Polly Jean Harvey seemed to appear, fully formed, out of nowhere in 1992 with Dry. This wisp of a woman with a Telecaster, Marshall half-stack, and crack rhythm section was Britain's answer to and antidote to grunge. She was almost …Read more

 

 

 

This is a gem of a television show produced by the British channel BBC four. The presenter, Tony Robinson, was Baldrick (a dogsbody) on the wonderful Rowan Atkinson series Black Adder. Fresh off his terrific history/archeological series Time Team, …Read more

 

 

As the COVID crisis began, Elvis Costello headed from touring the UK to Helsinki, of all places, to record, by himself, a couple of solo songs. Then to Paris to meet up with a horn heavy combo including Steve Nieve …Read more

 

Robyn Hitchcock with Emma Swift Live From Sweet Home Quarantine (all requests) Part 22  “Whatever I am, I’m something from the distant past.” Said Robyn, wearing his top hat and Lennon specs, looking like a crazy undertaker, then launching into …Read more

 

 

This was a very interesting way to present a history of a band. Beastie Boys Story, directed by their longtime video collaborator Spike Jonze, features the two surviving members of the band, Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz (third member …Read more

 

 

It's difficult to talk about Joy Division’s second LP, Closer, a towering piece of post punk perfection. Ian Curtis, singer and lyricist for the band, took his own life in May 1980 (see our Peter Hook review at tinyurl.com/zubpermanent), …Read more

 

 

When I heard that Tom Hanks was starring in a movie about the battle of the North Atlantic in World War II, for some reason I thought of that Progressive insurance commercial. The one featuring the coach who teaches new …Read more

 

 

There is a lot going on in this Hulu network food show. Padma Lakshmi, food writer and fixture on the show Top Chef, hosts this ten episode show in which she examines American food from an immigrant perspective. This, …Read more

 

Let’s hear it for Canada. Metz, the three-piece, Toronto based noise-rock band, (reviewed at tinyurl.com/zubmetz) has released an amazing new LP, Atlas Vending, their fourth full-length. Guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins, bassist Chris Slorach, and drummer Hayden Menzies continue to …Read more

 

 

“Love is not enough, I wonder if it ever was”  Lydia Loveless, ‘Love Is Not Enough’  I first became aware of Lydia Loveless a few years back, as she was touring on the Somewhere Else record. I was the sound …Read more

 

 

Live from Sweet Home Quarantine (EYE outtakes and requests) pt. 18  This was an interesting, historical show, with Robyn concentrating on EYE’s outtakes and demos. Depending on which CD you have, you would need both the 1995 Rhino Records version …Read more

I live for music. It’s probably the most important thing in my life. I’ve written here about Bob Mould, the excellent Sunshine Rock LP (tinyurl.com/zubsunshinebob) and his recent solo tour (tinyurl.com/zubboblive). Bob is a giant figure …Read more

 

 

It seems like I write a lot of reviews of HBO shows, and I must admit  that I believe their quality is still very high across the board. HBO is where this little gem of a movie snuck up on …Read more

 

 

We had tickets to see Guided By Voices at The Cat’s Cradle this October 2020. Their tour, like everyone else’s tours, has been cancelled due to the pandemic. So I was quite happy to hear that GBV had decided to …Read more

 

This is the third book I’ve read recently about Athens and its bands. First was Cool Town, (tinyurl.com/zubathens) by Elizabeth Grace Hale. Elizabeth, a professor at the University of Virginia, was an Athenian in the late 80s, …Read more

 

  It’s fashionable to slag Ringo, and I’ve done it myself (see our Posies podcast at tinyurl.com/zubposies). Heck, the Beatles’ fable machinery even does it in A Hard Day’s Night. That’s part of the group’s public persona. Let’s face …Read more

 

 

With Hate For Sale, the 68 year old Chrissie Hynde proves that her band (Martin Chambers, drums, James Walbourne, guitar, and Nick Wilkinson, bass) are as important and vital as ever.  It’s great to hear a guitar rock band …Read more

 

 

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift Live Quarantine Show Part 14 - Element Of Light (bonus tracks)  Tonight’s stream, featuring bonus tracks from Robyn and The Egyptians’ second album, was delayed for an hour as Emma Swift was streaming a performance …Read more

    When you read a well-crafted book, see a compelling movie, or in a few rare cases, watch a particularly special television series, you feel you have made friends. When you have read the last page, left the …Read more

 

 

This is an odd story. Ultimate Fakebook are a very, very good pop-punk band that broke up sixteen years ago. The Manhattan, Kansas based band had a short-lived deal with Sony music. My friend and drummer nonpareil Kevin Heuer introduced …Read more

 

 

I’ve been reading a lot about the Athens, GA music scene and how it came to be. Grace Elizabeth Hale’s Cool Town is a fantastic, scholarly treatise on how a scene formed in Athens (review at tinyurl.com/zubathens). Right now …Read more

 

I’m a big fan of Vivian Howard. Her show A Chef's Life ran for five seasons on PBS and I’m sure I’ve seen them all. She is a classically trained chef that cut her teeth in New York City but …Read more

 

There’s something about great art that makes you think and re-evaluate your positions. When listening to Emma Swift’s new all Bob Dylan covers record, Blonde On The Tracks (which is as fine a record as I’ve heard this year, but …Read more

 

 

This compilation was a great idea. The Cat’s Cradle, in Chapel Hill/Carrboro North Carolina, is a true rock institution. If you think your city has a good club, it’s not as cool as The Cradle. They’ve been around since 1969. …Read more