Here is a flawless, beautifully produced cover of one of the most striking Christmas songs. Yes, it’s a little early but just take note of those lyrics: “So this is Xmas and what have you done? // Another year over and a new one just begun.” How many of us long for this year to be over with the opportunity for a fresh start when a new year begins? John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s words and ideas are as relevant in 2020 as they have ever been: “And so this is Xmas // For weak and for strong…For black and for white.” Continue reading “Video: Calexico “Happy Xmas (War is Over)””
There are musical moments in your life that are of such significance that you will remember them forever. I recall buying my first record, going to my first gig and lying in bed as a 15-year-old listening to John Peel play ‘New Rose’ by The Damned. I wish that I could similarly pinpoint the first time that I heard Tom T Hall, but alas, I can’t. He just seemed to always be there, occasionally referenced by artists or in the media whenever the conversation turned to great songwriters. Then in 1998, by which time my affection for Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies and Captain Sensible had long since waned, a tribute album was released – ‘Real: The Tom T Hall Project’. 
A double header that will be of great interest to readers of Americana UK is a tour later this year when Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico hook up with Sam Bean of Iron and Wine. The trio first made an artistic connection with the release of the 2005 EP,‘In the Reins’. While their musical careers have taken divergent paths since, they always talked of collaborating again, both in the studio and on stage, but it wasn’t until last year that their schedules sufficiently aligned for them to be able to record together. The resulting album is ‘Years to Burn’ which is due to be issued on the 14th of June via Sub Pop/City Slang. 
There’s a rare opportunity to catch Parisian by way of Tucson musician Naim Amor on his first appearance on UK soil in over nine years when he plays a solo show this Friday. Amor started out in the Parisian underground scene before relocating to Tucson in the late 1990s as one half of the Amor Belhom duo releasing an album ABBC recorded in collaboration with Calexico.