Brit Pop Culture | Bands

Parliament Guitarist Phelps "Catfish" Collins Dies at 66

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james

Published Aug. 9, 2010 at 3:58 p.m.

Phelps "Catfish" Collins, the legendary funk guitarist who played with James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic, died Friday in Cincinnati after a battle with cancer. He was 66. "My world will never be the same without him," said his brother Bootsy Collins in a statement. "Be happy for him, he certainly is ...

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James Blackshaw, 'All Is Falling' (Young God)

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british, james

Published Aug. 9, 2010 at 3:39 p.m.

For his ninth LP of pastoral plucking, British guitarist James Blackshaw graduates from gifted fingerpicker to masterful composer, combining John Fahey's tender arpeggios and Terry Riley's cycling rhythms. Presented as a 45-minute suite, All Is Falling sweeps his electric 12-string into a tangle of keening cellos, dive-bombing violins, pinprick glockenspiels, and clacking percussion. It's essentially a chattering crescendo of melody and tension, with piano-based snowdrifts giving way to

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Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, 'Hawk' (Vanguard)

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james, pop, prodigy

Published Aug. 9, 2010 at 3:37 p.m.

Isobel Campbell wrote and produced nearly all the songs on her previous two collaborations with former Screaming Trees/Queens of the Stone Age growler Mark Lanegan, and this time, the ex–Belle and Sebastian singer-cellist takes complete control of the album's direction. Yet her wispy voice recedes further into the background, as the genial creak of folk-pop prodigy Willy Mason complements Lanegan's foreboding rumble, and James Iha lends tastefully bluesy guitar. Overall, Hawk faithfully

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Mellencamp Hits the Road with Dylan, Plans Fall Tour

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fall

Published Aug. 9, 2010 at 2:08 p.m.

Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp kicked off their summer tour in Lincoln, Nebraska, yesterday, delivering two sets of spirited Americana nicely suited to Haymarket Park and its Midwestern surroundings. Mellencamp last played the venue as part of a Farm Aid benefit "100 years ago," he joked to the crowd. (The ...

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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Original Soundtrack

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cast, punk

Published Aug. 9, 2010 at 1:49 p.m.

In this adaptation of an indie comic, Michael Cera plays bass in the hapless garage band Sex Bob-Omb when he's not battling his love interest's "evil exes." For the soundtrack, Beck phoned in a few slacker-punk novelties for the cast members to deadpan (including the noisy, gleeful "We Are SEX ...

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Deluxe Jimi Hendrix Reissues Set For Fall

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fall

Published Aug. 9, 2010 at 8:16 a.m.

After a first round of reissues and rarities this year, the Hendrix Estate will release a second set of deluxe reissues this fall, including Jimi Hendrix' Woodstock performance and a collection of the guitarist's U.K. television and radio appearances. Jimi Hendrix: Blues, Live at Woodstock and Jimi Hendrix Experience: BBC ...

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U2 Unveil New Material

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glastonbury'

Published Aug. 8, 2010 at 11:47 p.m.

And one of the new songs is, ironically, called 'Glastonbury' ...

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Full circle: Why is Sandie Shaw back on stage?

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pop, seven

Published Aug. 7, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

795715-full-circle--why-is-sandie-shaw-back-on-stage

Sandie Shaw is giving me a guided tour of her feet. "That's been taken off." She rubs her finger along the side of her shapely right foot just below a purple-nailed big toe. "Bunions?" I say, nervously, for these are celebrated size seven-and-a-halfs. As she was clocking up three number ones in the mid 1960s ("Always Something There to Remind Me", "Long Live Love" and "Puppet on a String"), Shaw was labelled "the barefoot pop princess" on account of her habit of singing on stage without shoes

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Album: Ergo Phizmiz, Things to Do & Make (Care In The Community)

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john peel

Published Aug. 7, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

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Previously a composer of experimental electronica, Ergo Phizmiz has acquired some stellar supporters in his decade-long career: John Peel, Michael Nyman, Matt Groening ...

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