Old Fruit

Old Fruit 6th February 2026

Teleman – Dusseldorf

This week’s selection of older tunes focuses on the theme of wonderful bands and artists who do not get the kind of exposure on mainstream television that their music and talent warrant. It was inspired by a recent episode of TV comedy quiz show ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks,’ in which Teleman’s main man Thomas Sanders (also of the band Pete And The Pirates) appeared in the mystery person line up. It reminded me a bit of the days when a national TV appearance from a favourite indie band member was a rare and exciting thing, a little moment of infiltration and victory for the kind of musicians normally hidden from view. This felt just like that, almost like Thomas would never have been in contention for landing a slot as one of the main contestants on the show but he got in through the back door anyway and both of his excellent bands got a mention. So here is some Teleman with a track from their 2016 album ‘Brilliant Sanity,’ followed by five other tracks from artists similarly deserving of the more widespread recognition so often afforded to far less (for me) worthy recipients.

Peggy Sue – Always Going

Even though I still found a few things to enjoy in the 2025 series of ‘Later With Jools Holland,’ there was often a sense of frustration at booking opportunities missed and unnecessary chat time offered to guests with little of interest to say. But maybe one of the biggest ‘so near yet so far’ moments came when the main front duo from a favourite band of mine, Peggy Sue, appeared on the show as one of the headliners (I should add as a side note, they were not credited but I am certain it was them) but not under their own name or playing their own material. No, they were part of the dance troupe performing with Self Esteem. Obviously I cannot fault Rosa Slade or Katy Young for taking the work, whatever pays the bills I guess and besides, I am sure if Self Esteem offered me enough money to pull some shapes I would quite speedily suspend any critical issues I might have with the music. But all the same, Peggy Sue are a wonderful band in their own right and to see them appearing, playing Peggy Sue songs, on any national TV show would be a massive win for music. Here they are performing a number from their 2014 album ‘Choir Of Echoes.’

Andrew Bird – Lazy Projector

Andrew Bird was actually an artist I discovered via a TV programme, probably a good fifteen years ago now, possibly more. My next door neighbour at the time had been raving about this amazing musician that I had to see, which elicited the usual “I think I will be the judge of that” private scepticism from me because, like all music obsessives, nothing seems quite as exciting and revelatory as the thing you discover for yourself as opposed to that which someone else puts your way. I thought the sound of him was a bit gimmicky, as the USP put to me was that Andrew played all his own instruments simultaneously and built up the sound using loops and pedals. But then I did stumble across him playing on a live music show called ‘From The Basement’ and sure enough, he was as incredible as had been described. The thing about him for me is, aside from the multi-faceted facilities on various instruments, is that he can write a rather fine song, like the classic presented here.

Inspiral Carpets & Mark E Smith – I Want You

Mark E Smith’s band The Fall were potentially the number one cult UK act in 1994, beloved by John Peel as well as clued up sections of the music press and record buying public but seemingly forever destined to miss out on the kind of wider recognition their believers anticipated. All the same Mark was a relentlessly quotable presence in the weekly music press and the news that he was finally going to be appearing on the BBC’s long running chart show ‘Top Of The Pops’ promised to be much watch TV. He did not disappoint, prowling around the stage with a live microphone to recreate his ad-hoc additions to this brilliant Inspirals tune, you can sense the nervousness around at the unpredictable presence. He walks those boards like he wants to follow a feckless punter around a pub bar intent on picking a fight. There is even a story in circulation that he threatened to pull a knife on a member of the ‘Eastenders’ cast in the BBC canteen. If that is true it has to be a candidate for the most unusual route taken to national treasure status by anyone, such was the warmth that eventually grew around Mark E Smith’s unfiltered personality that the BBC even let him read out the Saturday afternoon football scores on one memorable occasion.

Spoon – Hot Thoughts

If it felt like I was giving ‘Later With Jools Holland’ a bit of an undeserved bashing in my text for the Peggy Sue song, it was only because I genuinely felt there were too many missed opportunities in the 2025 series and a wave of acts that I felt worth a national television leg-up not appearing whilst some far less essential, predictable names with major label clout pushing them forward, ate up too many broadcast minutes. That and the shorter length format, not to mention a dismal Hootenanny, gave the impression, for me, of a show running out of steam. But I do not want to lose sight of what essential viewing the show has been since its 1992 launch, with a winning eclectic music focused formula. It has frequently been the only place where acts of a certain stripe would be seen on the box. Spoon are one such example, one of my favourite bands for the whole of the 21st century but equally one that I do not recall seeing on British TV other than here, on ‘Jools’ in 2017.

