Gary Numan “The People’s Songs, Are ‘Friends’ Electric? – A Dystopian Vision”, BBC Radio 2, tonight

numan blueAnd then presumably on iPlayer…

A chart-topping hit single, but one which took seven weeks to reach the top, and a song whose composer claimed had “no recognisable hook-line whatsoever”. And if that didn’t exactly smack of mass appeal, the cold, sci-fi influenced lyric and Gary Numan’s aim to get “really hung up with this whole thing of not feeling, being cold about everything, not letting emotions get to you,” made it an odd single to chime with the populace. But with his first stiff, robotic appearance on Top Of The Pops (self-effacingly put down to a glut of nerves and a dearth of showmanship), Numan resonated with many kids who also felt alienated.

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“The Five Most Disappointing Goth Albums: Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Rapture”

TheRapture-0513-thumb-400x400Difficult to argue with this one…

By the time Siouxsie and the Banshees released The Rapture in 1995, they had been together for almost two decades. They’d blazed a path with a dark and daring sound that still had just enough pop to entice two generations of spooky youngsters, and you will never for a second find me saying that Siouxsie and Steve Severin should be considered anything other than two of the most important names in goth composition.

But their final, 11th album remains a total mess. Even for a band that was always known for tackling a lot of different angles on their records there is an incredibly fractured feeling that you can’t get past.

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Tim Pope is home…

cf85166c596460e5Tim Pope is back from his South American jaunt with the Cure

How lovely to be home again and to hear the peaceful sounds of the English countryside after my mad adventure with The Cure in South America. What an adventure it was, though. Amazing concerts; the warmth of the fans; the different towns. Oh, did I mention the police escorts everywhere? My favourite one for sheer freneticism and exuberance was perhaps Asunción, Paraguay. Though Mexico might be a close second. The bikes seemed to dart in between our vans like dragonflies, missing our vehicles by millimetres. Anyway, we lived to tell the tale.

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“The Crassical Collection” – excellent Crass retrospective

stations of the crassI really like Crass, and this retrospective from Isolation Records is excellent.  Here’s the review for my personal favourite…

Stations Of The Crass
1979

Crass’s second album was a double vinyl disc affair – three sides of studio recordings and a live side. The Crassical Collection re-issue doesn’t include the live side although the original CD did and is still available for mp3 download from Amazon as of 2012 if you’re a completest. You’ll probably only listen to the live stuff once but the main body of Stations is widely regarded as Crass’s most consistent album.

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“Urban Primitive” – a short film by Youth

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Killing Joke broadcast….

jaz_coleman

ATTENTION: Grand Masters pulling strings wet dream of a new world order. New feudal blueprints rise. We all got fooled again.

It’s an ADD generation, everyone accepts the re-introduction of slavery – by a CORPORATE ELECT.

Tyrant of mine, dominion of our lives, condemned to Solomon’s mine.

We all got fooled again.

This is the fight back now. Free speech put to the test by immoral psychopaths. We all got fooled again.

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The Cult announce “Electric 13″ world tour

The_Cult-Electric_(album_cover)

The Cult have announced ‘Electric 13′, a worldwide tour that will visit ten UK cities this October.

The Cult will perform ‘ELECTRIC’, raw and unfiltered on tour in 2013, an event branded as ELECTRIC 13. This will be a hot ticket as The Cult have never performed the album in its entirety. The live show will also include a second set pulling from the band’s eight other studio albums.

“The Cult’s life blood has always been playing live, we are between albums and decided to continue the momentum created by CHOICE OF WEAPON, stay in people’s hearts and minds. As LOVE LIVE was such an incredible experience we have decided that performing the ELECTRIC album, an event that has been demanded by our fans and followers as the perfect live set to play in 2013.’ – Ian Astbury, The Cult

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