In many ways, 2025 has been PULP’s year. A new – No 1 – album with MORE (their
first in 24 years), a world tour, a handsome reissue for Different Class due next month
and now on the cover of UNCUT that looks back with the imperishable pop vets led by
the imperishable Jarvis Cocker. And you can dig into their 40 greatest songs as chosen
by the band.
Also in this new issue. Wednesday, Alastair McKay, Jon Dale’s celebration of visionary frontman Tim Smith and the band he led until his death, Cardiacs,Robert Plant, Jeff
Tweedy, Neko Case and plenty more.
You can purchase a copy and let it be sent to your home address. Info HERE.
Ten years ago, in 2010, three great artists, three great voices performed
a magical version of Xmas classic SILENT NIGHT on Irish music show
Other Voices. A truly tender, intimate, and goosebumps moment.
Here are Jarvis Cocker, Lisa Hannigan and Richard Hawley.
The original version of ‘Silent Night‘ was written in Germany by an Austrian school
teacher called Franz Xaver Gruber and first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire.
Back in 2022, Pulp‘s voice/face Jarvis Cocker and once-upon-a-time bandmate Richard Hawley, also like Pulp hailing from Sheffield UK, who has a successful
career for years now as a solo artist, wrote a song together named A SUNSET.
Last Sunday Pulp headlined Helsinki’s Flow Festival and
played it joined by Hawley. It’s a diamond of a song.
I discovered this brilliant post-punk turbo last month at an indoor festival in Amsterdam. The whole crowd went bananas. These motherrockers slash and trash with a burning vehemence and a flabbergasting fervency. Miami Lounge is the crackerjack opener of this year’s released 5-track EP Bad Time.
Now it’s your turn to discover this awesome London squad.
Earlier this month this dynamite hit team blew all punters away with their jaw-dropping gig in my hometown Ghent (Belgium). They razzled and dazzled with ebullient exertion, blistering British bluster, and a fuck Brexit fierceness. The roof went off.
Ded Würst, their newest single, is nothing less
than a nasty and filthy sledgehammer. Das super!
6. ‘His Ilk’ by BRONSON ARM (Kalamazoo, Michigan, US)
From Michigan here come 2 Pc Noisey Slacker Psychedelic Sludge Punks.
They joined Canada-based indie label Off White House Records
this year with a big bang.
Their newest outburst is a riffin’ rollercoaster that makes the hair in
your neck stand up with its metallic resonance and relentless bass
frenzy. Add nightmarish vocals and I’m sure Santa Claus will run
away in fear.
The alias of British singer-songwriter of Bobby Anderson.
Never Ready is a vicious droning blast. Wïlderman rankles,
rages, and has a bad taste in his mouth. Never ready for
her look and her voice. 133 seconds of sonic sex.
Hot groove, hot intensity, hot slam dunk. Fucktastic!
8. I Don’t’ Love You Anymore’ by CHATEAU CHATEAU (Tucson, Arizona, US)
Glam and glitter riot tattoo grrl Blue attracts all attention,
sonically as well as visually. She swirls and scintillates on this
new kick while cursing idiots who hate the LGBTQ+ community,
who hate tattoos, and who hate anybody who doesn’t live by
their ultra-conservative rules.
To hell with all these idiots.
Meanwhile, enjoy this jangly earworm that sticks as
first-class glue and reaches an aural orgasm every
time the chorus pops up.
With Absent Transient they show their masterly skills of writing ear-and-mind
pleasing pop tunes charged-up with rotating riffs and dreamy vocal harmonies.
When an old skool DJ teams up with Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker you
get a sizzling acid house corker to start and end all upcoming New Year’s Eve parties with.
13. ‘What You Keep Telling Yourself’ by DOWN WITH SPACE (Montreal, Canada)
The motorik and magnetic rhythm of this electronic exploit makes your head
turn 360°. The catching combination of near whispering vocals, scintillating David
Gilmour guitar vibrance and cybernated elegance create an overall ear-ecstatic
vibe culminating in a dynamic finale.
Expect flashy echoes of the 80s British New Romantics movement with
this instant catching pop spark, fueled with glimmering guitar/play,
impassioned vocals, and a non-stop drum beat.
This sugary pop bliss feels good at first, better the second time,
and the best with all other spins. Great pop-ular music is about
lifting up the listener’s mood to a euphoric level for about
3/4 minutes. Easier said than done, but not here.
Still is a glorious harmonious touchy-feely gem that appeals from
the kick-off with Gardiner‘s tantalising voice and Kuras‘ vitalizing
guitar ravishment. Add a delirious chorus and you have yourself
a 24-Carat top thrill.
This Italian singer-songwriter, born Patrizio Ottavianiiter,
produces a blend of psychedelic rock and Arabic harmonies.
Knight Of Cups is the latest single in a series of monthly releases this year.
Electric dream-pop at its tempting best. Sparkling, spirited, and seductive.
Nell Smith is a 13-year old fan of Oklahoma’s eccentric stargazers Flaming Lips
(one of my all-time fav bands). Frontman Wayne Coyne spotted her at one point
as she attended several gigs with her father. They got in touch and after Coyne
found out that she’s a singer he proposed her to work with the band on a Nick
Cave tribute album he already had in mind for some time.
They got all in the studio and the result is a 9-song Nick Cave
covers album baptized Where The Viaduct Looms with
the nightingale voice of Nell as the heroine in the middle.
You can stream the brand new record on Spotify
One of the standouts is her version of
the heart and soul ballad The Ship Song.
19. ‘Always Together With You’ by SPIRITUALIZED (Rugby, UK)
Jason Pierce and his orchestra have a new LP,
called Everything Was Beautiful coming on
25 February 2022
With this spellbinding symphony, he does what he does so splendidly for so long. This
first new piece is another soulful spiritual growing slowly into a gospel-like trance. Epic!
Last June mega-star-crooner Cave and his bad seed friend Warren Ellis
signed for one of the best LPs of 2021 with their astonishing Carnage opus.
And they’re not done yet. The duo releases the soundtrack they wrote for the French nature documentary Panthère Des Neiges (The Snow Leopard)on 17 December.
Here’s the magnificent taster We Are Not Alone.
A characteristic Cave humdinger. Tender and gripping.
Watch the magic, hear the magic…
See/hear you next month with the best 20 knockouts of 2021…
Newcastle DJ RITON and Pulp’s mastermind JARVIS COCKER
teamed up for a special collaboration. A few days ago – on 12th
November – they dropped a climate change related electro hammer
called LET’S STICK AROUND, the very day the COP26 climate change
conference in Glasgow, Scotland ended.
Jarvis Cocker: “It’s the world’s first sustainable banger.”
DJ Riton: “I’m really excited this track is coming out
during COP26. Jarv has been one of the most influential
and distinctive artists to come from the UK, it’s wicked
to work with him.”
Let’s Stick Around is an insanely stormy stomper to start and
end all upcoming Xmas parties with. An old skool electronic
rave knockout. Hallelujah! Holy Mary!
Ne
