Jim Irvin
Giving up singing for a living, Irvin became reviews editor and feature writer at Melody Maker, then founding features editor of MOJO. He also edited the magazine’s acclaimed compendium of classic albums, The MOJO Collection (Canongate Books). He's been a playwright, DJ in a biscuit factory, indie label boss and RollingStone.com’s UK correspondent. He lives in London, continuing to write regularly for MOJO, Word and The Times, and works as a lyricist and composer.
132 articles
List of articles in the library
Oasis: Everything Rock Delights In
Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1994
THE MARQUEE, about a month ago. the place is solid with grinning loons, many of whom hold should-know-better jobs in the music business. I'm here ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 1994
YOU CAN JUST HEAR THE PHONE CALL. "The album's ready. Hire the Irish castle!" When the world's biggest bands have something to promote, money's no ...
Deep Purple, Ian Gillan: Ian Gillan
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 1994
THE THIRD VERSION OF DEEP PURPLE TO FEATURE Ian Gillan on lead vocal has just toured the world. Shortly before the Japanese leg, guitarist Ritchie ...
Berry Gordy: To Be Loved – The Music, The Magic, The Memories Of Motown (Headline)
Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 1995
AT THE get-go, Berry Gordy states that "the misconceptions about me and Motown have become so great I finally had to deal with them." Four ...
Stevie Wonder: Conversation Peace (Motown)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 1995
SO UNIQUE, SO ADVENTUROUS WAS Stevie Wonder in his ‘70s heyday that it’s especially upsetting to hear the occasionally hackneyed modern model. Not that we’ve ...
Teenage Fanclub: Mojo Rising: Teenage Fanclub
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995
MAYBE IT'S OPTIMISM born of the knowledge that they have a marvellous new album in the can, but Teenage Fanclub reckon that Spring has arrived. ...
Scott Walker, The Walker Brothers: Scott Walker: “That Francis Bacon, In-The-Face Whoops Factor...”
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995
TWENTY-TWO YEAR OLD Noel Scott Engel was on the run from Uncle Sam. He was fleeing from a country that would never connect with his ...
Jack Bruce: Sound Your Funky Horn: Jack Bruce
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1995
Jack Bruce selects the high points of his illustrious career. ...
Marvin Gaye: The Master 1961-1984 (Motown)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1995
BIOGRAPHER DAVID RITZ HAS WRITTEN thousands and thousands of words on the ineffable talent of Marvin Gaye. This is possible. So all-encompassing are the pleasures ...
Portishead: Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1995
"That," says a chap in the gents after the show "was THE oddest gig I've ever seen." ...
Andy Summers, The Police: Andy Summers
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1995
TOWARDS THE END OF The Police, I thought we were turning into a backing group for Sting. I thought, I've got more going than this ...
Jane Siberry: The Woman Who Scared Herself
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1995
Your new LP, Maria, sounds very different to your other albums. I gather it was recorded fairly spontaneously. ...
Buffalo Tom: MOJO Rising: Buffalo Tom
Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1995
FIVE ALBUMS into what they now recognise as "a career", erstwhile garage rapscallions Buffalo Tom suddenly find themselves, well, kinda mature. ...
Colin Blunstone: Some Years (Legacy/Epic)
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1995
SOME YEARS BURSTS open with an old Zombies song, 'She Loves The Way They Love Her', delivered in a distinctive, creamy tone, suggesting a delicious ...
The Small Faces: Small Faces: The Immediate Years (Charly)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 1995
MOD, SCHMOD: THE SMALL FACES WERE SO MUCH more. For a start they were a great band for kids. I should know, I was one. ...
DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, La Funk Mob, Money Mark, UNKLE: Mojo Rising: James Lavelle
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1996
Being head of exploding hip-prog record label Mo'Wax is nothing to sneeze at. ...
The Blue Nile: Above It All: The Blue Nile
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1996
When life dishes it out, Paul Buchanan and his group The Blue Nile pack a bag, settle somewhere new and, every half-decade or so, make ...
