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ONLY GOD WAS ABOVE US

Vampire Weekend also riffs on their own past cleverly with "Mary Boone," an update on their choral ballads named for the influential gallery owner imprisoned for offenses connected to tax fraud, and "The Surfer," which continues the legacy of Modern Vampires of the City's "Hudson" with its mournful allusions to famous waters (in this case, the Water Tunnel 3 project). The band balances all of this looking back with a significant step forward: making peace with the existential questions they raised on their previous albums. Nowhere is this move towards acceptance more apparent than on the closing track "Hope." Steady where the rest of the album is volatile, its eight-minute litany would be crushing if it wasn't for the liberation Koenig finds in admitting "Our enemy's invincible/I had to let it go." Similarly, the ease with which the band raises the bar is equally impressive and appealing. Only God Was Above Us isn't just a great album in its own right -- it's one that enriches the understanding of Vampire Weekend's entire history.
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DROP IN AT THE OLD OAK

Ken Loach is always at his strongest when he has a clear target at which to direct a righteous anger,
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GRATEFUL DEAD influencing the living

Norman Warwick learns from Paste mail-in: GRATEFUL DEAD influencing the living “I remember the sound of his laugh and the mixture of smoke and whatever aftershave,” says Sam Grisman, recalling Jerry Garcia in his living room.…

Sidetracks & Detours present PASS IT ON  49 Sunday Supplement 21 4 2024

If you hold music festivals of whatever genre in your locality, whether in the UK or other countries around the world, why not let our editor here at PASS IT ON and we will share your information with our readers around the world.
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WORDS RUN IN THE KENYON FAMILY

It read: “Olga Kenyon has performed a service to all who are interested not only in the written word, but in the changing lives of women”.
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FLY ON THE WALL PRESS

Greater Manchester can boast a plethora of excellent creative writing groups but I do feel that not enough authors go to a writing group. There’s a good one in Manchester called the Monday Night Group that meets every week at the Britons Protection pub.
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BRASS BANDING up North

Thom Bamford, in a written essay in a recent I Love Manchester  newsletter, says that Brass Banding is a rich and deep tradition across the north of England and a huge deal across parts of Greater Manchester.
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HALF A CENTURY AGO:

when Paste published its review of the albums of fifty years ago and announced they had selected thirty great albums I was somewhat sceptical. I couldn´t believe that what I consider to have been a year in the musical wilderness could have produced that number of great albums.
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WHEN STARS LOSE THEIR SPARKLE

How do you resist the industry’s pressure to stick to a proven formula? And if you do shift to a more mature music, what music is that? Artists such as Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Maren Morris and their fellow thirty-somethings are wrestling with those issues now.