MICK JAGGER About LOU REED
17 October 2026
“He had style, that attitudinal New York hypster style. To me he was the Johnny Cash of New York rock. He was always the man in black.”
Reborn EVAN DANDO And His LEMONHEADS Cranked It Up In BRUSSELS
17 October 2026
The now 59-year-old Boston singer-songwriter EVAN DANDO endured a long, troubled life/career with drug addiction and mental health issues. Nevertheless, in between several collapses, he managed to create mesmerizing music. Eleven albums (from good to great) with THE LEMONHEADS, plus one top-notch solo album, the enthralling Baby I’m Bored LP.
Last year, following reports of Dando being back in healthy shape, The Lemonheads delivered, after almost 2 decades and 2 albums with covers (2009 and 2019), their first LP with new material, bundled on Love Chant. A notable and acclaimed return with a series of bona fide pop tunes.
The album’s promotion tour brought them to Brussels last Tuesday.
The first thing we noticed when Dando hit the podium was that he looked like shit, as if
he was recovering from a nasty hangover. For the greater part of the gig, while he sang and played, he was staring at the ceiling as if the lyric sheets and the setlist were pinned to the ceiling instead of lying next to him, where they had actually been placed by a roadie.
“I think I see my lyric sheets up there”
He regularly exchanged incomprehensible words between songs with
his two lemonheads, drummer and bassist, seemingly to decide what
to play next.
It all looked chaotic, but Dando never, besides a couple of hiccups, really lost control and rushed through the set like a whirlwind, like if he needed to be somewhere urgently.
And? His cranked-up guitar riffage, his reliable bandmates (who never lost an eye on him), the super setlist and the whole venue ambiance, combined for a terrifically punky rock night out.
Lots of lemon pearls such as Into Your Arms, Big Gay Heart, A Shame About Ray, Confetti,
If I Could Talk To You and My Drug Buddy, several covers (Graham Parsons’ Return Of The Grievious Angel, Smudge’s Tenderfoot and The Outdoor Type, Townes Van Zandt’s Rake, among others) and 4 from the new album (In The Margin / Togetherness Is All I’m After / Deep End and Roky).
Welcome back, big gay heart.
Big-time return on record
and on stage.
Hey Evan, your lyric sheets are here.
Always keeping an eye on Evan.
LOVE CHANT
.
New Singles: dEUS – KINGS OF LEON – BODYWASH
17 October 2026
Photo by Turn Up The Volume
Band: dEUS
Who: Arguably, the best band in Belgian history.
Active: Since 1991 / 8 albums
Single: KEPTMAN
Rumours of a new album start here.
Tom Barman (frontman/songwriter) “A simple vocal line, the verses, and the bridge.
I worked those out in Portugal without much thought. Even the title took shape without much deliberation: our sound engineer João Portela accidentally made the space between the two words disappear. ‘Kept Man’ became ‘Keptman’. Sometimes simple mistakes don’t need to be corrected.”
TUTV: Smooth and laid-back flow, haunting Barman vocals, thunderous finale.
Band: KINGS OF LEON
Who: The reputable rock family from Mount Juliet, Tennessee.
Active: Since 1999 / 10 LPs (new one included)
Single: KOYSAR
Third taster from their 10th LP, titled O My Beloved.
Out November 6th. Pre-order info here.
TUTV: On this new piece, KOL show their
softer side, more country, less rock.
Photo by Sasha Khalimonova
Band: BODYWASH
Who: Shoegaze duo from Montreal who conjure a dreamscape with
airy vocals, wet guitar textures and pulsating synths over a heavy
rhythmic foundation.
Active: Since 2016 / 3 albums (new one included)
Single: LA RENOMME
Third shared cut from their upcoming LP, called Laughing At Noise.
It’ll land on November 20th. Tracklist and order info here.
TUTV: Poppy tune drowned in a pool of guitars.
THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS Released Their Debut LP Today 60 Years Ago
Significant longplayers from yesteryear
Band: THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Who: Psychedelic garage rock legends from
Austin, Texas fronted by renownded vocalist/guitarist
Roky Erickson (1947-2019)
Active: 1965-1969 / 3 LPs
Anniversary Album: THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Released: 17 October 1966 – today 60 years ago.
