Wire – “Kidney Bingos”

Saluting of one of the most satisfying combinations of melody and gibberish, “Kidney Bingos”, the single from Wire’s 1988 album A Bell Is A Cup… Until It Is Struck. In a 1988 interview with McGill University radio station CKUT, Colin Newman offered these thoughts on the song: “There’s always been a very strong pop element […]

Roland 50 Studio

Japanese musical equipment powerhouse Roland turns 50 years old this year, and they’re celebrating the milestone with some pretty cool festivities. They’ve taken their 808303.studio online real estate, which previously housed a pretty cool brower-based version of two of their legendary instruments – the TR-808 drum machine and TB-303 bass synth – and added a […]

Ride – “Leave Them All Behind”

Last year, I marked the 29th anniversary of Ride’s Going Blank Again with a “Twisterella” post so this year – the much rounder 30th birthday – here’s the record’s opening track. While understandable that the video uses the radio edit – it’s doubtful the full eight-plus minutes would have cracked the UK top 10 – […]

XTC’s English Settlement at 40

This year marks the 40th anniversary of XTC’s fifth album, English Settlement, a record that represents the inflection point in the band’s career between the frantic, high-energy post-punk they made their name with to the more orchestrated, pastoral sounds that defined the remainder of their active years. It also marked the final record that the […]

Ulrich Schnauss – “Crazy For You”

Ulrich Schnauss‘ take on the centrepiece of Slowdive’s Pygmalion was one of the standout tracks on the uniformly excellent Blue Skied an’ Clear, a 2002 tribute album assembled by German electronica label Morr Music. I’m of the belief that this comp in no small part helped elevate that record from its initial status as career-ending […]

The Cure in Orange

As one whose real-time experience with The Cure started with Wish, I still have a number of blind spots with their discography and so coming across this article in Paste about the 35th anniversary of their 1987 concert film The Cure In Orange was quite an eye-opener, as I a) didn’t know it existed and […]