Paul Lester
Paul Lester has been Features Editor of Melody Maker and Deputy Editor of Uncut. He went freelance in January 2007. Since then he has written books on Gang Of Four and Wire, and interviewed over 200 musicians (plus a few authors and actors) for the Guardian, the Sunday Times Culture section, Telegraph Arts & Books, the Mail On Sunday Live Night & Day, the Daily Express, Record Collector, the Scotsman and the Jewish Chronicle. He also writes reviews for Q, composes the Guardian's daily Critics' Picks and has introduced more than 530 new acts via his Guardian online New Band Of The Day feature. He is currently writing a book on Pink.
The Guardian New Band of the Day
303 articles
List of articles in the library
Suicide: The Leadmill, Sheffield
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 24 December 1988
SUICIDE'S dispassionate sheet ice of sound is a freezed-up fusillade, a remorseless puncturing of steel-hard cymbals by a psychotic, pneumatic drill. Entirely emptied of the ...
Morrissey: Civic Centre, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 January 1989
MORRISSEY COMES to the Midlands to play eight songs, two of which receive their first airing tonight, and only 1,700 followers adorned with the Stephen ...
New Order: The Almighty New Order
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 January 1989
New Order: G-Mex Centre, Manchester ...
The Darling Buds: International, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 January 1989
FROM SIMON Reynold's held-back vituperative vitriol to Chris Roberts' rapturous rivers of rhapsodies, there's no denying the sheer weight of wise or wondrous words that ...
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 18 February 1989
PULP HAVE splashed this strangely since 1979. That's 10 years of comic tension, a decade of bizarre normality. Pulp wear wing-collar shirts borrowed from Man ...
Anthrax, Living Colour: Living Colour: Colour Shifts
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 25 March 1989
LIVING COLOUR'S LAST ALBUM, VIVID, IS STILL RIDING HIGH IN THE US CHARTS. THE BLACK ROCK COALITION STARS HAVE JUST SUPPORTED ANTHRAX ON THEIR RECENT ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: Preaching To The Perverted
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 April 1989
BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, THEY'VE DONE AND SAID A LOT OF DUMB THINGS AND SOMETIMES COME ACROSS AS JUST A BUNCH OF PILLOCKS. BUT POP ...
Gregg Allman: The Gregg Allman Band: Just Before The Bullets (Fly CBS)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 6 May 1989
SO BROTHER Duane was perhaps the leading exponent of slide guitar, his virtuoso expertise gracing the grooves of Clapton's finest hour and a half, Layla ...
The Mission, Pete Wylie: Hillsborough: You'll Never Walk Alone
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
IN THE WAKE OF THE HILLSBOROUGH TRAGEDY, THE MISSION, PETE WYLIE, MICK JONES AND THE LA'S PERFORMED AT LIVERPOOL'S ROYAL COURT THEATRE TO RAISE MONEY ...
The Godfathers: More Songs About Love And Hate (Epic)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 May 1989
THE GODFATHERS should be reminded that the noise of now is about plumping for one extreme or the other. More Songs is yet another half-way ...
Cookie Crew: The Cookie Crew: Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 May 1989
WITH TITLES like 'Black Is The Way', The Cookie Crew envince a compelling need to have their say, to disseminate informative missives on a whole ...
Miracle Legion: The Boardwalk, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 22 July 1989
MIRACLE LEGION don't fulfill any of the obligations of my current agenda, being neither a total gross-out bludgeon nor a comatose drift. 'Storyteller' doesn't strike ...
The Primitives: Before The Crash
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 2 September 1989
Lazy 86-88. Paul: "WELL, THE FIRST FOUR SONGS ARE crap for starters! That first record goes for £30 now, those four songs made up our ...
Holger Czukay, David Sylvian: David Sylvian: Words of the Shaman
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 September 1989
THE LAST TWO YEARS HAVE BEEN A PERIOD OF TRANSITION FOR DAVID SYLVIAN, BUT HE'S NOW IN A NEW COLLABORATION WITH HOLGER CZUKAY AND A ...
Screaming Blue Messiahs: The International, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 December 1989
DEMOLITION TIME ...
