ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review On The Sea, A Useful Ghost, Brunello: The Gracious Visionary, and Pinocchio Unstrung
Latest editorial
Stirring songs of love, madness and obsession Mon Dec 18
RON JACOBS enjoys a great tale, told by a US communist, of the lives of working-class New Yorkers
BRENT CUTLER searches a new history of contemporary Iran for an understanding of the Islamic Republic, finding both interesting detail and glaring omissions
MARIA DUARTE recommends the true story of the remarkable woman who sued Donald Trump for sexual assault not once, but twice
KENNY MacASKILL is disappointed by a polemical, rather than factual, account of the Lone Star State and its political path since the civil war
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by the lives of Charles and Mary Bagot, and the insight this biography shines on the morals of pre-Victorian society
GORDON PARSONS appreciates fine performances and a feel for ambiguity, but misses the music of the dialogue
Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds
Songs My Ruiner Gave To Me
(Dusty Willow)
NAOMI BEDFORD wrote and sang Orbital’s hit Funny Break while Paul Simmonds is one of The Men They Couldn’t Hang, both bands highly politicised and highly successful.
Now, as in private life, they’ve teamed up and what a combination they prove to be. They give the modern ballad an enviable depth in musical texture, as well as thoughtful lyrics with a distinct literary quality.
Similar stories
Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners co-founder MIKE JACKSON talks to Matt Kerr about the enduring power of Pride, protest and trade unionism
PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
New releases from Kennedy Administration, Melanie Pain, and Afton Wolfe
WILL STONE in entertained, and some, by the Irishman Shobsy and the Dutch/Kiwi combo My Baby