Ween – Exactly Where I’m At

An uncategorisable oeuvre or a love of the absurd and the unpredictable might be enviable facets in the story of a band, but they are not qualities readily appreciated by TV producers and bookers. Ween have never been an act with an easy answer to the question “what do you do?” They are essentially a deeply skilled band who can get a hold of the essence in any genre or style, be it heavy metal or country, folk songs or the avant-garde, then put it through their own Ween blender and produce something that is impossibly, sometimes hilariously, wonderful. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have had a few TV appearances in the US and, although I would like to direct readers to the eccentric charms of ‘Mister Can You Please Help My Pony?’ I could not find a television version of that one, so I present this superb rendition of the opening track from 2000’s ‘White Pepper’ album, arguably one of the bands more easily accessible efforts.

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 2nd February 2026

The Marsh Family Group – Minnesota

This weeks batch of new music recommendations are dominated by artists responding in song to events that have unfolded in Minneapolis over the past couple of weeks. To start with we have a family group from Kent who first found themselves an audience posting humorous internet song parodies during the pandemic lockdowns. This, however, is a change of tone released as a protest to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It is a re-working of the sixties flower-power Scott McKenzie hit ‘San Francisco,’ written by John Phillips, with new lyrics and some extra instrument parts written played over the originals back bone. The family say they chose it “because of its link to protest, its soaring refrains, its simplicity, its earnestness, and its celebration of love and solidarity. Taking on the guns, masks, fear, and falsehoods requires more than flowers and songs. But they are powerful nonetheless, especially if they remind folk of previous generations that navigated trauma, and that you are not alone.”

Bruce Springsteen – Streets Of Minneapolis

Bruce explains the writing of his new protest anthem, composed in the style of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, during the intro to its live debut featured in this clip. He mentions voicing his concerns that it might be “a bit soapboxey” to Tom Morello who brilliantly re-assured The Boss that, although nuance has a place, “sometimes you’ve got to kick them in the teeth.” It looks like the direct approach has cut through because as of yesterday the song was top of the US iTunes Top Songs chart. The version here is not the only one available as Bruce also recorded the song in the studio last weekend, the day after he wrote it, then got it immediately released, thus echoing the speed that songs used to enter circulation back in the days when the protest movement was a vital source of topical, social and political information.

Billy Bragg – City Of Heroes

If there is one artist who has unreservedly held onto the belief that a song can make a difference, then it has to be Billy Bragg. He knows full well that it only takes a handful of good people to bring about change and he stands in solidarity with those paying the ultimate price against injustice. Of ‘City Of Heroes’ he had this to say. “I wrote this song yesterday as a tribute to the bravery of the people of Minneapolis who, knowing that these trigger happy ICE thugs operate with seeming impunity in their midst, are still willing to put themselves in harms way to defend their community. Their resistance is an inspiration to us all.”

Yo La Tengo – Big Crime

Here is a recent live clip from one of America’s greatest ever bands, captured in the final days of 2025 covering a still very new Neil Young song taking aim at Trump’s administration in a deliberately unfiltered manner. With a similar sense of urgency to all the tracks featured so far this week, Neil’s version was recorded at a soundcheck and released with speed as a standalone single. “No more great again” is sung repeatedly as electric guitars bring the turbulence of the times to the foreground. In that sense, there could be no finer band than Yo La Tengo to pour some water on this seed, helping it spread its message to more and more ears with their own undeniable conviction.

Kathleen Edwards – Say Goodbye, Tell No One

Kathleen is one of America’s greatest living songwriters, which might sound like I am indulging in a bit of hyperbole but just listen to any of her records and then try and tell me I’m wrong. This is a live rendition of a song from last years ‘Billionaire’ album recorded at Jack Kerouac House. Kathleen says of the experienc playing there that walking in “was an incredible feeling, to step on the terrazzo floor down the hallway and into the rooms where he lived, to sit in a chair he also sat in many a night. A house preserved like a time stamp – mid-century coloured curtains, a typewriter still sitting in one of the bedrooms. His story is complicated, but compelling and his books ‘The Dharma Bums’ and ‘On The Road’ captured my imagination as a high school student and the vagabond hippie canoe kid who eventually became a songwriter.”

The Molotovs – Today’s Gonna Be Our Day

I admit I approached this band with caution because they appear to be the recipients of a great deal of media hype at the moment. Not only that but after one look at them, without even hearing a note, I knew exactly what they were going to sound like. Paul Weller and The Jam, to put it bluntly. But then, I also had to think, so what? After all, Weller himself was blatantly influenced in looks, style, sound and attitude by the Small Faces Steve Marriott when he started out and his career evolved into one of the UKs most musically celebrated. Weller also went on to be a voice of political activism, a point which also got me thinking about The Molotovs, because the one noticeable thing about the topical songs I have highlighted this week is that they are mostly coming from the old guard. So maybe it is bands like this, inspiring a younger audience, who can pick up the baton at some stage? The main reason I have included them though is the music. With the crunching riffs and hooks aplenty that are on display here, they have got the basics right and really, what better place to start could there possibly be?