Alex Chilton: London University
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990
WHAT BECOMES a legend most? Taking drugs helps. Being renowned for a certain volatile temperament that involves smashing up studio consoles and putting your hands ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 10 March 1990
DEPECHE MODE have always been the poor relations of New Order and Kraftwerk, offering pedestrian, sometimes inconsequential variations on the electro-pop theme. Their simplified interpretations ...
Adeva: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 April 1990
IF YOU WERE there, you'd know. Even if you weren't, you could imagine. The sight of Adeva's generously proportioned body squeezed into a microscopic black ...
James: Striking The Motherlode
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 May 1990
SINCE THEIR EXPLOSIVE BEGINNING IN '83, JAMES' CAREER HAS HAD ITS VIOLENT UPS AND DOWNS. FROM THE GIDDY SUCCESS OF INDIE NUMBER ONES TO RUMOURS ...
Peter Murphy: Deep (Beggars Banquet)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 12 May 1990
PETER MURPHY knows what time it is. He's clocked the hippy-gumbo dancing hordes, seen the shaggy clothes and witnessed the wazzy smiles. He's even checked ...
The Chimes: Ringing In The Changes
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 May 1990
WITH THE TOP 10 SUCCESS OF THEIR COVER OF U2'S 'I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR', THE CHIMES LOOK SET TO JOIN SOUL ...
Bobby Brown: Star Gazing: Bobby Brown: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 June 1990
BOBBY BROWN may be less obsessively single-minded than Prince (he doesn't write/produce/sing/play every last note on his records), and Michael Jackson surely beats him jewel-encrusted ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 June 1990
MIKE PEDEN and James Locke have a canny knack for making Gaelic soul sound intuitive. It helps to have a singer like Pauline Henry, of ...
Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield: Dusty Springfield: Reputation (EMI)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 30 June 1990
THE TROUBLE with this album is we know too much about Dusty Springfield to be convinced by the impassioned outpourings that the Pet Shop Boys ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Sky, August 1990
BEHIND THEIR pop outlaw image – which recently earned them a modelling assignment for The Gap – The Darling Buds have a crowd of hardcore ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 1 September 1990
Now in their 14th year, Manchester's the Fall are still operating on rock's margins, still refusing to adhere to any consensus. But how will one ...
Napalm Death: The Wailing Ultimate
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 8 September 1990
Despite years off personnel traumas and line-up changes, NAPALM DEATH are still the same extreme noise terrorists they were in the mid-'80s. With their third, ...
Swervedriver: Chrome Sweet Chrome
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 1 December 1990
This year, Creation broke the mould and signed their very first kick-ass rock'n'roll animals – a hard-edged, bone-rattling death machine called SWERVEDRIVER. With their second ...
Vanilla Ice: Licensed To Chill
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 December 1990
Having enjoyed Number One success on both sides of the Atlantic with 'Ice Ice Baby', VANILLA ICE, on the eve off the release of his ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 January 1991
Prefab Sprout's latest album, Jordan: The Comeback, was lavished with even more praise than their previous two classics, and their European dates are inspiring the ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 12 January 1991
BETWEEN '76 and '84, all sorts of well-intentioned people used to credit Malcolm McLaren with suss, wit, subversive intelligence and the enviable ability to manipulate ...
Ice Cube: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 13 April 1991
DRY ICE ...
Alexander O'Neal: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 April 1991
YOU KNOW, I've never been laughed at by so many people for coming here tonight, to which I can only respond — your problem is ...
Kraftwerk: Barrowlands, Glasgow
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 July 1991
THEY SMILE. That's the first surprise. Dressed in black, the four Kraftwerk-ers briskly stride on stage to take their places behind the giant computer consoles ...
Slowdive: Dive Bomb: Slowdive: Just For A Day (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 31 August 1991
WHEN SLOWDIVE gave us their astonishingly lovely eponymous debut single in last December, it sounded, to these ears at least, like the most auspicious debut ...
The Cranberries: The Underworld, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 September 1991
FRUIT OF THE GLOOM ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 14 September 1991
WITH THE RELEASE of 'Feel Every Beat' from Electronic's highly acclaimed debut album, Paul Lester meets Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr to discuss sadness, sexiness, ...
Nine Inch Nails: International 2, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 September 1991
LOOSE SCREWS ...
