature, following 2021's Summer Of Soul, Sly Lives! chronicles the rise and Icarus-like fall of psychedelic-funk superstar Sly Stone, who sadly passed on June 9. It also examines the particular pressures faced by black artists, with perspectives from contemporary stars including André 3000 and the late R&B maverick D'Angelo. “My mom said I made Sly Lives! as a reaction to the circus my own life…

20 MIKE TAYLOR Pendulum (DECCA) Up against stiff competition from Bennie Maupin's The Jewel In The Lotus, this 1966 cult classic – originals worth £1,000 – by Britain's troubled answer to Bill Evans was MOJO's favourite jazz reissue. Also essential was another key Taylor find, Trio (1967). 19 SWELL MAPS The John Peel Sessions (MUTE) Nikki Sudden, Jowe Head and Epic Soundtracks’ chaotic and brilliant radio sessions, 1978-1980, reasserted them as punk outsiders with a critical role inspiring the next decade's DIY and outsider music. ‘The British Velvet Underground’? 18 PETER HAMMILL The Charisma & Virgin Recordings 1971-1986 (UMR/VIRGIN) Twenty discs and 183 tracks provided a comprehensive guide to the prog outlier's manoeuvres beyond Van Der Graaf Generator. With 13 original LPs remixed, plus bonus tracks, and a 1978 Kansas City gig of…

1 ANNIE & THE CALDWELLS I Made It Written by Annie Caldwell. Published by Shake Boom Administered by BMG. ISRC: US-LB1-24-10043 2 EMMA-JEAN THACKRAY Maybe Nowhere Written by Emma-Jean Thackray. 2025 Emma-Jean Thackray GBAHT2400643 Licence Courtesy Of: Warner Music UK Ltd 3 PULP My Sex Written by Adam Betts, Andrew McKinney, Candida Doyle, Emma Smith, Jarvis Cocker, Jason Buckle, Laura Moody, Mark Webber, Nick Banks. 2025 Rough Trade Records Limited. Published by Universal Music Publishing Limited, Cobalt Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited, Copyright Control. ISRC No. GB-CVZ-25-00008. Licensed courtesy of Rough Trade Records Limited. By arrangement with Beggars Group Media Limited. www.roughtraderecords.com 4 ADRIAN SHERWOOD Dub Inspector Written by Adrian Maxwell. Published by Warp Music Ltd. Produced by Adrian Sherwood. From The Collapse Of Everything. Ⓟ&©2025 On-U Sound.…

Spíra BELLA UNION. CD/DL/LP First album in a decade from singularly beguiling Icelandic singer-songwriter. A FLEDGLING member of Reykjavik avant-pop collective Múm, Ólöf Arnalds’ ensuing solo career won plaudits, not least for her wraithlike voice, once described by Björk, approvingly, as “somewhere between a child's and an old woman's”. Parenthood brought a career hiatus but, happily, belated fifth album, Spíra (‘Sprout’), finds that ethereal vocal instrument unimpaired as Arnalds effectively re-distils the fragile, folk-hymnal essence of her 2007 debut, Við Og Við. Subtly produced by her partner, Skúli Sverrisson, wafted along on her filigree, finger-picked guitar and charango and delivered entirely in tremulous Icelandic, tracks like the crystalline Stein Fyrir Stein (‘Stone By Stone’) nod sporadically to Kate Bush courtesy of some disarmingly precipitous vocal switchbacks, while the aria-like, organ-wreathed…

Kate & Anna McGarrigle/Dancer With Bruised Knees CHERRY RED. CD Timeless debut and follow-up from the queens of Montreal's folk dynasty. ARRIVING LIKE the proverbial breath of fresh air early in 1976, the McGarrigle sisters’ peerless debut so played against the bombast of the pre-punk era that the grateful Melody Maker made it their album of the year. Although both writers feature equally, the end of Kate's marriage to Loudon Wainwright, the father of Rufus and Martha, seems to permeate these deceptively droll songs of heartbreak and longing. Third sister Janie adds to the ascending bloodline harmonies on the bewildered desolation of Anna's Heart Like A Wheel, whose awestruck yearning is promptly matched by Kate's hymnal (Talk To Me Of) Mendocino. Co-producer Joe Boyd pulls in top contributors like Lowell…

Field Music Field Music + Write Your Own History MEMPHIS INDUSTRIES. CD/DL/LP Two-disc set of Sunderland's Brewis brothers’ early years confirms their ability to distil grit into brilliantly skewed art-pop was present from the off. Their self-titled debut adds 2006's B-sides set plus three extras, including This Old Design's whistle-able prog-pop. JB Joseph Kamaru Heavy Combination 1966–2007 DISCIPLES. CD/DL/LP Kenya's answer to Jim Reeves became a national icon by fusing benga and mwomboko with vocal hooks. Dallying with highlife, folk, disco and gospel, these joyous 17 street-tough workouts sneak political activism into infectious grooves. AC Various Soul Jamaica SOUL JAZZ. CD/DL/LP More funky reggae party than soul shakedown, the latest Studio One comp from Soul Jazz is up there with the best. Scorching jazzy instrumentals (Sound Dimension, Jackie Mittoo) and…

Freddie Mercury's Bohemian Rhapsody Gold Disc Value: TBC Courtesy of Omega Auctions of Newton-Le-Willows this December 2, the Music Memorabilia and Vinyl Showcase Sale offers a broad variety of covetable music collectibles. Delivering value for money is Freddie Mercury's personal copy of the BPI sales award for Bohemian Rhapsody: it's signed on the reverse by more than 40 names associated with Queen, including all his bandmates, and is expected to go for between £80,000 to £120,000. Other reasons to tune in include a Granny Takes A Trip stage suit owned by Keith Emerson (estimated value £1-2,000), a letter from Taylor Swift to One Direction's Liam Payne (£5-£10,000) and rare photos with copyright from Stockholm gigs by Pink Floyd 1967 (£5-7,000), Led Zeppelin (£2-3,000) and Queen (£3-5,000). There's also a haul…

HELLO NOVEMBER 1966 I'd known Alvin [Lee; vocals, guitar] since 1959. He was 15 and I was 16. I wanted to be [Elvis bassist] Bill Black, I saw Alvin as Scotty Moore, and we could play all that stuff like nobody's business. In 1962, we got a residency at The Star-Club in Hamburg with our band The Jaybirds. We lived on Große Freiheit in the red-light district above a lady's mud-wrestling club, so it was all pep-pills and prostitutes. Like George Harrison said, “You went there as a boy and came back a man.” In Nottingham in 1966 we formed Blues Trip with Chick Churchill [keys] and Ric Lee [drums]. Our manager Chris Wright thought the name restricted us to one kind of music and told us to change it.…