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Monthly Playlists

February 2026 Playlist

Among the more surprising inclusions on this month’s playlist are a brace of authentic sounding, traditional in form, new protest songs by a pair of prominent artists. Both Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Streets Of Minneapolis’ and Billy Bragg’s ‘City Of Heroes’ arrive at a moment when the daily news bulletins are awash with shocking reports of civilians being shot dead on the cold, snowy streets of Minneapolis with the Springsteen song directly addressing these events and naming the casualties too. Bruce is reported as having written the song the previous weekend, recorded it the next day and got it released by the end of the week. Obviously, in a recording industry where getting a song distributed is a simple upload and for a man with the Boss’s wealth and presumably easy access to top notch recording equipment, this feat is not quite as remarkable as John Lennon trying his hand at a similarly quick turnover for ‘Instant Karma’ back in 1970, but it is a noble and good intentioned effort all the same. Furthermore, Springsteen is sufficiently high profile for the song to make the news and get itself widely heard and reacted to. A withering, personal put-down in Bruce’s direction from the President himself is surely only a matter of hours away.

The unexpected side of the release is simply down to the fact that any artist believes a protest song to be a valid idea in 2026. It is a seasoned song form, mainly associated with the folk movement, that hit a real peak in the early 1960’s when protest songs became a big deal. The idea that news stories and activist agendas could be spread in song form, often printed out as sheet music in Broadside magazines, to be circulated by the artists and players themselves, was a potent idea in a pre-internet age when radio and TV stations were slow to keep up with the evolutions in popular song. Bob Dylan became the figurehead of the whole scene, mainly because he wrote the best numbers, the ones that acts like Peter Paul and Mary could cover and take high in the charts and into the homes. Bob had a poetic eloquence to his work that was absent in some of his more earnest contemporaries, although a peer like Phil Ochs could pack just as much punch with his hard-hitting musical polemics. Ochs would arguably be a bigger influence on an artist like Billy Bragg, because he really believed and pushed for the social and political changes the work dreamed of, he was a hands-on activist compared to Dylan. Unlike Phil, Bob was content to write and then move on, forever serving the art rather than the cause, his sudden progression away from the protest scene perhaps reinforcing the wider belief that to expect songs to change the world is naive.

Of course, songwriting that criticizes current affairs and attempts to raise awareness about any issue close to the writers’ heart did continue beyond its era of ubiquity. Not just in the hands of an unashamedly conventional protester like Bragg, but also in diverse acts like Public Enemy, Rage Against The Machine and Asian Dub Foundation whose anger was expressed as they called hypocrisy out. Somehow though, the idea of the guitar wielding troubadour putting the world to rights became a bit passee, bringing memories of past disappointments to the fore by a generation determined not to be fooled again. When Paul McCartney responded to 9/11 with a simple rousing song called ‘Freedom,’ a straightforward declaration that we should fight for the right to live in freedom, not too dissimilar from Lennon’s ‘Give Peace A Chance,’ I thought it was a welcome chartbound commentary, but it mostly inspired mocking derision. I sincerely hope that Bruce Springsteen does not meet with similar indifference, regardless of what you might make of the artistic merits in the song, I have absolutely no doubt that the man really cares about his fellow citizens. Most minted singers in their mid-seventies would be content to hide away in the secure surroundings of their ranches or whatever, not Bruce; he is standing up and firmly answering the age-old ‘which side are you on?’ question and for that he should be applauded.

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Old Fruit

Old Fruit 30th January 2026

The Charlatans – One To Another

This weeks’ selection of vintage music focuses in on great bands of the 1990’s playing their classic material to a present day mid 2020’s audience. And still sounding amazing if not even better than in their heyday. It also maybe highlights the difficulty so many bands have in matching the highs of their early records with new material years later. There are some in these selections who have re-formed on the basis that they remain creative and put out fresh music, others who willingly accept their audiences appetite for the old stuff and then some, like first offering The Charlatans, who have never really stopped writing new albums and mixing it up live with the older classics. Still, seen here in the 2025 series of ‘Later With Jools Holland,’ they had initially played a couple of tunes from their latest release but it was still their rendition of this 1996 classic that gave the show a suitably rousing finale.

Blur – Beetlebum

Blur’s Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon have both individually remained relentlessly creative musicians and have learned the value in re-branding for newer projects and loosening themselves from the shackles of the past. And even though they are fully aware that the re-formed Blur are playing Wembley Stadium, as they did in 2023, not because of the new music but rather to let the golden days of the nineties rain down one more time, this did not stop them from tying a recently recorded album of new songs to the venture. By the time of the concerts however, there was only a passing acknowledgement of ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ during shows, attracting crowds of roughly 150,000 across two nights, that revisited the classics such as this 1997 number one single, taken from their ‘Blur’ album of the same year.

