Tom tom club

Apologies for the crass plug, but if you’ve seen the new issue of Uncut, you’ll have seen an amazing picture of Tim Buckley, playing solo to a 35-strong audience at Izzy Young’s Folklore Center in New York.

Somewhat belatedly, I’ve just got round to reading Alex Ross’ fantastic book on 20th Century composition, The Rest Is Noise. A lot to talk about in there, but one quote stuck out yesterday. “Back in 1915,” Ross writes, “the critic Van Wyck Brooks had complained that America was caught in a false dichotomy between ‘highbrow’ and ‘lowbrow’, between ‘academic pedantry and pavement slang’. He called for a middle-ground culture that would fuse intellectual substance with communicative power.”

Neil, Bruce and Blur are joined by stellar supporting cast

Chairlift, Wild Beasts and Chas n Dave also set to appear!

29 Great moments from the 10th Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Empire Polo Club, Indio, California, April 17-19, 2009. 1. Fleet Foxes drawing a huge, mellow crowd, sweltering under woolly beanies on the Outdoor Stage, Saturday, playing ‘White Winter Hymnal’. Temperature: 98 degrees. 2. Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Coachella Stage Sunday, dressed as a disco ball, doing The Cramps’ ‘Human Fly’.

29 Great moments from the 10th Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Empire Polo Club, Indio, California, April 17-19, 2009. 1. Fleet Foxes drawing a huge, mellow crowd, sweltering under woolly beanies on the Outdoor Stage, Saturday, playing ‘White Winter Hymnal’. Temperature: 98 degrees. 2. Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Coachella Stage Sunday, dressed as a disco ball, doing The Cramps’ ‘Human Fly’.

I suppose this is a bit rich coming from someone who gets most of their music for free, but a gentle reminder that tomorrow seems to be Record Store Day across Britain and the US, at the very least.

Cheshire trio capitalise on the Elbow effect

A few weeks ago, I received an email from America that mostly consisted of an encomium from Michael Gira on the subject of his newest signing to Young God, James Blackshaw. I’m more of an admirer than a fan of Gira’s music, and not all of the music on his label has worked for me; Akron/Family, for instance, after countless attempts remain mystifyingly unappealing.

Line-up already includes Echo&the Bunnymen, Wire and Billy Bragg