Ocean Colour Scene: Camden Electric Ballroom, London
Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1996
OCEAN COLOUR SCENE have got booking the supports sussed. Liverpudlian veterans The Real People turn in a tuneful set. Good call. The DJ gets the ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1996
THE SONG WAS CALLED 'Becoming X'. We gave it a turn on the office stereo, not expecting much. But, about a minute into the dark, ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, Summer 1996
This previously unpublished interview was conducted in the summer of 1996 — around the release of Lewis Taylor's self-titled debut album — for a short, ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997
THIS INTERVIEW coincided with Paul Rodgers' 1997 album, Now, his first set of original material since Cut Loose in 1983. It was conducted in a ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1997
What first made you want to write a song? ...
Fairport Convention: Now Be Thankful...
Overview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1997
…for 30 years of Fairport Convention. Jim Irvin gets a guided tour through their scrapbook of joy, tears, beers, jigs, reels and panties. ...
Spiritualized: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1997
THE CULMINATION OF A SEVEN YEAR mission to empty his crowded mind onto tape, Ladies And Gentlemen...is Jason Pierce's clamorous meisterwerk. A record that's splendidly ...
Radiohead: The Tourist: An Interview With Thom Yorke
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, June 1997
Thursday 22 May, 1997IT'S A SEARING summer's day in Barcelona, one of Europe's most beautiful cities. Three things are creating a buzz in the Catalonian ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1997
Thom Yorke tells Jim Irvin how OK Computer was done. ...
Radiohead: Zeleste Club, Barcelona
Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1997
FOR THE EUROPEAN launch of their brilliant but peculiar third LP, OK Computer, Radiohead have opted to take it reasonably easy, hang out in one ...
Teenage Fanclub: Sporty, Scary, Posh & Ginger
Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 1997
Thursday, May 30, 1996 ...
Jeff Buckley: "It's Never Over"
Obituary by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1997
JUST BEFORE 9PM ON THE EVENING of Thursday, May 29, Jeff Buckley and his friend Keith Foti realised they were lost. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 1997
Isley; Get Into Something; Givin' It Back; Brother, Brother, BrotherFour long-lost albums, each one worth £20 or more on vinyl. Originally on the Isleys' own ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 1997
FEBRUARY 1992. The Melody Maker's young Oxford correspondent pops up Cowley Road to the old Co-Op dining hall, a glamour-free venue – small stage at ...
Mark Hollis, Talk Talk: Mark Hollis Interview
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 1998
MARK HOLLIS' self titled debut album was, at one point, going to be a Talk Talk album entitled Mountains Of The Moon, but somewhere between ...
The Beta Band: Moody, Groovy, Big and Bouncy
Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1998
Line-up: Robin Jones (drums/percussion), Steve Mason (Vocals/guitars/percusssion), John McLean (samplers, percussion), Richard Greenstreet (bass). ...
Sleeve notes by Jim Irvin, Sequel Records, 1998
"AY-YI-YI, THE BEAT IS CRAZY!" ‘Sucu Sucu’, an insanely catchy samba novelty, was a chart sensation in the autumn of 1961. The forgotten theme to ...
Caetano Veloso: Tropicalia CDs: Samba takes a trip
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1998
ON THE DAY that man first trod upon the moon, Brazilian stars Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were bidding a reluctant farewell to their homeland. ...
Them: The Story Of Them Featuring Van Morrison (Deram)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 1998
SOMEHOW THE legend has grown up that Them comprised one stone genius and a bunch of hapless fools, dispensable at whim. It's understandable, as said ...
Electric Light Orchestra: Light Years
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 1998
Mid-priced, 2-CD, 38-track collection of all their singles. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 1998
Supposedly one of his "parenthetical" releases in the vein of Stereoscopic Soul Manure and One Foot In The Grave. The "official" follow-up to Odelay is ...
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, Rob Chapman, MOJO, April 1998
IF YOU spent the early '70s worshipping false idols with feet of clay when you could have been listening to these finely crafted records then ...
Sandy Denny, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay: Angel Of Avalon: Sandy Denny
Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1998
Revered by everyone from Frank Zappa to The Spice Girls. Led Zeppelin's one and only guest star. One of Britain's greatest singers. Yet her true ...
Jeff Buckley: Sketches (For My Sweetheart The Drunk) (Columbia)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 1998
FANS OF Grace might find this album tough going. For one thing, it's hard to divorce the circumstances of its existence from the music – ...
John Lennon: The Lennon Anthology (Parlophone)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 1998
Four CDs of unused takes and unreleased post-Beatle home recordings, divided into four periods: Ascot, New York, The Lost Weekend and Dakota. Comes with intriguingly ...