The Lemonheads – My Drug Buddy

Of course the thing about The Lemonheads is that they are essentially a one man vehicle for the music of Evan Dando, the other band members remaining a rolling cast of side-people that would not detract from the commercial clout of a Lemonheads project, no matter the identity of the players at Evan’s side. He obviously was canny enough to recognise that the band name packs more of a punch for his new music than he received when trying out as a solo artist. Furthermore, going out under the band name has given Dando license to dip into the pair of still un-surpassed grunge era classics they released; ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ and ‘Come On Feel The Lemonheads’. A temptation that got the host especially excited on a recent TV appearance for ‘Tonight With Jimmy Fallon.’

The Cardigans – My Favourite Game

There is no evidence that I can find of The Cardigans having ever officially split up but despite this, they have not released a new album of songs since 2006’s ‘Super Extra Gravity.’ From 2011 onwards however, they have played together for occasional gigs or festival appearances, describing themselves when asked as still a going concern although evidently one that is happy to play the old stuff. It is true that they were thought of as quite twee in their earlier days and so by the time the band hit big with this song later in the 1990’s, it actually was a head-turning surprise. By the sounds of this recent live appearance, the harder rock muscle of their work remains an element they are very comfortable with, indeed they quite excel at it.

The Beta Band – Dry The Rain

Before they got a big shout out in the film ‘High Fidelity’ towards the end of the nineties, not too many had heard of The Beta Band and indeed, by the time they split up in 2004 it did feel like a case of gone way too soon. Some 21 years later they announced their reunion to tie in with a deluxe re-issue of ‘The Three EP’s’ and they atypically, amusingly, accompanied the news with statements about “shaking it out every couple of decades” and “showing the wall the Luminol, killing the lights and hitting the UV.”

Oasis – Cigarettes And Alcohol

Unlike their rivals from the decade, Blur, the re-formed Oasis showed absolutely no interest in writing any new material or attaching any particular importance to having the original line up of band members from the classic period. Neither were they bothered about TV or film coverage of the shows, this was all about the numbers all the way and squeezing every last drop out of the public appetite to attend and experience this communal live event. That is not to criticise though, because as this live clip from last year definitively proves, the combination of audience energy and band conviction did generate some authentic rock ‘n’ roll momentum from the occasions as the songs that made Oasis great in the first place enjoyed a fully deserved resurrection.

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 26th January 2026

Craven Faults – Yard Loup

This is taken from the new Craven Faults album ‘Sidings’ which is out now on The Leaf Label, a dependably bold and present day progressive label who make a virtue of the idea that there is some fun going forward. This is an act shrouded in some mystery but they are building a track record laced with expansive analogue electronic music of the mind. The new record takes its inspiration from the rusty deserted landscapes of post-industrial Northern England where the ghosts of electricity smoulder out of disused buildings, wherein ancient monuments of sound and recording equipment are recharged into existence and Craven Faults are a conduit for the thrum of sounds that re-emerge back into the atmosphere. This is electronica without limits, a sound that messes with the balance of time and space where the light and shade, the flesh and the steel, the settled and the disturbed breathe and feel as one.

Lady Nade – One Of Us

It is delightful to learn of new music coming from Lady Nade, an artist whose work balances the integrity of a folk singer-songwriter with the emotional heft and melodic flare of a serious soul artist. There are not too many I can think of who walked that line so convincingly, maybe Joan Armatrading or Tracy Chapman but either way, the singer born Nadine Gingell has had all these facets from the get go. It is said that the artists earliest influences came from the record collection of Nadine’s grandfather, which exposed her to Americana and rock ‘n’ roll as well as the more detectable elements of the Lady Nade sound. And now, ten years on from debut ‘Hard To Forget’, recorded in her kitchen, there is every reason to predict that Lady Nade’s evolution into an artist of great depth and an unmistakable creative fire is playing out before our very eyes and ears.

Lucinda Williams – World’s Gone Wrong

And while I am talking about singer-songwriter artist who are making a welcome return, here is one of the greatest ever. This is Lucinda continuing on the path of rehabilitation from a stroke using her creative energy as a font for regeneration. There is a bit of fire and anger in there too, the singer in full react and respond mode to the unfurling political situation in her homeland and stating in plain speak the way she sees it. But anyone can spout an opinion or jump on a soapbox, the craft is turning these impulses into song and creating a new piece of art; it sounds like Lucinda Williams still has all those senses fully plugged in and functioning. No wonder she has, with good reason, been called the female Bob Dylan; just like Dylan these days, the human condition and all its physical pitfalls does not dim the desire or the need to feel, write, perform and express. This is the title track from her new album.

