FIA Masters Historic Festival – Brands Hatch 25th May 2014
Brands Hatch are celebrating 50 years since first hosting the British Grand Prix back in July of 1964, a race which featured drivers such as Hill, Surtees, Brabham, Hailwood and … Continue reading
Ayrton Senna & Imola: 1994-2014
This week marks the twentieth anniversary since the last fatalities in Formula One motorsport. Three-time world champion Ayrton Senna and newcomer Roland Ratzenberger both died during the San Marino Grand … Continue reading
Q-Tip: Hip Hop Zulu Master
With Q-Tip’s new album The Last Zulu set to hit the stores this summer, we go deep into the Abstract rapper’s career and back catalogue… Growing up in Queens, New … Continue reading
20th Anniversary Focus: UK Garage and its thoroughly unlikely origins.
Two decades down the road, UK garage has broken out of the club scene, ridden the charts, been forced back underground, spawned new genres and come full circle too. But … Continue reading
Days That Changed Rock: Rickenbacker Visit The Beatles
8th February 1964: A telephone call has just been taken at the Savoy Hilton, Manhattan. It’s a winter’s afternoon in New York City and a young English music entrepreneur staying … Continue reading
Life-Changing Music: Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms (Mercury Records, 1997)
Although release in 1997, it was late in ’99 when I discovered a new obsession. I was aware of drum’n’bass from school mates but was then a serious guitar freak. … Continue reading
Album of the Year: Beady Belle – Cricklewood Broadway (Jazzland Recordings 2013)
Forsaking the folk/country experiments of recent albums, Beady Belle returns with a fascinating concept album, based on Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth. Here, the Norwegian electronic jazz poppers have managed … Continue reading
Black Sabbath: Live at the O2 Arena, London, 10/12/13
Guitarist Tony Iommi’s sick, and it’s a scary thought that he may not be with us much longer. The king of six-string doom has lymphoma. This was probably the main … Continue reading
20th anniversary focus: Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (Virgin 1993)
Seeing that it’s Halloween, and some unlucky households will be dining on their fair share of the orange fleshed gourd, now’s a more than timely reflection on a certain Chicago … Continue reading
Everything Everything: Live at the Forum, Kentish Town, London, 26/10/13
To be honest, you can’t avoid Everything Everything at the moment. Apart from appearances on Glastonbury or Later…With Jools Holland, listen very carefully and you’ll hear them in the background … Continue reading
Beady Belle: Live at Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London, 16/10/13
It’s been ages since Beady Belle played in London. It’s a rare event, having been eight years since their last headline date at The Borderline, where they met with pop … Continue reading
Soundgarden: Live at O2 Academy, Brixton, London, 18/09/13
“This is another one from our new album” – not what you usually want to hear on a comeback tour. But, considering King Animal is such a great come-back LP, … Continue reading
The Isley Brothers 1973-1983: The 3 + 3 era
The Isley Brothers have been around longer than most. Not even the aging Rolling Stones can compete with their mammoth six decade career that stretches back to 1954, when Elvis … Continue reading
Ducati factory tour
Everything’s super about Motor Valley in Emilia-Romagna, but it’s as much about ‘superbikes’ as it is about ‘supercars’. So my third trip to the area finds me at the town … Continue reading
Ferrari Museum, Factory Tour & 458 Italia Test Drive
Maranello is synonymous with one thing: the colour red. During rush hour the town is flooded with red overalled workers commuting by car, motorcycle, scooter, bike, bus and on foot. … Continue reading
Rush (StudioCanal, 2013)
It’s been 47 years since Grand Prix racing last roared on the silver screen. Ron Howard’s Formula One movie Rush, dramatises the classic 1976 season battle between Austrian ace Niki … Continue reading
Volcano Choir – Repave (Jagjaguwar Records 2013)
Nowadays, the TV seems packed with adverts appealing to touchy feely twenty-to-thirtysomethings, promoting the latest smartphone or finest oak-aged whiskey, replete with young beardy men in open weave knitwear. Volcano … Continue reading
Senna (Universal Pictures, 2010)
Dir. Asif Kapadia (Universal Pictures, 2010) Ron Howard’s Formula One movie Rush is out in cinemas from September, dramatising the 1976 season battle between Niki Lauda and James Hunt. However, … Continue reading
20th anniversary focus: A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (Jive 1993)
The greatest all-rounders in rap A Tribe Called Quest have reunited again for some touring just as their classic third album reaches its 20th birthday. The ‘funky diabetic’ Phife Dawg, DJ … Continue reading
Depeche Mode – Delta Machine (Columbia/Mute 2013)
The kings of alternative synth-pop submitted studio album number thirteen earlier this year, and now that Depeche Mode are into their promotional world tour, I should give Delta Machine a … Continue reading
Phonograph Dave 