Maria McKee: Dingwalls, London
Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 1998
SITTING COMFORTABLY? Sexy, tear-duct prickling songs in voice that defies science. ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: Regrets? I’ve Had A Few: Dexys Midnight Runners
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 1999
This is the full version of an interview with Kevins Rowland and Archer published in MOJO in 1999. ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, unpublished, May 1999
Here a full transcript of the interview conducted with Bjorn Ulvaeus for a MOJO feature published in 1999 to mark the opening of Mamma Mia!. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 1999
THEY HAD a dream. It was November 1970, and the greatest pop group of the decade was about to get off to a very inauspicious ...
The Beatles, Paul McCartney: Paul McCartney: Run Devil Run
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 1999
THE LURE had been the chance of a lengthy one-on-one with Paul McCartney discussing all his solo albums. "You could turn it into a book," ...
George Harrison: All Things Must Pass (Apple)
Review by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2000
New double-disc remastering of George’s solo debut. Now with out-takes, remixes and a re-recorded version of ‘My Sweet Lord’. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2000
Well-presented 5-CD box. Three career-spanning discs of album outtakes, alternative mixes and remixes, one of live material and one of assorted Free side-projects. ...
Radiohead: "Thank you, ignite!": Radiohead at Meltdown
Report by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2000
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was a piece for the news section of MOJO in July 2000 previewing songs from the forthcoming Radiohead album that were unveiled ...
The Strokes: The Monarch, Camden Town, London
Live Review by Jim Irvin, launch.com, February 2001
THERE IS a buzz about The Strokes that would shame a swarm of hornets. ...
Air: 10,000 Hz Legend (Source/Virgin)
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2001
Self-proclaimed "grown-up" album from French duo who created 1998’s million-selling retro-pop classic, Moon Safari, and inspired many imitators. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2001
SOME YEARS ago I interviewed Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile for MOJO. A musician known for his restless lifestyle, I asked him if there ...
Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2001
A fine new biography brings the louche Gallic genius to life ...
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2001
Self-proclaimed "grown-up" album from French duo who created 1998's million-selling retro-pop classic Moon Safari and inspired many imitators. ...
Electric Light Orchestra: The Bullring Variations: ELO
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 2001
APRIL 20, 2001. The fat drops of rain falling on New York cannot dampen the anticipation that’s crackling along this usually quiet side-street. Here stand ...
Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2001
Laid-back troupe shoot from zero to Square One in just over a decade! More power to them, says Jim Irvin. ...
Carole King: Gracefully slick: Carole King: Love Makes The World (Rockingale/Koch)
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001
The Queen of the Brill Building does it her way ...
Pulp: Jarvis Cocker: An Interview
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001
Jim Irvin grills the willowy Pulp frontman about Scott Walker, Ginster's pasties and encounters with his younger self. ...
Macy Gray: Another Girl Another Planet
Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001
HARBOUR NO ILLUSIONS, stardom screws you up. Don’t get used to the luxury and attention, it could leave as quickly as it came. No matter ...
Pulp: Ten Questions For Jarvis Cocker
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2001
Jim Irvin grills the willowy Pulp frontman about Scott Walker, Ginster's pasties and encounters with the younger self ...
Pink Floyd: Echoes – The Best Of
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2001
GLOOMY BUGGERS, the Floyd. War, death, bitter childhood, alienation, indoctrination, madness, greed, vicious animal husbandry, imprisonment, old age and, inevitably, death. Hi ho, it's off ...
Soft Cell: The Twelve Inch Singles (Mercury)
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2001
Every 12-inch single A and B-side of their career collected into o 3-CD set ...
Elvis Costello: This Year's Model/Blood & Chocolate/Brutal Youth
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2002
One more time: Elvis's rockest creations in 2CD editions, each with a bonus disc featuring material available on earlier reissues, plus previously unreleased demos. ...
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2002
BEFORE WE go on, I'd like to apologise for the recent albums by Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney; just as a public service, because, Lord ...
The Association: Just the Right Sound
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2002
IN DECEMBER 1999, the American performing rights company, BMI, published a survey of the most air-played songs of the 20th century. Top of the list ...