Anthrax, Public Enemy: Read My Apocalypse: Public Enemy/Anthrax: The Apollo, Manchester
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 18 January 1992
IF POWER is a turn-on and intelligence is an aphrodisiac, then Public Enemy are surely one of the sexiest groups on the planet. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 15 February 1992
They've been nominated for a Brits award as Best International Newcomers, and their new single, 'Reality Used To Be A friend Of Mine', is a ...
Shakespears Sister: Idol Fantasies
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 February 1992
With their single, 'Stay', high in the charts and their astonishing video fuelling pub conversation throughout the land, PAUL LESTER meets SHAKESPEAR'S SISTER, learns about ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 14 March 1992
As massive an influence on modern dance as Kraftwerk and James Brown, CHIC have finally come back after years producing records for likes of Madonna ...
They Might Be Giants: Apollo 18 (Elektra)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 May 1992
THE COVER features a squid, a satellite and a whale. Yup, They Might Be Grating are back. Think of all the ugliest expletives you could ...
Spiritualized: Reading University, Reading
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 May 1992
VERBALIZED! ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 June 1992
DEEE-LITE are daffy, kooky, Day-glo disco dollies who put the fun into funk. Or are they? PAUL LESTER finds out. ...
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 September 1992
HOW DOES one combine good taste in all its repulsive manifestations with the desire to expose corruption and general street-level decay? F*** knows, but Carmel, ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Rock CD, November 1992
BOYS AND GIRLS. Musos and teenies. Schoolkids and scholars. Indie-bods and bank clerks. At the start of 1992, Ride attracted them all. ...
A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order: Factory R.I.P.
Report by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 December 1992
FACTORY RECORDS, arguably the most influential record label of the Eighties, fell into the hands of the Receiver last week — after months of speculation ...
James: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 2 January 1993
LAUD JIM! ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 16 January 1993
FREE KITTENEXACTLY 12 MONTHS AGO, blonde terrorist Kim Gordon of avant-grungers Sonic Youth and white panther Julie Cafritz, once the glamour and guitars in Pussy ...
Pop Will Eat Itself: We're Not Serious Artists
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 23 January 1993
THE GIGTHE FIRST-TIME I see Pop Will Eat Itself, It is nine o'clock on Wednesday, Clint is wearing baggy white pyjamas, Graham is fiddling with ...
Suede: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 22 May 1993
THIS IS happening with our permission. We wanted it to happen. We virtually willed it to happen. Suede are this season's singing saviours because we ...
Stereo MCs, U2: Stereo MCs: Zooropean Sons
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 June 1993
Stereo MCs are already one of the biggest (dance) bands in Britain. By the end of the summer, after touring Europe with U2, unarguably the ...
Alex Chilton, Big Star: Big Star: 'Whatever Was There, I Drank It Or Took It...'
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 August 1993
...So says Alex Chilton, inspirational genius behind Seventies legends BIG STAR, whose brief but influential career embraced three classic albums and more drugs, booze and ...
Dannii Minogue: At Home With... Dannii Minogue!
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 2 October 1993
Antipodean chart star! In the Melody Maker! Are you gonna argue 'bout it? No? Good. In the first off four special features, we send an ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 October 1993
SHAMPOO are two alien teen snitches/Queen Bitches from Planet Peroxide who recently beamed down to south-east London. Their mission? To annoy the holy shit out ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Ruff Justice
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 5 February 1994
SNOOP DOGGY DOGG is America's most controversial performer, taking the street-tuff credentials of previous gangsta rappers to new extremes of 4 Realness. His album, Doggystyle, ...
Primal Scream: SCREAMADULLICA – Primal Scream: Give Out But Don't Give Up (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 26 March 1994
Pre-modernism! Culture pundits reckon art, architecture and literature are all trying to return to classical values. Why should rock be left out? Primal Scream wanna ...
Blur: Civic Hall Wolverhampton
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 May 1994
THE (CL)ASS OF '94 ...
The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Stooges: Nick Kent: Hack From The Brink
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 28 May 1994
Wanna find out where MM acquired its taste for livid purple prose? Then let PAUL LESTER introduce you to legendary rock journalist NICK KENT, whose ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 4 June 1994
Before PAUL LESTER travelled to Detroit and came into contact with PANTERA, currently America's fastest, loudest, most popular and OTT speed metal band, he looked ...
