The Go-BetweensThe input of guest
musicians from Sleater-Kinney and Elliot Smith's band help to make
The Friends of Rachel
Worth one of the finest albums by the recently reunited
Go-Betweens. Amazon.co.uk contributor Andrew Mueller
spoke exclusively with the
songwriting duo.
"Hits pin you in a time. We had no hits, and in a
weird way that has given us a lot of freedom."
GrandaddyCalifornia's Grandaddy
have a strong love for ELO and American country music, and a stronger affinity
with lo-fi contemporaries Pavement and Sebadoh. Amazon.co.uk contributor Louis
Pattison
chatted with the
soft-spoken singer Jason Lytle about the release of their epic album
The Sophtware
Slump.
"I've got this fear that humans are becoming less
compassionate, less resourceful, less inventive because of their
habitat."
Grandmaster
FlashCreating the lexicon for
the modern DJ, Flash's turntable skills and the parties that showcased them in
the mid-70s are the stuff of legends. With the release of
The Official
Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, featuring the extended
freestyle mixes plus the records he loved to play, Flash
talks about what drove
him to create the quick mix technique.
"Today, the perfect example: you can buy a needle
that is designed to do cutting, and a mixer designed to do cutting, but back in
the day these things just didn't exist so I had to build those
things."
David
GraySinger/songwriter David
Gray's previous album,
White
Ladder, grew by word of mouth into one of the biggest albums of
the year, selling millions worldwide. On the eve of the release of his next
album,
A New Day at
Midnight, Gray
speaks with Amazon.co.uk
about success, recording and songwriting.
"..that's how ridiculous it gets; it's "gone
Clapton"! It's not a bad thing; it just gets a bit weird."
Groove
ArmadaGroove
Armada's third album
Goodbye Country
(Hello Nightclub) is quite a downbeat affair with some
irresistible soul grooves and classic house rhythms. Amazon.co.uk
speaks exclusively with
one half of the duo, Tom Findlay about the new album.
"..if we started getting paid for it I'll be over
the moon."
PJ
HarveyA key fixture in the UK
indie scene since the early 1990s, PJ Harvey has managed to remain at the
forefront of music. Her sixth album,
Stories from the
City, Stories from the Sea, combines her blues/folk roots,
art-rock leanings and pop sensibilities. Amazon.co.uk
speaks exclusively to the
singer/songwriter.
"Everything's set up to mess with your mind, and the
more you loathe yourself the more you want to destroy yourself, and the more
you get convinced that you have to be like this to write songs. I really
believed it. And it's a complete load of rubbish."
Hear'SayHear'say were stars long
before they recorded their first song. As the winners of the television
phenomenon
Popstars
, Myleene, Kym, Suzanne, Noel and Danny were
given the chance to launch themselves on the UK charts. Amazon.co.uk
speaks exclusively to the
band.
"People know us and see us as "real people"--that
can only be a good thing--our strength is our normality."
The
HivesWith the release of
Your New Favourite
Band, a collection of hits from their two albums,
Veni Vidi
Vicious and
Barely
Legal, the Swedish pop punksters
the
Hives have been causing quite a stir. AC/DC, Little Richard, MC 5
and the Ronettes--the Hives delve into their record collections and pick their
favourite albums for
Amazon.co.uk.
"Mr Arson bought this and brought it on a long drive
we had to northern Sweden. On the first listen it sounded like pretty regular
60s soul."
David
HolmesDavid Holmes's third
artist album,
Bow Down To The Exit
Sign is a mesmerising brew of gospel, indie, voodoo blues and
electronic beats. Rather than recording the soundtrack to an invisible film, he
and friend Lisa Barroas D'sa wrote the score and screenplay simultaneously;
both of them influencing the direction of their respective projects. Holmes
talks to Amazon.co.uk
"Danny Devito kept on asking me 'So what you going
to do with the music, David'. I had to have a couple of whiskeys and a few fags
to steady my nerves."
Iron
Maiden Iron Maiden came out of
London's East End to become one of the UK's biggest--and heaviest--rock bands.
Brave New
World features the return of Maiden's classic,
Bruce-Dickinson-fronted line-up. Read Amazon.co.uk's
exclusive feature about
the history of these monsters of British metal.
"By the early-1980s, with the addition of vocalist
Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden had risen to become one of the biggest--and
best--heavy metal acts in the world."
Mark IshamMark Isham's touring band, The Silent Way Project, has been
bringing electric Miles Davis to a new audience, and made a loud and funky
Miles-inspired album
too. Amazon.co.uk
catches up with Isham during
his residency at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London.
"Very rarely do I find myself inspired by anyone
from within the film music community. I'll listen to anything Elliot Goldenthal
writes, but there's so many restrictions within the Hollywood system that not
many scores inspire me."
JakattaDave Lee, aka Jakatta, releases his debut
album
Visions
which includes the hit single "American Dream", based upon the theme to
American Beauty
and the album's title track with a vocal
performance from SEAL. Dave took some time tell us about some of his favourite
soundtracks as
guest editor for
Amazon.co.uk.
"While the stirring theme is enough to justify
purchasing the original soundtrack alone, the rest of the score is also
excellent and is often overlooked and just as good."
JamiroquaiWith the release of their
fifth album, Jamiroquai are as funky as ever, hence the appropriately titled
A Funk
Odyssey. Amazon.co.uk
speaks with lead singer and
space cowboy Jason Kay about fast cars and fancy music.
"I'm just such a spaceship freak. I'd love to see
the day when we can all jump on a spaceship and end up in some completely crazy
world and rave it up."
