Blues

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Various artists: Africatown, AL: Ancestor Sounds review – music that defies the darkest of pasts
From blues to industrial and rap, these extraordinary recordings showcase the community of descendants of the last slavers’ ship to the US

Jude Rogers

08, Mar, 2024 @9:00 AM

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‘Elvis was as pilled up as me!’ Dan Penn on writing hits for Aretha, Otis, Dolly and more
He was the boy from Alabama who wrote a hit while still at school. And the classics just kept coming – from I’m Your Puppet to Do Right Woman. The great songwriter relives his days with the stars

Garth Cartwright

04, Mar, 2024 @11:20 AM

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Liam Gallagher John Squire review – their best work since Oasis and the Stone Roses
To the surprise of no one, the duo’s prosaically titled debut sounds like a cross between their former bands – and their fans will love it

Alexis Petridis

19, Feb, 2024 @5:00 AM

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‘When they cleared the wreckage, it was all that survived’: 10 of history’s most irreplaceable guitars
As Paul McCartney is reunited with his violin-shaped Hofner bass, we look at equally iconic guitars, from Prince’s phallic symbol to Jimmy Page’s double-necked beast

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

16, Feb, 2024 @3:33 PM

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Neil Slaven obituary
Other lives: Blues aficionado who founded Blue Horizon Records

Tony Burke

11, Jan, 2024 @11:59 AM

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Van Morrison review – gently shakes, rattles and rolls back the years
The 78-year-old’s voice is still strong but his reworkings of early rock’n’roll tunes are more wily than wild

Ian Gittins

28, Nov, 2023 @11:08 AM

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‘Fela Kuti was always in his pants’: legendary music photographer Val Wilmer’s greatest shoots
She ate fried chicken with BB King, gave Jimi Hendrix a lift home from a gig and accidentally worked for MI6. The pioneer recalls her favourite subjects – and the ones like Miles Davis she’d rather forget

Garth Cartwright

21, Nov, 2023 @4:13 PM

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An 80th Birthday Concert for Bert Jansch review – moving homage to 60s folk guitar hero
Pentangle’s Jacqui McShee as well as Robert Plant, Bernard Butler and Sam Lee were among stellar acts celebrating the late musician in impressive style

Robin Denselow

05, Nov, 2023 @6:10 PM

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Party Dozen, Jamie Marina Lau and Troye: Australia’s best new music for November
Each month our critics pick 20 new songs for our Spotify playlist. Read about 10 of our favourites here – and subscribe on Spotify, which updates with the full list at the start of each month

Isabella Trimboli, Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Michael Sun, Shaad D'Souza and Andrew Stafford

02, Nov, 2023 @2:00 PM

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‘It’s a charged place’: Parchman Farm, the Mississippi prison with a remarkable musical history
Inmates at this bucolic but brutal prison have long been singing the blues to sustain themselves, and a new compilation of gospel songs continues the legacy

Sheldon Pearce

20, Sep, 2023 @9:31 AM

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Gary Wright obituary
Singer and songwriter whose 1976 hit Dream Weaver combined yearning vocals with a haunting and distinctive synthesiser sound

Adam Sweeting

08, Sep, 2023 @2:41 PM

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Bernie Marsden obituary
Powerfully expressive British guitarist and songwriter who was a key member of the rock band Whitesnake

Adam Sweeting

28, Aug, 2023 @2:05 PM

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