Oasis: Certainly Probably: Oasis: Definitely Maybe (Creation)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 August 1994
OASIS — Don't Believe The Hype? Well, that depends on whether you've been waiting for a Nineties dream hybrid of The Beatles and The Stones, ...
Tony Bennett: Taj Mahal, Atlantic City NJ
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 24 September 1994
IMAGINE GOING to see a man old enough to have been old at the birth or rock'n'roll, singing ballads inside a gigantic hotel with more ...
Book Excerpt by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 24 December 1994
Blur had a brilliant 1994 — their album, Parklife, entered the charts at Number One and spent the rest of the year blaring from every ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 27 May 1995
Starring: JARVIS COCKER as THE JUNKSHOP ROMANTIC STEVE MACKEY as THE PLAYBOY RUSSELL SENIOR as THE ALIEN CANDIDA DOYLE as THE CARE BEAR KID NICK ...
McAlmont & Butler: The Band That Likes To Play... 'YES'!
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 3 June 1995
DAVID McALMONT used to be in the lavishly praised but commercially unsuccessful THIEVES. The he formed the even more lavishly praised, though still commercially unsuccessful, ...
Blur: Colditz A Knockout!: Blur: The Great Escape (Food)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 9 September 1995
If you thought 'Country House' meant BLUR were playing it safe, you haven't heard The Great Escape. Damon has laced his tales of commuter belt ...
Burt Bacharach: Bacharach to the Future
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 21 October 1995
As grey-haired, 67-year-old composers go, Burt Bacharach is pretty f***ing cool. Paul Lester interviews the melodic inspiration behind Oasis, Stereolab and Pulp. ...
The Bootleg Beatles, Oasis: Where Were You... When We Were Getting High? Oasis: Earl's Court, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 11 November 1995
Last weekend at London's Earl's Court, OASIS played the biggest indoor concerts ever held in this country. In this four-page special, PAUL LESTER reports on ...
Chic: Bernard Edwards 1952-1996
Obituary by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 4 May 1996
BERNARD EDWARDS of CHIC died last week. Paul Lester celebrates the life and work of a massively influential musician, producer and songwriter ...
George Michael: Joyless Division — George Michael: Older (Virgin 11tks/59m ins)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 25 May 1996
With his new album, GEORGE MICHAEL has less to do with Simply Red or the Wets than he does Radiohead or the Manics. ...
Ben Folds Five: The Men From U.N.C.O.O.L.
Interview by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 20 June 1996
BEN FOLDS FIVE are on a mission (impossible) to make Seventies radio pop so hip it hurts ...
Laura Nyro: Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best Of Laura Nyro
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997
AT THE age of 21, she was the most sought-after writer in America, a one-woman hit factory, providing songs for everyone from Sinatra to Aretha. ...
Iggy Pop: Iggy And The Stooges: Raw Power
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997
LOOK OUT, honey, cos they're using technology. Or rather, remixer Iggy Pop is. ...
The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: The Bizarre Life And Lonely Death Of Billy Mackenzie
Retrospective by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1997
TOP OF THE POPS, MARCH 3, 1982. A relatively unknown band from north of the border are about to do what David Bowie, Roxy Music ...
Monaco: Music For Pleasure (Polydor 10 tks/53 mins)
Review by Paul Lester, Melody Maker, 7 June 1997
Push aside those past glories. Sweep up those laurels. Here comes Peter Hook with MONACO. Can they make the grade? ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997
OH, THE injustice. Had the release of Dwight Twilley's brilliant power pop debut not been delayed by a year, it would have beaten the first ...
Retrospective by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997
"This sorrow is so deep that I really can't help myself. Somehow I think she knew that we loved her as if she was our ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997
"I'M FASCINATED WITH THE IDEA OF ART born of a disintegrated mind," says Lewis Taylor, all coal-black curls and kohl-kissed eyes, crouched in the semi-darkness ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997
Absolutely Prefabulous: Far from the sonic mainstream with Paddy McAloon ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1997
IF, LIKE me, you thought The Jayhawks were just another bunch of New Country journeymen, then prepare to have your mind radically, brutally altered. ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 1997
Cheap Trick: meta-metal power pop ...
