New Zealand Listener

5 min read

Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner first encountered each other at high school. The then-Brian Finn, a boarder from Te Awamutu, was halfback in the Sacred Heart 1st XV with a lovely singing voice. The then-Tony Rayner was a day boy from Howick, who in his sin

NPR

7 min read

This month's playlist includes a single off Anna Burch's forthcoming debut album, a cover of a Willie Dixon song and a powerful spoken-word track about homelessness.

What Hi-Fi?

13 min read

Pop is music that becomes part of the vernacular; lovable and well-crafted songs that have achieved considerable commercial success. Jazz, the blues, R’n’B, gospel and folk are among pop’s roots, while electronica, dance, rock, metal and hip-hop are

BBC Music Magazine

3 min read

Michelle Dockery is best known for her longstanding role as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey, which she has reprised for the show’s subsequent films. A trained singer as well as a stage and screen actor, Dockery has performed w

What Hi-Fi?

5 min read

Unlike stereo sound when that was first developed, spatial audio came to prominence in the blink of an eye. Now it’s (literally) all around us. As we said in our feature detailing everything you need to know about spatial audio when using the Apple A

Prog

3 min read

“My first encounter with the music of Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson came through an advert placed on my school noticeboard in 1980. Somebody was selling a copy of Aqualung cheaply. Due to my interest in progressive music, I’d heard of Jethro Tull but

Evening Standard

1 min read

‘We’ve been waiting for this moment for so, so long’ says Douglas Frost – drummer of Leeds quartet English Teacher – about the release of their debut album This Could Be Texas, out today. ‘We’re nervous as hell," he continues, ‘I’m terrified of peopl

Pianist

5 min read

A typical day always begins the same way: strong Italian coffee! I’m not really a morning person, so a caffeine hit first thing is essential. My recording studio at home also serves as an office, so once I’ve opened up the studio and had some Weetabi

BBC Music Magazine

3 min read

Nitin Sawhney has collaborated with everyone from the London Symphony Orchestra and pianist Hélène Grimaud to Paul McCartney and Anoushka Shankar. His influences span jazz, flamenco, rock and Indian classical music and he performs, produces and compo

Prog

11 min read

Barely two days into the recording sessions for his new album, Philip Selway sacked the drummer. This would usually indicate a bullish personality, monster ego or someone with impossibly demanding working methods. Probably all three. Except that Selw

Woman NZ

7 min read

* Scan this code in the Spotify app to listen to the playlist The male voice in song is my first true love – predating cigarettes, sourdough and pedicures, and even the actual male embodied presence. The sound of Tony Orlando, Neil Diamond and Don Mc

Scootering

6 min read

Stone Foundation - Is Love Enough? - 100 records (Vinyl double album, CD, Cassette) By the time Stone Foundation's sixth studio album is released in September, it will be two years since their previous full-length offering came out. That said, with

UNCUT

6 min read

“BEING asked to cover a Dylan song is quite difficult,” admits Richard Thompson. “You think, ‘How do you do that?’ After all, his personality is so interwoven into the songs.” Despite the difficulties in reinterpreting Dylan – and the restrictions of

Classic Rock

5 min read

In August 2015, Rush played the last show of their R40 Live Tour (which turned out to be their final tour) at The Forum in LA. After the dust had settled, back home in Toronto Alex Lifeson played some golf, but soon found himself kicking his heels an

Australian Guitar

5 min read

Few bands have put out as many consistently interesting and entertaining albums as the Hoodoo Gurus. From their 1984 debut, Stoneage Romeos, up through 2010’s Purity Of Essence and a slew of more recent recordings, including 2021’s “World Of Pain”, t

Prog

7 min read

It’s Friday July 17, 2009. David Longdon’s at Aubitt Studios, and he’s putting his heart and soul into this session. It’s just the way he does things. He’s come down from Shrewsbury to Southampton for two days’ work for Big Big Train, this modestly s

NPR

5 min read

This month's playlist includes 10 songs by Slingshot artists: public radio's favorite new musicians of 2018.

Goldmine

3 min read

Jerry Dale McFadden is best known as the keyboard player for the Grammy award-winning band The Mavericks. He has been recording and touring with the band from 1993 to present; first as a sideman, then eventually as a full-time member. This August, Th

Woman's Own

3 min read

The singer looks back on one of her greatest hits as she locks down in Australia… Xanadu is out on DVD – it’s so camp! What memories do you have of making the film back in 1980? I have so many great memories of dancing with the legendary Gene Kell

Prog

53 min read

We asked. You voted. In your thousands. Almost 80,000 of you to be precise, by far and away the biggest reader vote this magazine has ever undertaken. So the past month has been a heady whirlwind of names, numbers, quotes, frayed tempers, late nights

Prog

6 min read

When the last remaining original member of an esteemed band passes away, fan conversations inevitably turn to questioning the legitimacy of any ongoing incarnation. Just ask any Yes fan to unpick the ins and outs of that band’s ongoing existence. Tan

BBC Music Magazine

3 min read

The Carpenters – Richard and his younger sister Karen – were the biggestselling group of the 1970s, with hits like ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ and ‘Top of the World’ charting worldwide. After Karen’s death in 1983, Richard released a handful of solo albu

Prog

4 min read

“It was my father who introduced me to prog. I was about eight and he was blaring out Close To The Edge in our living room in Chester, New Jersey. I was captivated by the sound, without understanding the complexity of the music. This, and spending co

AppleMagazine

1 min read

The soundtrack from the ultimate feel-good film will have you singing along and grinning from ear to ear throughout. The Greatest Showman is a celebration of the birth of show business, following the true story of a man who challenged social norms to

Prog

11 min read

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, the group he formed in 1967 with Vincent Crane (later of Atomic Rooster), are absolutely foundational to the development of progressive rock. The Crazy World spiced up their R’n’Bderived sound with classical and jazz

NPR

5 min read

The best Live Sessions of 2021 feature performances from Japanese Breakfast, Samm Henshaw, Yola and many more.

Prog

4 min read

Progressive rock and science fiction have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship for almost half a century. Whether it’s 2112, Coheed And Cambria’s ‘Amory Wars’ saga or even Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds, experimental music has long been fascinated with t

The Atlantic

9 min read

The Jamaican singer talks about his new album, Forever, dedicating his work to women, and collaborating with artists across the African diaspora.

UNCUT

25 min read

PLUS! THE RHAPSODY WORLD TOUR REVEALED! PAGE 98 EVEN for a band as seasoned as Queen, a new tour presents certain tribulations. For example, as they resume their Rhapsody World Tour – including a 10-date residency at London’s O2 Arena – Brian May, Ro

NPR

1 min read

Justin Vernon of Bon Iver performed an intimate set featuring "Heavenly Father" and a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song For You."