Bragg

In November 2018, Jeff Tweedy (singer and guitarist of the legendary band Wilco) released 'WARM' to much critical acclaim. 'WARMER' was recorded during the same studio sessions, and this release features both albums. Tweedy himself comments: 'At some point I separated the songs from the 'WARM/WARMER' session into two records with individual character, but still tried to keep the overall tone and texture of the combined session consistent. In a lot of ways these two records could have been released as a double LP'. Jeffrey Scot Tweedy is an American songwriter, musician, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco.

Francesco Bearzatti’s latest album, “This Machine Kills Fascists”, is a tribute to Woody Guthrie (the words this machine kills fascists were a message he wrote on his guitar in 1941). Due for release on CAM JAZZ on 16 October, Bearzatti is with his Tinissima 4et (including Giovanni Falzone on trumpet, Danilo Gallo on bass and Zeno De Rossi on drums). After “Tina Modotti” (2008), “Malcom X” (released in 2010 and having won a number of awards, such as the Top Jazz award and others) and the successful interlude of Monk’N’Roll (an album released on CAM Jazz in 2013, that reinterpreted Monk’s themes by interlacing them with some of the most popular songs in the history of rock music), the saxophonist is back to musically depicting the life, art and times of another rebellious, unruly artist who has sung about the United States of the Great Depression, union struggles and hopes in the New Deal.

The 80s Compilation market is a minefield - a lack of variety, re-recorded versions, poor sound quality among the pitfalls - but Demon Music Groups' "100 Hits" series have been the pick of the bunch in recent times…

Happy Secret collects a number of recordings made by Australia's Lucksmiths in 1998, a year during which they toured Europe with Belle & Sebastian and evidently fine-tuned certain elements of their sound, as well. The recordings are certainly the band's best work to that point, dropping the goofy, whimsical attitudes that occasionally hampered A Good Kind of Nervous and concentrating instead on evocative acoustic pop. This move is a very, very good thing. Many of the songs on Happy Secret recall Billy Bragg's best late-'80s work (the lighter side of Don't Try This at Home), or some of the songwriting on the Smiths' self-titled debut, and the record's avoidance of cheekily clever lyrics or overly bouncy song constructions calls for the band's music to be taken as seriously as it probably deserves. The Lucksmiths' intimate, organic sound (acoustic guitars, lightly brushed drums, and plenty of tasteful vocal harmonies) assures their appeal to Belle & Sebastian's many fans, but the giant leap Happy Secret makes from A Good Kind of Nervous should prove the band to be much more than some sort of Belle & Sebastian replacement.