In 2014, Galen Ayers and Paul Simonon bonded in support of Damon Albarn and a lighter way to enjoy chocolate. The duo’s first outing together was as audience members at one of Albarn’s Royal Albert Hall stop-offs on his Everyday Robots tour, sharing a box with friends. “With Maltesers,” recalls Simonon, the bassist whose history includes The Clash, Havana 3am, The Good, The Bad & The Queen and Gorillaz, among other artistic and environmental pursuits. “Throwing them at people – let them eat chocolate!” recalls Galen, daughter of late Soft Machine luminary Kevin Ayers and a singer, songwriter and activist herself. “Like chocolate cannonballs,” adds Simonon, the Clash bassist embracing the confectionery of SW7.
Almost a decade on, Ayers and Simonon have reconvened as Galen & Paul in the service of something new. Heralded by the holiday-camp organs and “cha cha chas” of briskly infectious single Lonely Town, Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? is a distinctly Europhile, melodically playful set of duets. Whimsical and sharp, witty and observational, the album features songs in Spanish and English, with Simonon taking the microphone years on from The Guns Of Brixton. Though untouched by modernity in its mergers of rocksteady, French chanson, sea shanties, lonesome lighthouse keeper’s laments and more, its vivid vignettes alight inquisitively on themes ranging from Brexit to modern Europe.
Esta historia es de la edición June 2023 de Record Collector.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición June 2023 de Record Collector.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
WINDOWS ON THE WORLD
At the peak of their powers in the early 70s, by 1975 there were signs that Led Zeppelin were burning out, and their legendary appetite for excess, not to mention stadium-straddling, mythically charged, epically inclined hard rock, might be waning.
HI-FIDELITY?
Running a record shop is a dream for many music aficionados. Steve Burniston investigates how to run a successful one
THE ENGINE ROOM
The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music
UNDER THE RADAR
Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention
45 SHEFFIELD 45s
Continuing our celebrations of RC's 45th birthday and following on from our look at the best 45s to come out of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow, we focus on the urbanisation formerly known as Steel City: Sheffield. Close to the (Nether) Edge: Jeremy Allen
Finished Symphonies
In the late 80s, Shelleyan Orphan made rarefied, ravishing, precious (both meanings) baroque pop, all chamber quartet accompaniment and literary reference points, like an 18th century Cocteau Twins.
"BLACK BRITISH PEOPLE HAD SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT"
Breaking new ground for black music in Britain from his teenage years in Matumbi in the early 70s, Dennis Bovell went on to become one of reggae's most highly regarded producers, helping popularise lovers rock. He also played a pivotal role in post-punk's experimental incorporation of dub influences on records like The Slits' Cut and The Pop Group's Y. As new compilation, Sufferer Sounds, reaches back to his early days to compile some of his best early dub plates, Lois Wilson gets the full backstory from one of British music's most enduring forces.
FRENZY REUNITED
Swindon's finest musical export, XTC were also one of the most quietly influential British bands, setting a template for Britpop while pioneering a brand of left-field guitar pop – from herky-jerky invention to consummate craftsmanship – that has spawned many imitators.
Paperback Blighters - The books every record collector should read.
The books every record collector should read. Vinyl, you may have heard, has made a big comeback. In 2022, sales of vinyl albums surpassed compact discs (CDs) for the first time in more than three decades in terms of global revenue, racking up more than $1.2bn.
"Beware the Savage Lure/of 1984..." - David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods.
David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods. For many, 1984 remains the nadir of his Phil Collins” phase; an artistic/sartonial/tonsorial disaster area. But was it really that awful? Forty years on, Matt Phillips explores Bowie's so-called annus horribilis.