Foy Vance – I Think I Preferred The Question

This is one that came out towards the end of 2025 by the Northern Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance. It is a new chapter for Foy as he moves to Rounder Records and mines an earthy, muddy realism in both his sound and his composing. The track was produced by Ethan Johns which instantly ensures the offering arrives with a trademark of quality, but still it would be nothing if Vance was not on the devastating form we find him in here. Lyrically it seems to be meditating on the wonder in mystery, in the importance of enjoying the journey towards something, because maybe the feeling of fulfilment, of reaching your destination, does not match up to the mysteries of the unexplained. The disappointment of reality maybe? Well if I try and come to a definitive conclusion I am rather proving the point made in the song; instead just enjoy the drama and tension as it builds in this superb track.

Katherine Priddy – Hurricane

Not a cover of the Bob Dylan classic but instead perhaps the folkiest of all the artists I have featured this week, Katherine Priddy, tapping into the gentle soulful groove I spoke about with Lady Nade previously. More so, there is a subtle hint of smooth jazz and bossa nova at play here. All of which sit in sharp contrast to the darkness that prevails in the shades of violence in the lyric, showing an artist who is evolving away from the pure folk routes of her earlier work into a musical force across the spectrum. ‘Hurricane’ is an immense song with some irresistibly lush changes as the verse builds to the chorus. This is the third single from her new album ‘These Frightening Machines’, which is coming out on March 6th 2026.

Greazy Alice – Circles

This is some tender, laid back, rear porch, rocking chair, country balladry of a high stripe to close proceedings this week. With the ‘As Time Goes By’ album due out at the end of the month, this is from an EP of the same name released on Loose by a band comprising Alex Pianovich on vocals, guitars and piano, Jo Morris on backing vocals, Lee Garcia on drums and Will Repholz on bass guitar. There is an element of grief and the sense of life dishing out some hard lines imbedded into this tune, but a light shines through the melancholia as well, ushering a motion from introspection to hope and beauty.

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Old Fruit

Old Fruit 23rd January 2026

Nancy Sinatra – These Boots Are Made For Walking

This week’s Old Fruit half dozen music offerings is based around early music videos, a look at how acts were approaching the visual medium in pre-MTV days, long before ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ in fact, which is where many assume the age of the music video began. Actually, the idea that a piece of promotional film could be shot to accompany a 45 release was already widely practised in the 1960s, albeit with far less attention paid to the quality or indeed the purpose of the picture. Half the time, as we shall see later, it was merely a case of a band getting their hands on a camera and filming themselves larking about. Not with todays first example though, Nancy Sinatra may have gone down the obvious sing and dance route but isn’t that all this classic slice of sixties pop needed? As long as Nancy and the dancers are all wearing boots and there are plenty of primary colours, hair shaking and movement they could hardly go wrong. Stand on it Nancy!

Mason Williams – Classical Gas

With no specialised music channels to aim for, often films would be created with a specific slot on an established TV show in mind. Such was the case for Mason Williams, who just happened to also be a chief writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and so had a ready made outlet for the short film accompanying his latest composition. By marrying a montage by Dan McLaughlin called ‘3000 Years Of Art,’ which utilised a method known as kinestasis, the early concept video showed rapid-fire images that created a sense of motion and helped push this classical guitar showcase high up the charts both in the US and the UK.

The Beatles – Rain

It is Strawberry Fields Forever that people often think of when crediting the Beatles with pioneering the music video medium in addition to multiple musical grounds the band broke. But, the previous year they had purposely shot promotional films for their latest ‘Paperback Writer’ 45, going to the trouble of capturing this video for the b-side ‘Rain’ as well. There is no suggestion of narrative or concept, this is nothing more than the fab four looking cool in the picturesque surroundings of Chiswick House and Gardens while half heartedly miming to the recording (sometimes, sometimes not). Still, at a time when the twin pressures of demand and volume of work made it impossible for them to reach or be seen by their whole worldwide audience at any one time, a short video to go with the latest records felt like a perfect solution.

Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues

An artist less likely to be remembered as a music video pioneer than Bob Dylan you probably could not find. Admittedly, in later life he has caught everyone by surprise and appeared to fully embrace the medium, there is the ‘Must Be Santa’ video for starters with its inexplicable long wig and dancing but then, after Bob made a Christmas album anything became possible. That does not change the fact that for the longest part of his career he had no interest in videos. There is an interview in Q magazine from 1989 when the journalist reports on his record company trying to cajole Bob into making a video, only to get the response “can’t they use a photo?” Maybe he felt he had already mastered the form with this iconic piece shot in 1965? It certainly is a classic and best of all, if you are ever near the Savoy Hotel in London just go around the back and there, minus the scaffolding, is the exact same unchanged location that this film was shot.

