Or June Tabor and the Oyster Band as they are better known. Actually I may have got that anagram wrong. I hadn’t heard it before this evening and I wasn’t taking notes. So what happened was this. TFD bought a ticket to see JT and the OB’s at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South [...]
Archive for the ‘Rock’ Category
Joan T Bender and Her Toy Tubas
Posted in Folk, Rock, Uncategorized on September 15, 2011 | 8 Comments »
The Oates Field – Wild Oates
Posted in 2010s, Folk, Indie, Rock, Scots, Uncategorized on September 3, 2011 | 7 Comments »
I hadn’t heard of The Oates Field and still wouldn’t know of them were it not for a lil’ serendipity. I was due to review another act playing at the Edinburgh Fringe, which unfortunately had to cancel due to illness. The other musicians booked to perform included Alan Oates, and this is his newly released [...]
One Bite At A Time?
Posted in 1970s, Rock, tagged grateful dead on August 31, 2011 | 24 Comments »
That’s the way to eat an elephant, I believe. Well, I’m just about to receive the musical equivalent: my 73-CD box set of the Grateful Dead’s 1972 European tour. All 22 concerts, originally recorded on 16-track tape and now lovingly re-mastered by people who love the Dead’s music. With a shedload of information and ephemera, [...]
tfd’s 20
Posted in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, a to z, blues, Country, Folk, Rock, tagged 20 A-listers on August 4, 2011 | 15 Comments »
You most certainly are, Shirley – congratulations! Hi ‘Spillers: this is an auspicious occasion (I’m having quite a week in fact), as I celebrate my 20th A-lister on RR. I first got drawn in for Illness, in November 2007, made all the usual mistakes that newbies make, and got my first A-lister the following January. [...]
Rosendo – Sometimes it’s hard just getting to the chorus…
Posted in 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, Rock, tagged Rosendo Mercado on August 2, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Bishbosh was good enough to allow one of my earworms submissions to round off the list this week and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that it has received generally favourable responses. It’s by Rosendo, who just happens to be one of the Spanish musicians I most admire and I was going to wax lyrical [...]
Stolen Earth – Tuscany Sun
Posted in 2010s, Prog, Rock, tagged Breathing Space, Stolen Earth, York on June 29, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Stolen Earth are the band that emerged from the ashes of Breathing Space, they York-based progressive rock band who split at the beginning of the year. With four members of the final lineup of Breathing Space on board, including lead singer Heidi Widdop, it’s inevitable that the new band would have something of the spirit [...]
Robbie, Ronnie and Levon
Posted in 1960s, Country, Rock on June 1, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Hawks, youthfulness of: this just got posted on Facebook. Ronnie Hawkins seated with Robbie Robertson and yes, that really is Levon Helm…
Guitar Solo Battle! Round Three!!
Posted in Rock, tagged Guitar Battle on May 31, 2011 | 50 Comments »
In the opening round of the battle, Boris were seen off by Williamsbach’s deployment of the vicious Roy Buchanan – Roy’s Blues (live ’76) solo into the open battlefield. Roy’s protection of Williamsbach as King Of The Castle Of The Axe was brief and bloody – a sophisticated attack from Mnemosene caused a mortal wound via the use of a non-battle tested Ry Cooder [...]
Guitar Solo Battle! Round One!
Posted in Rock, tagged Guitar Battle on May 26, 2011 | 56 Comments »
Okay ‘Spillers! Let’s battle! The weapon is the guitar, the attack is the solo…. I’ll swing my axe first, and if you think you can offer up a champion to dethrone my reigning king, please do so in the comments, and we will judge whether they have been a worthy adversary or not. Whoever beats [...]
treefrogdemon on the air
Posted in blues, Rock, Soul, tagged Buried Treasure, radio, Tom Petty on May 14, 2011 | 33 Comments »
On March 14 I got an email from TP’s fan club saying that the radio station that hosts his programme was holding a competition to celebrate the 6th year of the show – we had to suggest a question for TP, to do with music/the radio programme/whatever, and 21 people would be chosen to go [...]
Like a diamond
Posted in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, blues, Podcasts, Rock, tagged History, Tom Petty on May 1, 2011 | 11 Comments »
Well, the thing is that I’ve been wanting to do a podcast about TP for ages now, but the problem always was: how do I decide which songs to include? Then one day the answer came to me: during the 30 Days game I’d been keeping a list of my noms so as not to [...]
