SpideWriter

Where Time Becomes A Loop Orbital – The Green Album Reissue.  Available Now on London Records with UK Tour dates April / May 2024 Orbital's 'Green'  Remixed Available now in all formats inc. tape cassette! 1991, music turned on its head and electronic music became the dance sound.  Orbital took off under the initial influence of Kraftwerk.  Where were Kraftwerk not an influence?  If someone had a plug-in electronic device that made noises that could be mixed into music, whether rhythm, melody or repeated affects, this was music straight from the power plant.   A mum and dad move out to run a pub, leaving two brothers to a live in a five-bedroom house, what could possibly go wrong?  Thank goodness, in the late C20 th  making your own entertainment in the spirit of Punk DIY was still a thing.  The brothers Hartnoll ran a near permanent house party for themselves and their friends.  They made the most of their ...

Welcome to The House of All House of All and Ravenous Hounds Waterfront Studio, Norwich Saturday, 27 th  April 2024 Where do I start with this?   Cuckoo in the Nest ?  Here is a Fall iteration playing brilliant new stuff.  I won’t over-analyse this, but…   But…mortality is a question that haunts us all and loss is part of living.  Steve Diggle speaks of going on without Pete Shelley in Buzzcocks.  Diggle is writing what he can, playing his own Buzzcocks songs of old, (with some of the crowd-pleasing Shelley fans' favourites obviously).  For him, there is no point to trying to recreate yesterday’s Buzzcocks, without Shelley.  At his stage of life Diggle doesn’t want to be singing songs about longing to be sixteen again. So, he is working on taking the melodic punk-pop sound to new areas. More strength to you Steve Diggle for that.   Which is my way of introducing the ghost of Mark E. Smith, who pops in a...

John Robb ‘Do You Believe In The Power of Rock n Roll?’ - Book launch tour Norwich Arts Centre Wednesday 24th April 2024 If you came looking for an explicit answer to the question,  ‘What is the power of rock’n’roll? ’ you might have left a little bemused.  In fact, you would have come away with a lot of unanswered questions.    For example, why did John Robb say at the start of the show that Punk Rock had ruined his life?  Sure, it got him a punch in the face from a passing bus driver for being a punk.  It did mean that his right ear lobe has never healed up from his self-administered ear-piecing experiment using a needle, a bowl of boiling water and a bottle cork, but all-in-all, here stands a man who seems very much together, in great company, with some really interesting friends, some of whom join him on this tour.  This evening he is joined by Andy Cairns from Therapy? who proved to be a raconteur par excellence, another g...

Blackpool Rocks Interview with John Robb on his “Do You Believe in The Power of Rock n Roll?” book launch tour.   It is a chilly Monday morning in mid-April and John Robb has completed his morning run.  Today he was jogging around Cambridge after another enjoyable evening on his spoken word / talk show / book launch tour.  We have an interview booked, which migrates from the Teams app to a telephone conversation due to poor wi-fi connectivity in Cambridge.  Although there is also very poor phone signal in that part of Cambridge, I feel that the next hour is well-worth the challenge of being in touch.  After our mutual greetings and thanking John for his time mid-tour, I start by asking about his audiences.   Who is coming to this round of shows, John?   All sorts.  I am meeting such fascinating people and enjoying tremendous conversations.  Who is coming along?  Real music-heads, who are so into music ...

John Robb with Andy Cairns of Therapy? “Do you believe in the power of Rock n Roll?” Norwich Arts Centre, Wednesday 24 th  April 2024   Grab your tickets from Norwich Arts Centre for John Robb’s spoken word gig  “Do you believe in the power of rock n roll?”  on Wednesday 24 th  April.  Now is the time to put any scepticism or cynicism after a long fourteen years of government mis-rule behind you and be inspired.  John Robb, founding member and bass player of The Membranes, lead singer in Gold Blade, journalist, fashion model and vegan torch carrier, exudes fierce enthusiasm for life.   He challenges us to keep believing that with the power of music we will keep connecting and acting in ways that can make this land and our planet a better place. John Robb is touring Britain to promote his new book  Do You Believe In The Power of Rock n Roll . The book is a collection of Robb’s excellent writing about a life immersed in punk music.  ...