Earth Wind and Fire: Earth Wind & Fire: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997
NO ONE levitates tonight. Nor are there any Sphinxes. And the sequinned Egyptological-spaceman costumes are conspicuous by their absence. But we do get 12 instrumentalists ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997
YOU'D THINK Oasis were at war. The sense of urgency is palpable. Be Here Now. It's all in the video to the single: Oasis, the ...
Michael Jackson: The Starman Who Fell To Earth: Michael Jackson: Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield *****
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1997
THE MOST FAMOUS performer on Earth has just been introduced, as per protocol, as "the King Of Pop", by the Chief Barker of the Variety ...
Billy MacKenzie: Beyond The Sun
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, November 1997
BEYOND THE Sun is a fitting tribute to Billy Mackenzie, who committed suicide this year, although it was nearly a completely different album. This posthumous ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, November 1997
Todd Rundgren, interactive pioneer and, For 25 years, the mad uncle of electronic pop, talks to Paul Lester ...
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Hall & Oates: Marigold Sky
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, January 1998
The rock'n'soul duo return with their first album for seven years ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, February 1998
The Lexicon Of Loathe: ABC's flawed second LP, reissued with one extra track ...
The High Llamas: High Llamas: Cold And Bouncy
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, February 1998
SEAN O'HAGAN of, first, Microdisney, and now The High Llamas, has been one of our finest melodicists for 15 years. Along with Paddy McAloon of ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 1998
Clare Grogan "arrived" in 1980, with Gregory's Girl and Altered Images – the group had a series of hit singles ('Happy Birthday', 'Don't Talk To ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 1998
Core, fruits you, Sir! Heyward's sixth post-Haircut 100 LP, and his debut for Alan McGee ...
The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brain Wilson: Endless Bummer
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1998
"HI, I'M BRIAN WILSON." You do not expect this. You do not expect the head of America's most important ever rock band to have to ...
The High Llamas: Hump Up The Volume
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 1998
"THERE ARE TWO STRANDS OF HEROIN rock consciousness," says Sean O'Hagan, the man who Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, with mock reverence, has called ...
R.E.M., Radiohead: Tibetan Freedom Concert: People Have The Power
Report by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 1998
MONDAY, JUNE 15, THE CAPITOL BUILDINGIt is 10 days before Bill Clinton's historic first presidential visit to China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. An ...
Book Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 1998
Simon Reynolds: Energy Flash – A Journey Through Rave Music And Dance Culture (Picador Books) ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, October 1998
PAUL DRAPER has been inspired by some of the climactic moments of post-War culture – David Bowie's "Berlin" trilogy, mid-Eighties Prince, Talking Heads' art beat, ...
The Jam, Paul Weller, The Style Council: Paul Weller: Last Man Standing
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 1998
"YOU SHOULD WRITE THAT LETTER," Paul Weller' is telling his press agents, Pippa Hall and Jane Wilkes of Monkey Business PR, referring to a particularly ...
Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: The Soft Parade
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 1999
THE FLAMING LIPS have just made a contender for Last Great Album Of The 20th Century. But are they really a bunch of nutters on ...
Billy Mackenzie, Paul Haig: Haig/Mackenzie: Memory Palace
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 1999
ON THE NIGHT of Wednesday, January 22, 1997, Billy MacKenzie, outrageously gifted vocalist with the Associates and writer of some of the most extraordinary music ...
Big Star: The Best of Big Star
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, January 2000
Fourteen cuts from troubled pop-rack demigods' first two LPs, remastered, at mid-price ...
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, January 2000
ONE OF the extra songs on Birth's debut EP Sweet Idol, is a cover version of perennial summer radio hit 'Groovin' by The Young Rascals, ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Daily Telegraph, 5 February 2000
"I'M NOT INTO CHAOS," says Noel Gallagher, who along with his brother Liam has always appeared to be one of the last true standard bearers ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2000
OASIS, if you hadn't noticed, have just resurfaced. But will they sink or swim? After the druggy excesses of Be Here Now, following the departure ...
June & The Exit Wounds: A Little More Haven Hamilton, Please
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, April 2000
DEBUT ALBUM of so-normal-it's-strange pop-rock from latest American boy wonder. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, July 2000
This year, MOBY's Play has dominated the UK LP charts. So who is this bald man singing the techno-blues? Paul Lester met the enigmatic American ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 2000
SEVENTIES CALIFORNIA meets Y2K Paris. ...
