INTERVIEWED & REVIEWED: VCMG, Ital & Tim Hecker for The Stool Pigeon

Grouping together the latest stuff for the 'Pigeon. Two of the best records of the year so far - VCMG's SSSS and Ital's Hive Mind - are to some degree reliant on the internet for their very being.

With VCMG - interview here - Vince Clarke and Martin Gore, star-crossed bandmates who have been estranged since Vince walked out on Depeche Mode in the early 80s, made their entire debut via email. They hardly spoke to each other about it, just mailed sounds back and forth from their constituent synth bunkers.


Ital on the other hand cites the internet as the source of no little melancholy; he talked Second Life and emotional blankness with me, despite it being 8am in California due to a time mix-up. I also laid down my two-cents worth on the album.

Oh - and I reviewed Tim Hecker's intense organ recital at St Giles in the Fields. Can't think of a 100% foolproof link to internet culture for this one, but you're reading it online, right?

INTERVIEWED: Beth Jeans Houghton for The Stool Pigeon

In which I talk to the young singer-songwriter from Newcastle about her boss new album, her synaesthesia, her LA infatuation, and palling around with a Chili Pepper.

INTERVIEWED: Snooker's Saviour Judd Trump for Telegraph Magazine

It's not too often that I interview sportspeople, but after I was asked by Dazed & Confused to interview Judd Trump for its Covers project I became transfixed by the speed of his breaks, and the weird world of snooker in general. I ended up talking to Trump for the Telegraph Magazine, visiting him at the Grove Academy near Romford, and travelling to York to take in some of the UK Championship which Trump eventually won.

Last Writings of 2011

INTERVIEWED: Jimmy Scott (pictured above) for the Telegraph Magazine

REVIEWED: Les Transmusicales festival in Rennes for The Stool Pigeon

REVIEWED: Matthew Herbert's One Pig Live for The Quietus

INTERVIEWED: Steve Reich & St Vincent for Tank

I talked to both St Vincent aka the incredible Texan Annie Clark, and the truly great modern composer, Steve Reich, for the latest issue of Tank Magazine. Follow the corresponding link below to take a look at each piece.

St. Vincent interview

Steve Reich interview

INTERVIEWED: John Waters for Kilimanjaro

The 'Pope of Trash' himself talked to me for the Roni Horn-dedicated edition of the beautiful art magazine/journal, Kilimanjaro: A Love Letter to Roni Horn. Waters is a good friend of the Harlem-born, Iceland-obsessed artist and an art lover in general. Read the resulting article below:

Band T-shirts for the Telegraph Magazine

The band t-shirt has evolved from the preserve of the insular music geek desperate for some sort of affiliation, to the preserve of the papped LA sleb (see above, one Mr Davide Beckhame of 'Galaxy'; apparently he's a former cockney). Here's a short interview with the lovely Jude Rogers and Ian Wade, the creators of the guaranteed ROFL inducer, MyBandT-shirt.