Pink Floyd – Point Me At The Sky

Here is a band at the other end of the spectrum in as much as they would go on to invest creativity into the visual side of their music every bit as much as the audio and songs. Here though, there is precious little evidence that they will go in that direction. As friend of the band Aubrey Powell told Uncut magazine about this film: “When it came out, they asked Storm and I to make a film. We went to Biggin Hill and rented a couple of Tiger Moths. Everybody took turns to fly in them while we were shooting with a couple of old Bolexes and an Arriflex 16mm camera. It was all Biggles and jolly hockey sticks. That’s a very middle class, public schoolboys fun day out. Five Go Mad At Biggin Hill.”

Small Faces – Lazy Sunday

As much of a laugh as the Floyd boys may have had shooting their film, it was positively mapped out and storyboarded compared to this Small Faces effort. The whole essence of the film seems to be just turn the camera on and we will do something off the top of our heads. Crack a joke, run from left to right, shoot Steve as he goes into the outside toilet round the back of the house. It’s a lazy sunday, that will do won’t it? There is the one shot of Marriott taking a nap on the grass but it feels like they set up the shots of giant speakers magically appearing at the start, realised that had taken too long to set up, then captured the disgruntled elderly neighbour scene and thought, well that will probably do. The thing is, this is the Small Faces and ‘Lazy Sunday’ is one of the many delights on their classic ‘Ogdens’ album so yes, they can do as they please, the music does more than enough on its own!

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 19th January 2026

The Magpie Arc – The Mantle

I wrote about this band on these pages for my Ely Folk Festival review last year, an event in which I was dazzled by their brilliant re-ignition of the electric folk rock style pioneered in the late sixties by bands like Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. At the time they were blessed with the guitar wizardry of Martin Simpson who has since left the ranks, but the evidence heard in their new material here proves that they remain a band plugging an essential shot of voltage enhanced energy into the folk scene. They also have a couple of big names on board too with Steeleye Span’s Maddy Prior helping out on vocals and Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson on flute. With or without the folk glitterati though, the Magpie Arc remain a band worthy of your attention. This is a preview single from their forthcoming album.

Muck And The Mires – Tripping Out On Love

This slice of frantic guitar pop, infused with a real garage rock sensibility, is released as a new seven inch single on the Rogue Records label. They have been around for twenty-five years now, releasing music that has caught the attention of anyone possessing a love of that sixties British Invasion guitar band sound and building a favourable reputation thanks to the raw power of their live shows. They were even named the number one Garage Band by the E Street Bands Steven Van Zandt once, a man who knows a thing or two about that primitive sound. So, you know what to do, get out and enjoy the visceral delight of buying a hot new 45 and get this one sailing up the charts.

Amy LaVere & Will Sexton – Time Warp

It has been six years now since Amy LaVere released her superb last album, ‘Painting Blue’. In that time new music has been scarce although she has continued to play live in the US alongside her partner Will Sexton. I am always keeping my ear out for new Amy music simply because every album since her 2005 debut has been a high end example of the best that modern country and bluegrass inflected songwriting has to offer. She is a musician with a fine ear and an easy to connect with writing style, not to mention a sublime voice and deft double bass touch. The end of the concert clip suggests a live album is forthcoming at least and, as heard with this new song, a couple of fresh numbers have crept out with little fanfare. I am certain there are many other than me still waiting eagerly for a new album of Amy LaVere songs, this excerpt hints that the wait might not be in vain.

Peter Gabriel – Been Undone

On the subject of artists who keep their audience waiting a long time between LP releases, well Amy LaVere could take another fifteen years to make a new record and she would still be no slower than Peter Gabriel between the release of 2023’s ‘i/o’ and the preceding ‘Up’ album. So the fact that this month has seen him begin another series of monthly, new moon adjacent, track drops that will, sometime later this year, form the content of another new album is a huge, very welcome, surprise. He hasn’t released a new studio album within three years of the previous one since the 1980s. My position remains unapologetically pro-Peter, my justification for the snails pace between albums always being that at least, when new music did finally arrive, it was always something worth hearing. Despite the relative speed, that is still the case with ‘Been Undone’, a dream state hymn that proves the mans soulful voice still pulls some emotive punches. When it gets its proper full length release, the new album will be called ‘o/i’.

