Jo Kendall

On her sixth studio album, 11 Past The Hour (released in April this year), Irish singer-songwriter Imelda May has found a new path that’s very different from her jazz-club roots and her first flurry of success as a rockabilly performer.

"Music’s all about taste. Lucky I got some,” the ever-modest Don Letts says with a laugh.

Now 65, the man whose record collection inspired punk fans and musicians in the 70s to get into reggae – and got Bob Marley into punk – is spending some time in self-reflection with his new autobiography There And Black Again, when he’s not directing videos or hosting his 6Music radio show.

From their arrival on the scene in 2008, Sheffield-based band Black Spiders impressed with their high-octane, heavy rock’n’roll, effectively a superlative meld of Motörhead, Black Sabbath and AC/DC. Three albums and a ton of touring later – including supports with Ozzy Osbourne, Airbourne and Black Stone Cherry – the Spiders ground to a halt as “creatively, we weren’t progressing”.
But a self-titled new album is imminent.

I was born in London, then I was raised in Canada. I absorbed music mostly from my older brother and sister, and from whatever was on the telly and radio. Jazz was the first thing I listened to because the first piece of music where I took an interest in the composer was after hearing the theme to Mission Impossible, by Lalo Schifrin.

It’s September 2013, a Saturday evening, and I’m at Hayes & Harlington station, about to Google Map my way through an office-block-filled maze to a secluded destination where loud music, soft bean bags and Trooper beer await, at a new vinyl LP listening club called Classic Album Sundays…

From Classic Rock 200.

From Classic Rock 200.

From Classic Rock 200.

From Classic Rock 200.

Secret radio stations? Atomic disasters? Prog snooker player Steve Davis on a synth? Salford boys Trojan Horse have always been eclectic, but with their third record, Fukushima Surfer Boys, the band have really pushed the thematic boat – or surf board – out. Trouble is, it’s taken three years and the loss of long-time drummer Richard Guy Crawford to get here.
“We were the essence of a touring and recording band,” vocalist/guitarist Nick Duke explains of life after Crawford’s departure over a ...

By the very name and nature of Bluesfest, we know we might not be getting the hugely experimental end of Steely Dan’s canon. That they’re appearing here at all is a surprise as the dynamic (sardonic) duo are down to Donald Fagen (and band) following the unexpected passing of long-time musical partner Walter Becker just a month earlier. But the show has gone on.

How the former New Order bassist got floored by the high-strung antics of Tony McPhee
“I’ve listened to a lot of prog rock in my time. As a kid – we’re going back to Salford, 1968, when I’m about 12 – you’re always looking for something exciting and this was one of the phases I went through. It started with Wishbone Ash and Curved Air… but one of my great favourites were Groundhogs. What a wonderful, wonderful guitar sound. They were absolutely revolutionary at the time. My favourite album of...

“I love the idea of buried treasure. I have that collector’s mentality of unearthing something rare that’s a real gem. Experimentation is key but in varying degrees – there has to be melody or rhythm to hang on to.
I’m a rhythm nut [gestures to practice drum kit in the corner] and hearing that in Gong is where this all begins.