Steve Sutherland

Steve Sutherland  |  Nov 07, 2024  |  0 comments
It was where Pink Floyd built their wall, Sade soothed her soul and a Bach pianist worked on soundtracks... So what does Brad Pitt have to do with it? Steve Sutherland explains

What's the weirdest drink you have ever had? I've guzzled a fair few strange ones in my time, including a gruesome concoction in New York involving what looked like Swarfega mixed with cream. But the one that topped the lot was something or other from a barnacled bottle salvaged from a galleon that had been part of the Spanish Armada sunk in battle in the English Channel in 1588.

Steve Sutherland  |  Oct 31, 2024  |  0 comments
Jackson Browne For Everyman Featuring David Crosby, Glenn Frey, Joni Mitchell and more, Browne's second LP is a flagwaver for the 1970s Cali dream. Steve Sutherland hears the 180g reissue

Lana knows what I'm on about. In the song 'Brooklyn Baby' from her brilliant 2014 LP Ultraviolence, Ms Del Rey complains, 'They think I don't understand the freedom land of the '70s'. She was born, you see, in 1985 and Lana - known to her mum and dad as Elizabeth Grant - is deemed by those who should know better to be too young to appreciate the '70s aesthetic.

Steve Sutherland  |  Oct 25, 2024  |  0 comments
Steve Sutherland on how a collaboration between a renowned indie record producer and a group of self-effacing Scots turned a Glasgow townhouse into a citadel of sound

Many, many moons ago, when I was editing the NME, one of my principal duties was maintaining the myth. The paper had an historic reputation for integrity, for championing credibility above all else. Or, to put it another way, to support those who the caucus of writers considered worthy of having their musical efforts publicised to the readership with scant consideration for either chart positions or sales figures.

Steve Sutherland  |  Oct 25, 2024  |  0 comments
This 1970 folk-psych album disappeared without trace for three decades. Steve Sutherland sings its praises and salutes its rediscovery as he hears the latest 180g reissue

Awhile back, I entered a vintage store on the outskirts of Indio, California, and happened to spy a vinyl copy of Parallelograms by Linda Perhacs. I lifted it gently down from the shelf. It was a first pressing. On Kapp. Gold-dust! And home it came with me.

Steve Sutherland  |  Oct 03, 2024  |  0 comments
It's renowned for its drum sound, custom Neve console and the room in which Rumours and Nevermind were recorded... Steve Sutherland on an old Vox amp factory in the US

The jury was hung on the question of his talent. Neil Young said, 'This guy is unbelievable - he makes up the songs as he goes along, and they're all good'. So good, Young tried to get Warner Brothers to sign him. To no avail. Beach Boy Brian Wilson wasn't so sure and said something like, 'He hasn't got a musical bone in his body'. And Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son and hotshot producer of The Byrds, told him, 'I really do appreciate your talent but there's nothing I can do for you'.

Steve Sutherland  |  Sep 11, 2024  |  0 comments
Often seen as an attempt to ape The Beatles’ mystical magic, this 1967 oddity, now reissued on 180g, is The Stones at their most ragged, says Steve Sutherland

Following on from last month’s Vinyl Release about brilliant records that nobody else likes but you, I bet I’m not the only one who has an album that, although you’ve played it on and off down the years, even the decades, you can’t decide whether it’s any good or not. On one occasion it may sound great. Significant even, a landmark piece. Other times it just sounds... well, rubbish.

Steve Sutherland  |  Sep 04, 2024  |  0 comments
Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and a fuzz-effect first... how did an army surplus hut become Columbia Studio B and help country music cross into pop? Steve Sutherland reveals all

Crazy? You want crazy? OK, let’s pop into Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge for a snifter. See that guy over there in the corner, nursing the same warm beer he’s been sipping for the past hour or so? Well, that’s Willie Nelson, a wannabe songwriter who’s been kicking around Nashville of late getting pretty much nowhere beyond a police record for drunk driving without a licence. He’s got a wife and three kids to feed back home and the money ain’t so good.

Steve Sutherland  |  Aug 31, 2024  |  0 comments
The San Francisco power pop band chased perfection on their second album – and broke up a little over a year later. Steve Sutherland checks out the 180g reissue

It’s a crime, that’s what it is! An absolute outrage! Chances are you feel the same way as I do about a favourite album that no one else in the world seems to give a fig for. I’m not talking about the one that reminds you of your first date or some other sentimental attachment. I’m referring to the LP that was released into an uncaring world and inexplicably ignored when, by every measure you employ to judge a record’s artistic worth, it should have been embraced, applauded, lauded and been top of the charts for weeks on end.

Steve Sutherland  |  Jul 28, 2024  |  0 comments
This 1989 classic, now remastered on 180g vinyl, riffed on computer technology and James Joyce’s Ulysses on its way to No 2 in the charts. Steve Sutherland listens in.

It’s October 1989 and we’re chatting with Kate Bush on the occasion of the release of her sixth LP, The Sensual World. This is an album that not only sounds utterly sumptuous but, looking back on it now, appears to predict the spiritual and social upheaval we’re entering today with the growth of artificial intelligence.

Steve Sutherland  |  Jul 05, 2024  |  0 comments
We've had guys calling literally from gaol. They’re getting out the next day and they’re booking their time because, let’s face it, they’ve had plenty of time to write their lyrics…’ We’re listening in to Kevin Churko who, apart from chewing the fat about The Hideout recording studio in Las Vegas, which he just happens to own, also has a bit of a personal history behind him.

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