Photo: Doug Hanners archive / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · WebP conversion
The album showcases the earliest known use of the word ‘psychedelic‘ on an album title.
The tracks are described as exhibiting a dark, eerie quality. Roky Erickson‘s vocals have been likened to banshee wailing and have been described as sounding like yelping and howling like a man possessed.
Pitchfork in retrospect: “Erickson’s psychedelia was not passive aural wallpapers,
all pretty shapes and colors to listen to while tripping, but an active force of social,
musical, and psychological change.”
SINGLE
ALBUM
LONELY LEESA & THE LOST COWBOYS Impose With Their Inclusive Anthem Of Hope
Daily electricity to charge your batteries
16 October 2026
Band: LONELY LEESA & THE LOST COWBOYS
Who: Boston-based Americana rock and roll team
led by Leesa Coyne.
Track: NEW AMERICAN DREAM
Their brand new single.
Leesa: “To me, the ‘New American Dream’ is for everyone to have some comfort and freedom. To be able to have those moments of not having a care in the world. To not constantly worry about some impending doom coming around the corner: ‘Am I going to be assaulted?’ ‘Am I going to be deported?’ ‘Am I going to be broke?’”
TUTV: Leesa‘s fantastic, room-filling voice carries this majestic power ballad.
Ten seconds in and two names came to mind, Sheryl Crow and Lucinda Williams .
Yes, that emotive and imposing. Vocal Americana grandeur.
I love the sanguine idea of New American Dream. After the GOP and their psychotic
God got their lying asses kicked in a couple of weeks the biggest challenge is to live
all together tolerantly, regardless religion, origin, politics, or sexuality. No more the
Divided States Of America.
There’s no other way. After 21 centuries we should at least try it once,
not only in America. We wouldn’t be lonely and lost anymore, I guess.
New American Dream evokes those sentiments, and being embedded
in this wonderful song it becomes an inclusive anthem of hope.
FONTAINES D.C. – The Fully Grown Irishmen’s 5th Album ‘DOPAMINE CHAMBER’ Is A 5-Star Triumph
16 October 2026
Band: FONTAINES D.C.
Who: The Irish indie stars, fronted
by their charismatic and highly talented
singer/songwriter Grian Chatten.
Album: DOPAMINE CHAMBER.
Their 5th. Order info here.
Grian Chatten (frontman/songwriter) who spent time among the faded grandeur
of Venice, Vienna and Sicily in search of lyrical inspiration: “I think Romance was maybe
60 per cent human and 40 per cent corrupted by automation, and a loss of feeling.
This one feels more like 60 per cent corrupted — the mask is wearing the face a little
more. I felt it would be more powerful to leave the hope out and reflect the ugliness
honestly. This one needed to feel more like a catastrophic warning.”
NME says: “A doom-ridden escape from the band of the decade. The gothy tones of
The Cure linger and ‘Dopamine Chamber’ would sit comfortably alongside the melancholy moodpieces of ‘Disintegration’ and ‘Pornography’, as well as the future-proof genre-clash
and dislocation of Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’.”
TUTV: Their first 2 LPs were afire ones, the ones young gunslingers make, full of vim
and vigour and stuffed with muscular barnstormers. With their third album Skinty Fia
the growing-up Irishmen showed signs of change of course, sonically and lyrically.
The 4th full-length Romance confirmed their new direction completely
and now with Dopamine Chamber they created/crafted a masterpiece.
A strings sweeping, orchestral, gloom/doom triumph. More cinematic, designed synth arrangements, less youthful guitar upheaval, more in-depth reflections about what worried Chatten sees and hears around him in this dark era.
His ruminative tonality and affecting storytelling timbre are on his most entrancing button. This sign of the times exploit will spin on my headphones for a long time. One
of the most fulfilling accomplishments of 2026.
Singles.
– MARIANNE –
– TONGUE –
– WHERE IS GONE? –
Featuring Rosalía
ALBUM
.
Instagram
Linktree
All Albums
2027 TOUR
2019 TOUR
Grian Chatten, yours truly, and a T-shirt.