Hen Ogledd – Scales Will Fall

We move from a man who used to make his bandmates stare awkwardly at their instruments when he took to the stage dressed as Britannia to a group where no such problems exist, it looks like everyone is raiding the dressing up box with uninhibited enthusiasm. They have been around for a few years now, building a reputation as an unpredictable shape-shifting unit wherein ancient Celtic themes and prog aesthetics are married to avant-folk electronics and experimentation. Hen Ogledd are a perfect outlet for the national folk music treasure Richard Dawson to fly his freak flag but his bandmates Rhodri Davies, Dawn Bothwell and Sally Pilkington all offer crucial ingredients to the far-out mix. This rousing tune is taken from the album ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’, out on 20th February 2026 on Weird World.

Nevaris – Ninth Sun

The key personnel in this live studio session, part of the Nevaris Project, are DJ Logic, Peter Apfelbaum, Jojo Kuo, Will Bernard, Lockatron, Angel Rodriguez, Jonathan Maron, and Matt Dickey. The newly released ‘SoundSession’ EP was recorded in a single day at Orange Sound studio in New Jersey. Playing and interpreting music written by percussionist Agustin Nevaris (who also led the nine piece ensemble) and Bill Laswell, the session was originally planned as a live stream but the sound of the live ensemble was so deep and inviting that the decision was, correctly I believe, taken to capture the sound on disc and release it to the world. The combination of dub, funk, Afro-Latin rhythms, turntablism and improvisation is an intoxicating one for sure.

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Old Fruit

Old Fruit 16th January 2026

David Bowie – Boys Keep Swinging

For the first edition of Old Fruit of the new year I have turned to the artist whose music has been receiving a very pleasing amount of attention around the tenth anniversary of his death. Bowie’s catalogue is an immersive maze once you get into it and I sense that the deep diving of his audio creations has only just begun. I did not see any credibility in a Guardian article claiming his influence is on the decline, you cannot measure the value of an artist like this on Spotify streams alone. Besides, skim away the pop hits of his 1983-86 period and you have to accept he was mostly an act outside of the mainstream, spearheading trends rather than following them. But, Bowie was also a master at infiltrating the popular arena even when the sound was edgy or abrasive. A rare trick aided by his willingness to appear in comedic TV skits such as this one, on the Kenny Everett Television Show.

David Bowie – White Light White Heat

Ask any serious David Bowie fan what they thought of the 1987 Glass Spider tour and chances are the feedback will not be that positive. Perhaps, more than any other time in his career, this was the moment when he was creatively drinking from an empty cup, with that years ‘Never Let Me Down’ album offering little to inspire. So, he presented a show high on scenery, props and choreography with a slick band at a time when appetite for eighties excess and tinny synths had all but dried up, especially in the underground and alternative scenes close to Bowie’s heart. Certainly, concert recordings from that year do have a little of the Spinal Tap doing ‘Stonehenge’ about them, especially the spoken dialogue that introduces ‘Glass Spider’ itself. That said, with a guitar line up on some dates that included the double kick of Peter Frampton and future Bob Dylan mainstay Charlie Sexton, the shows had their moments, like this energised scrub down of a Velvet Underground classic.

David Bowie – 5.15 The Angels Have Gone

The late careers of many a 20th century music icon have much in the way of undiscovered treasure, it seems that the bigger the impact of the early years the more likely it is that quality later work will be overlooked or underappreciated. I include Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen in this list but it does absolutely apply to David Bowie. If you look at the final twenty years of his life, bearing in mind he took eight of those away from music, then the final seven albums in the catalogue present some of the best produced, most engaged, switched on and ultimately exciting music of his career. Starting with ‘Earthling’ all the way up to ‘Blackstar’, and I am including, unreleased at the time, ‘Toy’ in this because it is so good, and these alone represent a body of timeless work to match the best of all but the upper echelons of music artists in our time.

David Bowie & Cher – Young Americans Medley

The prime time TV studio medley of hits type performance might be the domain of far smoother operators than Bowie, it is the kind of thing you would expect from Neil Diamond or Tom Jones rather than the man who made music with Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Trent Reznor. But he wasn’t labelled a chameleon for nothing and the brilliant thing about this performance, rather than the medley itself which has so many rough joins it should be sent back to carpentry school, is the way David plays it totally straight without a hint of irony or detached cool. Just like Cher, he throws himself into it and in doing so delivers an improbable moment of music TV gold dust.

Tin Machine – Heaven’s In Here

Whilst the new documentary about Bowie’s later years, ‘The Final Act,’ has a lot to recommend it, I did feel it miscast the Tin Machine era of 1989-91 somewhat. It is very true that the UK music press especially ripped them apart and mocked Bowie’s attempts at fading into the background as a band member. It was like they felt he was being dishonest, just wanting him to be who he is rather than dictate that writers had to accept this new framework. It is a mystery that the more clued up journalists did not see that he was just feeling the times in an era when baggy and grunge alternative culture were rebelling against the pop star trappings and trying to reprioritise music. I feel that the documentary should have reflected more how Tin Machine were a fairly well executed idea, and a vital shake down for the fringes of Bowie’s audience that he probably rightly feared would hold him back creatively. And as this clip proves, the band did indeed have some very good moments wherein Tin Machine’s David adopted the front man role with real engaged commitment.

