MOJO April 2022

Adam Clair Adam is the author of Endless Endless: A Lo-Fi History Of The Elephant 6 Mystery, from which he adapts the strange story of the band Neutral Milk Hotel on page 52. He writes about music and technology for a number of publications, most of which still exist, and lives in Philadelphia with his cat. Melanie Nissen Between 1977 and 1980, Melanie was photographer for Los Angeles’ ground-breaking music magazine Slash, before taking her creative skills to the record labels, art directing sleeves for Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson, Iggy Pop, PiL and many more. A portfolio of her shots from LA’s nascent punk scene begins on page 58. John Bungey John has written for MOJO since 1994 in between his regular gig at The Times. This month he talks to 75-year-old Edgar Winter about…

IT’S BEEN QUITE A WHILE SINCE WE PUT TOGETHER A GRAB bag CD of eclectic new music to accompany our magazine – 30 issues, in fact, since the MOJO Rising compilation of October 2019. That disc introduced Fontaines D.C., Yola, Black Midi, Mdou Moctar, Weyes Blood, Amyl And The Sniffers and many others who have since become critical players in the MOJO universe. Two-and-a-half years on, the time seems right to do it again. We’re proud, then, to unveil Handle With Care and our MOJO Class Of 2022 – the rabble-rousers, storytellers, classical artisans and radical innovators destined to soundtrack this eventful year. Here you’ll find heartland folk and electro epiphany; searing post-punk and transcendental jazz; a song from the Sahara, sung in Welsh; and a prevailing spirit, exemplified by Los…

Cate Le Bon COME ON THEN, CARMARTHEN What music are you currently grooving to? Music For Saxofone & Bass Guitar – Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes. Also Charlotte Adigéry, Standing On The Corner, and I’m currently having my first love affair with Tears For Fears. What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Faust IV by a country mile. I can remember exactly where I was and how I felt when I first heard it. Those feelings have only blossomed over the years and it’s a record I will always reference, whether it’s a feel or a specific sound I’m chasing. The real take away for me is that the abandonment employed is inspired rather than calculated. It’s a visceral exploration of sound and songwriting. What was the first record you ever bought?…

E-mail to: mojoreaders@bauermedia.co.uk IN AN ISSUE OF NME FROM AUGUST 1963, George Harrison is found at a table in Liverpool’s Blue Angel club, considering what he might do in the future. There’s enthusiastic talk of opening a go-kart track; Adam Faith is interested in investing. “Weird stuff” with a tape recorder, that involves John Lennon’s poetry. Perhaps, eventually, even songwriting. “I haven’t bothered in the same way as John and Paul,” he admits, “though I’d like to have a stab sooner or later.” George Harrison’s time as a great songwriter would come soon enough. But as the extraordinary Get Back series makes so tangible, being heard was not always easy for this most self-effacing of Beatles. “I’ve got a few slow ones... if you want?” he offers hesitantly, as the quartet struggle…

THE HOT NEWS AND BIZARRE STORIES FROM PLANET MOJO “DO YOU THINK if I chose a stage name today, I’d call myself Meat Loaf” Loaf? ” the singer and actor born Marvin Lee Aday asked MOJO in 2013. “Nobody in their right mind would call themselves Meat Loaf.” But Meat Loaf, who died on January 20, understood the value of his name. Meat (as he liked to be called) brought the bombast of Wagnerian opera and the sentimentality of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to hard rock. His most famous work, 1977’s Bat Out Of Hell, would go on to sell 44 million copies and make him a household name. Aday was born in Dallas, Texas, on September 27, 1947, and acquired his nickname while playing for his high school football team. “But…

THE DAY BEFORE MOJO’s Zoom call with Belle And Sebastian, their European tour was cancelled. “I’m really glad actually,” says singer and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Martin. “I was thinking, God, we’ll be lucky if we get three days into it without us all having it...” The Covid era has impacted on the Glasgow indie institution in other ways. They’d planned to record in glamorous Los Angeles in 2020, with Adele/Killers/War On Drugs producer Shawn Everett. “He’s very hot just now and we had this opportunity to work with him,” says singer, guitarist and keyboardist Stuart Murdoch. “Of course, that’s when Covid struck. It was very, very Belle And Sebastian timing.” After a rescheduled visit later in the year also got canned, they decided to do some renovations at their “clubhouse” in Finnieston –…