Burnin Red Ivanhoe – Canal Trip An Anthology 1969 – 1974 - September 2013 September 23rd, 2013

With critical distance, Denmark’s Burnin Red Ivanhoe forged a distinct identity from plundered British and American psychedelia, this two disc retrospective reveals. 1969’s M144 album shrugged Stones licks to approach the punishing prog-jazz of early King Crimson; the eponymous 1970 album merged West Coast quicksilver licks with primitive drones; the title track of 1971’s WWW…

Much a-Stew About Nothing, Brighton Dome ★★★ - September 2013 The Guardian - By Brian Logan - September 22nd, 2013

Stewart Lee has set the bar so high, he can hardly be criticised for not always vaulting it. At his best, he takes comedy out on new limbs: the pleasure of laughter combines with the thrill of working out what’s so funny and why. That happens less often tonight, while there’s an occasional reliance on…

Much a-Stew About Nothing, Brighton Dome - September 2013 The Brighton Argus - By Dominic Smith - September 19th, 2013

In many ways, Stewart Lee shows are all previews. He’s always testing his stuff on the audience, working out why gags do or don’t work as he goes along, deconstructing his skits for even more laughs. But Much A-Stew About Nothing was especially open in its aims: there were three separate 30-minutes slots being prepped…

St. David’s Hall, Cardiff September 2013 ★★★★ - September 2013 Buzzmag - By Noel Gardner - September 17th, 2013

The semi-apologetic nature of much of Stewart Lee’s latest set, in which he ambles through three half-hour TV episodes’ worth of new material before finishing with a supposedly optional 30 minutes of fully unpasteurised fodder partly read from notes, is by no means unique among standup comedians. Comedy clubs and similar venues will often function…

Deniz Tek – Detroit - September 2013 September 16th, 2013

Detroit’s punk doctor, Deniz Tek took the motor city sound to Sydney as a medical student, spawned Australian alterno-rock with Radio Birdman in 1974, and then joined the USAF and inspired the character Iceman in Top Gun. Today, he divides his time between emergency wards and electric guitars. Detroit is a lament for his decaying…

Roky Erickson – Don’t Slander Me - September 2013 September 16th, 2013

Roky Erickson, the hippy Buddy Holly who invented psychedelia in 1965, was burned out by electroconvulsive therapy in 1968. With schlocky b-movie imagery amplifying his genuine anxieties, unauthorised releases swamped Erickson’s subsequent efforts. A trio of reissues showcases his Eighties output, 1986’s rare Don’t Slander Me finding Cold Sun’s autoharp guru Billy Miller and Jefferson…