David Bowie – Let Me Sleep Beside You

We close this edition with a little sixties London pop gem from the future space cadets early years. This is exactly what I mean about the appreciation of his life’s work still being in its early days. Before he first troubled the charts in 1969 with ‘Space Oddity’ David made a lot of great records, of their time but without ageing badly, including a Deram album, that did not register commercially at all. Today, time has levelled things out to the extent that tracks like this sound like a whimsical, British psych era, colourful pop nugget. It matters little that hardly anyone heard it in 1967, it has risen over the years, just as several others from this period have, to a place of belonging in the vast, varied and vital David Bowie catalogue.

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Fresh Juice

Fresh Juice 12th January 2026

Carson McHone – Idiom

Welcome back and happy new year to all. I am starting the Fresh Juice feature for 2026 with half a dozen selections that I did not squeeze in during the 2025 editions. Kicking the year off, it is Carson McHone whose ‘Pentimento’ album was released in the autumn on Merge Records. Now based in Ontario, Canada, this was McHone’s fourth solo album in ten years of releasing records created in collaboration with Daniel Romano. It is a real audacious treat of a folk-rock album, ram-packed with the kind of structurally strong songwriting that stands shoulder to shoulder with the giants of the genre, but also infused with a mysterious alien spirit that lends the record an air of the unknown, like a broadcast from another star. This is superb.

Mclusky – People Person

Returning in 2025 with their fourth LP record and their first album in twenty years were late 1990’s, early 2000’s noise-punkers Mclusky. The record ‘The World Is Still Here And So Are We’ was released via Mike Patton’s Ipecac Recordings and locked straight back into the abrasive style they were always known for. Front man Andrew “Falco” Falkous continues to bring the noise but not without some regrettable toll on his hearing. Of the above track he said it’s “the song that gave me tinnitus, so asking me about it is really cruel. it’s probably about being overwhelmed by the world because that’s what all of our songs are about.”

Jon Cleary – Zulu Coconuts

This may not be the music to suit the weather on this snowy January morning but then again, perhaps this is exactly what we need. I defy you to listen without tapping your foot at the very least, but a hip swaying frug across the floor would be far more appropriate. Maybe if Jools Holland’s ‘Hootenanny’ had booked Jon Cleary instead of the friggin Kooks I might have seen the new in with a smile rather than a grimace. This song had actually been doing the rounds for a couple of years but finally got an LP release in 2025 on Cleary’s ‘The Bywater Sessions’ album. At the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Zulu Parade takes place on Fat Tuesday and this innuendo laced song is a nod to the prized hand-painted coconuts thrown to crowds during the parade.

Sam Shackleton – O Death

As featured on his independently released 2025 album ‘Scottish Cowboy Ballads And Early American Folk Songs’, this brief home recording offers a tantalising taste of the authenticity in Shackleton’s music. He says of this that it is “on the banjo by the fireplace at my mother’s house on the lovely Isle of Harris, Scotland. This is a great American folk ballad and is commonly sung in the Appalachian region, where it descends from much older Scottish and English folk ballads carried there by the many thousands of emigrants that made the long voyage. I really hope you enjoy.”

Ben l’Oncle Soul – I Got Home

This was a wonderous, funky single taken from l’Oncle Soul’s seventh album released in 2025 called ‘Sad Generation’. It was a real-deal slice of retro soul that wore its classicist’s style with pride safe in the knowledge that the track is a killer that would grace any dancefloor. Ben is a French soul singer from Tours who is nothing new to attention grabbing cuts; he previously turned heads in 2010 with a cover of The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’ and has built a deserved acclaimed reputation as a live performer who can deliver the Motown and Stax goods with a modern day cut and thrust.

Snarky Puppy & The Metropole Orkest – Chimera

Recorded live in January 2025, at KABUL à GoGo in Utrecht, The Netherlands, this is an addictive rendition of a piece from the album ‘Somni’ released on GroundUP Music. This was the second collaborative release between the award winning jazz collective and the Metropole Orchestra following the 2015 Grammy winning project ‘Sylva’. Bandleader Michael League had composed a deep, progressive even, piece that certainly warranted the grand cinematic treatment a full band and orchestra arrangement offers. ‘Somni’ could perhaps be called a concept album, exploring as it does the various dream stages of sleep in a sequential order that runs from falling to sleep to waking up. But, to be clear, this brilliant music will not make you nod off, quite the opposite.

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