PET SHOP BOYS Voice NEIL TENNANT Is Not A Fan Of TAYLOR SWIFT
16 October 2026
Oops.
The Pet Shop Boys released a new album last week, named ‘A Man from the Future’.
It’s an electronic/orchestral/concept one that follows the life of English mathematician
and logician Alan Turing (1912-1954) and his legacy. It’s a collaboration with Turing biographer Andrew Hodges. The record is credited to Tennant/Lowe/Hodges.
Sorry, but I can’t find a ‘Billie Jean‘ here neither, Neil.
Photo on top: from cover of TPS album ‘Nonetheless‘.
New Singles: VEHICLE – SMASHING PUMPKINS – U2 – LAND OF TALK
16 October 2026
Band: VEHICLE
Who: Greedy indie rockers
from Leeds, UK.
Single: MISERABLE VIBES
3rd preview track from their
forthcoming debut album, named Fumes, slated
for release on 19 March 2027 (my birthday).
Michael Cable (frontman/songwriter): “A withdrawn nostalgia addict goes cold turkey, everything floats to the surface, the conclusion is an elusive one. Archive footage floats across the words– our hero doesn’t know what era they’re from anymore, the song is about the strange guilt of living in a present that borrows too heavily from the past.”
TUTV: References? The La’s, The Tubs, and sensation Geese.
Sound: Jangly post-punk action. Vibes? Chilling.
Band: THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Active: Since 1988 – To date, 13 LPs
Single: BLACK STARS
Part of the soundtrack of the upcoming dystopian movie
The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping. In cinemas
from Nov 20th on.
TUTV: Feel-good, catchy, guitar-pop melodiousness.
Band: U2
Active: Since 1976 – 50 years!!!
Single: THE GREATEST SHOW
The 3rd appetizer from their upcoming 16th full-length,
baptized Carnival De Luz, which will drop on 13th Nov.
TUTV: This could easily be a hidden track from
the 1987 Joshua Tree LP. Emotive, soul-touching
and slightly epic.
On Spotify
Instagram
Tour Dates
LAND OF TALK
Who: Absorbing Canadian rock indies,
led by singer and guitarist Elizabeth Powell.
Single: DOGS
New taster, following Cats from their
5th longpplayer called Lasts. It’ll land
on Nov 13th.
TUVT: Jangly electricity twisting and turning forth and back.
THE HUMAN LEAGUE – British Electro-Pop Bigtimers Released Their Classic Album ‘DARE’ Today 45 Years Ago
Significant longplayers from yesteryear
16 October 2026
Band: THE HUMAN LEAGUE
Who: British electro pop bigtimers who got active in 1977.
They’re still touring constantly with frontman Philip Oakey (71 now)
as the original member. They released 9 LPs.
Anniversary album: DARE
Their 2nd one.
Released: 16 October 1981,
today 45 years ago.
NME said: “This sounds like the first Human League greatest hits collection.
Much more than ABBA or whoever you like, the Human League signify that
deliciously serious, sincerely disposable MOR music can possess style, quality
and sophistication.”
TUTV: Another clear-cut proof of the fact
that delightful pop tunes last for decades.
KEY SINGLE
More than 807 million
streams on Spotify
ALBUM
U2 Announce Concerts In Mexico City, Buenos Aires And São Paulo For Spring 2027
15 October 2026
New album artwork
As all U2 fans know, their heroes are releasing album number 16, their first
in 9 years, titled Carnival De Luz on November 13th. Pre-order info here.
Bono: “Roll up, roll up, roll up! Bring your purple socks, your broken hearts, your
rose-tinted naivety… oh be amazed in the hall of mirrors. There will be loud guitars,
deep bass, some ecstatic rhythms and, yes, some silver tears will make an appearance.
The Edge: “It’s a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs, and
features the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording.
Just saying.”
Three weeks ago, following debut single Fireflies, they
premiered the 2nd preview with Silencio. A solid gold
crackerjack.
Enough about the music. Tour news now.
They just announced the first shows of a 2027 world tour.
They start with Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and São Paulo.
See dates below. Sign up for pre-sale HERE.
Concerts for Europe and North America will
be communicated in a couple of weeks.