Nina Simone: To Love Somebody/Here Comes The Sun/Emergency Ward/Black Gold/It Is Finished
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2002
EUNICE WAYMON never intended to be a pop singer. Her ambition was to be the first great black female classical pianist. She took up playing ...
Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: We Mean You No Harm
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2002
Inhabitants of planet Oklahoma, for 15 years The Flaming Lips happily explored the outer limits of symphonic psych. Then, with 1999's The Soft Bulletin, they ...
Beth Gibbons and Rustin’ Man: Out Of Season (Go Beat)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2002
First ‘solo’ album from Portishead’s singer, in collaboration with Paul Webb, formerly of Talk Talk, with additional input from Portishead colleague, Adrian Utley ...
Supergrass: Life On Other Planets (Parlophone)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, September 2002
After a three year pause, here’s their fourth album, produced by Tony Hoffer (Air, Beck) and largely recorded at Chris Difford’s Sussex studios. Released on ...
The Beatles: The Death of Brian Epstein
Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2002
THERE'S A story, probably apocryphal, concerning John Lennon during his infamous 'lost weekend', the period in the mid-'70s when he split from Yoko and devoted ...
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2002
SO, IT CAME to pass, George Harrison bookended his solo years with his two best albums. Brainwashed is a mature and often profound record, comprising ...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty: The Last DJ *****
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2002
BUSINESS AS usual for Petty is a decent business: good melodies, fat, ringing acoustics, his occasionally Dylanish delivery with those little lifts or drops at ...
The Beatles: Get It Better: The Story of Let It Be… Naked
Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 2003
Is it getting back to 'Get Back'? Is it Let It Be exorcised of Spector? Is it the record it always should have been? ...
Evan Dando: Baby I’m Bored (Setanta)
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2003
AS FRONTMAN OF the Lemonheads, Evan Dando displayed several striking talents: Writing deceptively plain songs that slipped beneath your skin and often concealed a profound ...
Goldfrapp: Black Cherry (Mute) ****
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2003
Second album from sultry singer/musician Alison Goldfrapp and musical partner Will Gregory. ...
Review and Interview by Mike Barnes, Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 2003
Wyatt's first album for six years features guest appearances by Annie Whitehead, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, David Gilmour and Paul Weller. By Jim Irvin. ...
The Strokes: Room On Fire (Rough Trade)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2003
SOON AFTER HEARING it for the first time, I decided that The Modern Age EP was perfect, a marvel of compressed energy, three thrilling songs, ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, 2004
SHORTLY AFTER HIS brilliant debut, Taylor declared his next album would be an even more ambitious blend of soul and West Coast pop, proper ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2004
More patchwork rambling from the gifted Scottish eccentric. ...
The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson at the Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2004
THE UBERFANS WITH medicated stares, the reverent fans who applaud Van Dyke Parks to his seat, the Smile scholars who have flown in from another ...
So Sue Him!: Walter Yetnikoff with David Ritz: Howling At The Moon (Abacus) ***
Book Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2004
Subtitled "Confessions of a music mogul in an age of excess", the fearsome former figurehead of CBS's enjoyable schmuck-into-mensch saga. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2004
Soft, sunshine, orch-pop, whatever you call it, this is a proper overlooked classic of the genre from 1970. No, really. Promise. ...
Marianne Faithfull: "La Saboteuse"
Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, October 2004
IT IS THE EVENING of the day – a very balmy day in San Francisco – and, perhaps, Marianne Faithfull shouldn't be here. ...
Electric Light Orchestra: ELO: Shine On
Sleeve notes by Jim Irvin, unpublished, 2005
IN THE LATE 60s, Jeff Lynne, leader of distinctive psychedelic pop group, The Idle Race, constructed a surprisingly sophisticated demo studio in the front room ...
Retrospective by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2005
NINE WAS A memorable age for Roberta Joan Anderson. Three things occurred that year, more than 50 years ago, which affect her to this day: ...
Jimmy Webb: The Moon's A Harsh Mistress
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, April 2005
The gifted composer of 'Wichita Lineman' and 'MacArthur Park' made five bold, mature solo LPs. Nobody noticed. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, June 2005
AS A STAUNCH advocate of pop music that's actually popular, that revels in its ability to make human connections, I can't begrudge Coldplay their unquestionable ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2005
TO SUM UP: Kate Bush is the greatest living British artist in song and this is her masterpiece. ...