Review: Chantel McGregor – Like No Other
Posted in 2010s, blues, Pop, Rock, tagged Chantel McGregor on May 1, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I first saw the young blues guitarist Chantel McGregor at the Cambridge Rock Festival last summer, when she appeared low on the bill fronting a blues-rock power-trio, and simply blew everyone in the crowd away. Her long-awaited debut album is not quite what I expected. While her talent as a virtuoso guitarist ought to be [...]
AOTW: The Cult – Love
Posted in 1980s, Goth, Psychedelia, Rock, tagged AOTW, rock, The Cult on April 13, 2011 | 27 Comments »
Does the Spill still do AOTWs? Ok then, do we do proper rock albums? (be nice, you hecklers in the front). 1985. MTV Launched stateside in 1984. The US was flooded with pretty Britpoppers making pretty Britsongs. A quick gander at the top tunes of the year shows the charts populated with the likes of [...]
Mostly Autumn, Salisbury, 1st April 2011
Posted in 2010s, Prog, Rock, tagged Mostly Autumn on April 5, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Photo © Howard Rankin On Friday, April 1st, York’s finest rock band Mostly Autumn played a special show in aid of the charity Pilgrim Bandits. The guest of honour was Ben Parkinson, a Mostly Autumn fan critically injured while serving in Afghanistan. The title track of “Go Well Diamond Heart” is dedicated to his story. [...]
Heather Findlay – The Phoenix Suite
Posted in 2010s, Rock, Uncategorized, tagged Heather Findlay, Mostly Autumn on March 5, 2011 | 7 Comments »
Promo video for former Mostly Autumn vocalist Heather Findlay’s forthcoming debut solo EP “The Phoenix Suite”. Some interesting ideas for making the collectors limited edition of the EP into something unique. Difficult to judge the music from a few brief snippets, but she’s clearly going for something very different from Mostly Autumn’s wall-of-sound approach; bits [...]
Baby Jimmy hears Tom Petty for the first time
Posted in Rock, tagged rock-a-bye baby on February 27, 2011 | 12 Comments »
Not really. But when I get there next week, we’ll see…
Frogcast!
Posted in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, blues, Folk, Pop, Rock on February 17, 2011 | 65 Comments »
To keep you amused till midnight…and possibly beyond! This is my first ever attempt at a podcast, and it’s about my musical journey from when I first got interested in music, in the early 60s, till now. Plus there’s a competition, with valuable ‘Spill points for prizes – your challenge is to tell me, from [...]
Panic Room up north.
Posted in Pop, Prog, Rock, tagged Manchester Fac251, Panic Room, York Fibbers on February 16, 2011 | 2 Comments »
So the two gig-free months come to an end, and the gigging season begins again. Yet again, I’ve been putting in serious amounts of rail miles to see two gigs by Panic Room, the first at Fibbers in York, the second the following night at The Factory in Manchester. Are they really worth spending so [...]
Band Of Holy Joy
Posted in Rock, tagged Band Of Holy Joy, TatankaYotanka on December 30, 2010 | 12 Comments »
Bored by pearl, I’ve always loved swine. This should have been sent as an Earworm, . . . but it’s so close to New Year, I’m sending it as a Happy New Earworm. And in particular because Johny Brown’s Band Of Holy Joy are playing The Bull and Gate in Kentish Town on the 7th [...]
Bringing Back The Sun
Posted in Flower Power, Pop, Prog, Psychedelia, Randomness, Rock, tagged CaroleBristol, playlists, summer music, sun on December 28, 2010 | 6 Comments »
So, Christmas is over, the weather is cold and wet, what do we have to look forward to now? Oh yes! Of course, we can look forward to the return of the Sun and hot days and long balmy Summer evenings. Anyway, to banish those Winter blues, here is some Sun-themed music to cheer everyone [...]
Top Ten Albums of 2010 – Part Three
Posted in 2010s, Folk, Indie, Rock, Scots, Shoegaze on December 16, 2010 | 17 Comments »
We’re getting closer, here’s four and three. 4. “Nothing Hurts” – Male Bonding Male Bonding’s LP is the musical equivalent of comfort food for me. In the early 90s they would’ve been called “noiseniks” and I probably would’ve crowd surfed as they supported the Senseless Things at the New Cross Chimney & Bracket. It’s 29 [...]
