CATEGORIES

Sparks and Re-Creation

It may be the best part of five decades since the brothers of reinvention first made a generation of UK pop-pickers choke on their Angel Delight with their startling first appearances on TV, but Sparks have been enjoying a revival in their fortunes – celebrated on celluloid, endorsed by Hollywood, collaborating with the cream of UK indie-pop and back in the Top 10. As Ron and Russell Mael’s 21st-century studio albums are reissued, they look back on those LPs and three other creative diversions since 2000 and vow to continue confounding expectations. “That muse won’t accept a divorce,” they tell Jeremy Allen.

GIMME DANGER

Andy Ellison's commitment to extreme performance has been lifelong, as has his enthusiasm for music of various stripes, from mod R&B and proto-freakbeat with The Silence and John's Children, to glam with Jet and onto punk with Radio Stars. He could have been a contender, though he was perhaps stymied by a penchant for perilous stunts. "I could've been killed any night," he tells some-time Radio Star, Rich Davenport.

Two-fisted tales from the vault

A Sid Griffin archive revamp is in the offing, and RC asked him and Cherry Red archivist Steve Hammonds to tell us what’s in store

The Collector

This month: music programmer and DJ Miche

ROCK'N'ROLL RIDE No 4

We've visited three rock'n'roll London locales before. This time, Tim Jones got on his bike for an eco-friendly lap around Richmond & Twickenham

MoFi - do you dig?

US record manufacturer Mobile Fidelity in vinyl mastering controversy

Voices Of The People

Quality kitchen sink vignettes from the Marvin & Tammi of miserablism.

In The Affirmative

New York trio get their mojo back on album five.

Electric Dreams

Brit-rock veterans galvanise their comeback momentum with amped-up anthems.

davidquanticklikes

...to write a column for Record Collector. Yay What’s in a name? Everything and nothing

maconblack

Ian McCann wonders if we are willing to waive the flaws of our heroes

musictovisit

Bob Stanley carries pop’s baggage everywhere When Frankie went to Hollywood

Perfect Circle

Across nine studio albums, Orbital have remained at the forefront of dance music trends. On their new compilation, 30 Something, the Hartnoll brothers trace a three-decade path as electronica trailblazers in typically inventive - and re-inventive - style. Younger sibling Paul takes Lois Wilson on a trip through their long-playing history.

33 1/3 minutes with... Scott Gorham

Thin Lizzy, and their charismatic frontman Phil Lynott, are today held in higher regard than during the original band’s latter days.

Lamont Dozier 1941-2022

I’d always written,” Lamont Dozier told this writer in 2018. “It started with poems at 11, then by the time I was 15 it was songs for The Romeos.

“WE WERE DOING A LOT OF DRUGS AND A LOT OF DEEP READING”

In the 32 years since leaving The Stranglers, the group he founded in 1974, Hugh Cornwell has built an eclectic solo career, full of the melody and pin-sharp observations he displayed in his years as co-frontman of The Meninblack. Cornwell’s 10th solo studio album, Moments Of Madness, offers a raw, guitar-led sound, written and conceived during the pandemic, showcasing Cornwell’s perfect balance of optimism, vitriol, despair and passion. On the eve of its release, and forthcoming tour, Daryl Easlea finds him in sparkling form, invigorated by life, music, and film.

Two-fisted tales from the vault

A Sid Griffin archive revamp is in the offing, and RC asked him and Cherry Red archivist Steve Hammonds to tell us what's in store

UNDER THE RADAR

Artists, labels, and magazines meriting more attention