Essay by Jim Irvin, MOJO, Summer 2005
IT WAS APRIL 1967, the morning after The Beatles had completed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and The Zombies walked into Abbey Road Studios ...
Talking Heads - Same as it ever was?
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, February 2006
I MAY BE mistaken but, as I recall it, the term 'New Wave' was coined to accommodate Talking Heads. Publicists needed a tag other than ...
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2006
IT WENT ALMOST unnoticed at the time, but in the midst of the big-haired pomp, regimented razzle and bloated clatter which characterised so much music ...
Cocteau Twins: The Cocteau Twins
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, April 2006
IN THE SUMMER of 1981, a member of staff at the Earl's Court branch of Beggars Banquet Records noticed an odd-looking couple loitering outside the ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, The Times, July 2006
YOU HEAR A rolling figure on electric piano, a melody recalling Fleetwood Mac's 'Rhiannon' and the 'Theme From MASH', a chugging groove reminiscent of 'Don't ...
Scritti Politti: The Green Piece
Profile and Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, July 2006
A PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTION to begin. Why are we all here? Well, it's because pop music's fucking great, isn't it? ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, November 2006
Jim Irvin welcomes the long-awaited CD reissue of the mysterious folk singer's only "proper" album, from 1971. ...
Dexys Midnight Runners: The Projected Passion Revue (Mercury) ***
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2006
NOBODY CRIED in 1981. Public displays of emotion weren't fashionable. The times demanded detachment, cynicism, or utter peacockery. ...
The Beatles: Love (Apple)*****
Review and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2006
WE'RE NOT unsympathetic to readers who complain of Beatles fatigue, but we reserve the right to counsel: "Deal with it", because for a large section ...
The Beatles, George Martin: George Martin
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2007
THE PENTHOUSE mixing room at the top of Abbey Road Studios. We await Sir George Martin, who is 30 minutes late. "This is most unlike ...
The Beatles, George Martin: The Sound Of Sgt. Pepper
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2007
THE RECORD ALWAYS regarded as a harbinger of pop's future is full of old-fashioned sounds. These are, in order of appearance: a theatre orchestra tuning ...
Sly & the Family Stone: Sly and the Family Stone: Bournemouth Opera House
Live Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, August 2007
YOU'RE A LIFE-LONG fan of a band that fell apart long before you were old enough to see them play. Suddenly, you hear that the ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, September 2007
AS THE 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's debut album, Piper At the Gates Of Dawn rolls around, it's interesting to ruminate on what became of ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, February 2008
Not many would have dared step into Judy's ruby slippers and revisit her most celebrated concert, but this man did. Jim Irvin prepares to weep ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, May 2008
EVERYBODY KNOWS a Steve Miller song, yet he's hardly a household name. For every hit of his you can whistle – 'The Joker', 'Fly Like ...
Martha Wainwright: I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too (Drowned In Sound)
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, June 2008
DRAPED UPSIDE-DOWN over the couch, high heels pointing at the sky, little black dress hiked high on her thighs, Martha Wainwright is waiting for someone. ...
Pink Floyd, Ron Geesin: Pink Floyd: Atom Heart Mother Redux
Report by Jim Irvin, The Word, August 2008
IN JUNE 1984, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, unequivocal as always, told Richard Skinner on Radio 1: "If somebody said to me now: 'Right...here's a million ...
Guns N' Roses: Guns N'Roses: Chinese Democracy
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, 2009
"ALL I'VE got is time" sings Axl Rose in the opening, title song of Chinese Democracy. ...
Report and Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, April 2009
T-Bone Burnett has been producing records for over 40 years and is busier now than he's ever been, pursuing a lifelong fascination with "the boom ...
Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me (Drag City)
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, 2010
IT'S NOT going out on any limbs to declare that Joanna Newsom's voice divides opinion. ...
Kevin Coyne: I Want My Crown - The Anthology 1973–1980
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2010
Four–disc appreciation of British singer–songwriterhood's best kept secret. ...
Mickey Newbury: An American Triology
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, March 2010
He was the hottest songwriter in town. But when he made his own records, the world wasn't ready for songs of utter despair accompanied by ...
The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street (Polydor)
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, May 2010
HAVING DRAWN THE Stones' latest, double album from its unsettling, monochrome sleeve, how long did it take contemporary listeners to realise this wouldn't be business ...
Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny: Sandy Denny
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, September 2010
A monumental box for a great voice. ...
Randy Newman, Nina Simone: Nina Simone's 'Baltimore'
Retrospective by Jim Irvin, The Word, February 2011
WHEN RANDY NEWMAN'S Little Criminals was released late in 1977, ending a three-year drought for the irony tsar of Tin Pan Alley, critics queued up ...
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2011
IT'S THREE AND A HALF MINUTES into Build A Rocket Boys, and Elbow are sounding like a band. And that band is Genesis, circa 1973, ...
Jello Biafra, Peter Hammill: Peter Hammill and Jello Biafra: Prog vs. Punk – Who Won?
Interview by Jim Irvin, The Word, March 2011
One was uncool but enduring, the other hip but short-lived. Two pioneers, Peter Hammill and Jello Biafra, fight their respective corners. ...
Foo Fighters: Lightning In A Bottle: Foo Fighters: Wasting Light (RCA)
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, May 2011
Supercharged spontaneity captured straight to tape — yet Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters remain emotionally elusive ...
Retrospective by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2011
The Italian from Munich changed how records were made ...
Foo Fighters, Lil Wayne: View From The Top: Foo Fighters: Back And Forth/Lil Wayne: The Carter
Film/DVD/TV Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, August 2011
The rock soap opera of Foo Fighters' journey to a happy place versus the soul-sapping, airlocked celebrity world of Lil Wayne ...
Jon Anderson, Yes: Yes: Fly From Here/Jon Anderson: Survival And Other Stories
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, September 2011
Cruelly replaced by a tribute-band replica, Jon Anderson manages to conjure more magic than his former Yes colleagues. ...
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, October 2011
The new Louis Armstrong box set isn't the vast trunk you'd expect, more an overnight hag — but it has everything you need. ...
Kate Bush: The Frost Report: Kate Bush: 50 Words For Snow (Fish People/EMI)
Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, December 2011
A winter's tale from Kate Bush: low pressure, deep drifts, a cold front moving in — and a crisp cameo from Stephen Fry. ...
Adele: Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Film/DVD/TV Review by Jim Irvin, The Word, February 2012
Adele Adkins, USA-slaying superstar from Tottenham, plays the Albert Hall. It's being ordinary what makes her so popular. ...
Bill Fay: Man In The Shed: Bill Fay: Life Is People (Dead Oceans) *****
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2012
BILL FAY has been making music for at least 45 years. For many of them, his work as a professional musician — a single and ...
Marcos Valle: Marcos Valle/Garra/Vento Sul/Previsão Do Tempo (Light In The Attic)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 2012
Four long-unavailable Brazilian classics by surfing bossa nova star seeking to ride newer waves. ...
Fleetwood Mac: We Want To Be Together
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2015
IT SHOULDN'T WORK, but it does: the drummer fractionally behind the beat and the bass slightly ahead. For close to 50 years, Mick Fleetwood and ...
Fleetwood Mac: Eye Witness: Fleetwood Mac Start Work On The Follow-Up To Rumours
Retrospective and Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, October 2015
After a huge world tour and a two-month break, Fleetwood Mac reconvene in an expensively-customised L.A. studio to make the follow-up to the biggest selling ...
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, May 2016
THEIR BUSINESS CARD might read: "Radiohead: Dealers in Unease since 1992." Confounding expectation has been somewhere in everything they've done, from Pablo Honey's declarations of ...
Terry Reid: The Other Side Of The River (Future Days)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, June 2016
TERRY REID'S place in rock history is secure if only for his decision not to be the lead singer of Led Zeppelin (it wouldn't have ...
Kate Bush: Not Drowning But Waving
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, January 2017
Forty years into her career, Kate Bush is still looking for fresh ways to exhaust herself. Before The Dawn, her run of 22 live shows ...
10cc: Before, During, After – The Story Of 10cc (Universal)
Review by Jim Irvin, MOJO, July 2017
The echoes of four years of chart-bound art'n'smarts. The legacy of 10cc. ...
Book Excerpt by Jim Irvin, 'From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye' (Post Hill), May 2018
Excerpted from Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye by Jeff's former manager Dave Lory and former MOJO man Jim Irvin (Post Hill Press). ...
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