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 September 2000
THERE WERE THREE groups who vividly chronicled life in post-Woodstock America. The Band sought refuge from the psychedelic intensity of the period in the country's ...
Artful Dodger (2000s): Artful Dodger: It's All About the Stragglers
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 10 November 2000
Artful Dodger's debut is a glorious compilation of two-step hooklines. ...
Chic, Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean Wright: Norma Jean
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2000
FIRST RELEASE on CD for Chic-album-in-all-but-name from 1978 ...
Outkast: Partners in Rhyme: OutKast
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 May 2001
One of them is a blonde-wigged, teetotal vegetarian who reads Pushkin. The other breeds pitbulls in his spare time. Together they have been called the ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2001
BRISTOL, LIKE Manchester, was once synonymous with nervy, wired, dark white funk – The Pop Group, Rip Rig & Panic. Then the drugs changed (skunk, ...
The Human League: Human Remains: The Human League
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 July 2001
Two decades after their synthpop assault on the charts, the Human League are back. ...
Aphex Twin: Tank Boy: Aphex Twin
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 October 2001
From Limp Bizkit to Madonna, everyone wants to work with the Aphex Twin. But those high-paying jobs aren’t important, he tells Paul Lester. He’d only ...
Buzzcocks: Part-time Punks: The Buzzcocks
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 1 March 2002
The Buzzcocks were one of punk's most influential bands. Now, 25 years on, Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto are recording together again. Paul Lester meets ...
Zero 7: The Teaboys Done Good: Zero 7
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 March 2002
Paul Lester meets Zero 7, the recording studio flunkies turned clubbers' favourites. ...
Brian Wilson: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, April 2002
IT'S PRETTY impressive for a 60-year-old who's spent most of the past three decades in rock's twilight zone. A three-hour show comprising hits, album cuts ...
Arthur Lee, Love: Hard Times: Arthur Lee
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 21 May 2002
Arthur Lee was once bigger than Hendrix or Jim Morrison. Back on the road after six years in jail, Love's frontman talks to Paul Lester. ...
The Flaming Lips: Waitin' for a superman
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, August 2002
The Flaming Lips, the world's most inventive band, have followed up Uncut's album of 1999, The Soft Bulletin, with a record about death, overcoming sadness, ...
Spandau Ballet: Wild Boy: Gary Kemp
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 August 2002
Spandau Ballet did more than provide a soundtrack for XR3i-driving Essex casuals in the 1980s. At least that's what Gary Kemp, the band's creative force, ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, September 2002
New Manchester duo fuse druggy songwriting and dance beats with astonishing results ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 September 2002
Beck's new album, written after a nasty split with his fiancee, is so forlorn that the music press is afraid for his health. But, he ...
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, October 2002
YOU COULD get the wrong impression about My Computer from Vulnerabilia, as raved about everywhere from Uncut ("the most original debut LP by a Manchester ...
Björk: “In England they think I'm one of the Teletubbies”: Björk
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 25 October 2002
Björk looks back on two decades of music, fame and scrapping with the media. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2002
UNCUT: The forlorn orchestral folk of Sea Change is a radical departure from the postmodern funkadelia of 1999's Midnite Vultures. ...
Asian Dub Foundation: Rappers With A Cause: Asian Dub Foundation
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 January 2003
They helped secure the release of the warehouse worker Satpal Ram from prison. Now they're tackling domestic violence, asylum, the war on terror and the ...
The Thrills: Five things you need to know about... The Thrills
Profile by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2003
1. THE THRILLS are probably the most raved-about new non-American — or non-Scandinavian — band of the last few months, after their debut single, 'Santa ...
Fleetwood Mac: Excess Baggage: Fleetwood Mac
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 April 2003
Mental illness, drug abuse, affairs, breakups - it's a miracle that Fleetwood Mac are still alive. But here they are with a Rumours-era lineup, and ...
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 25 April 2003
Backstage at L'Espace Clacquesin, a former brewery 20 minutes from the centre of Paris, Blur are relaxing. The band has just performed for 200 invited ...
The Thrills: Weirdo Magnets: The Thrills
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 21 November 2003
IT IS A COLD but sunny Saturday lunchtime in Capitol Hill, a boho district of Seattle full of cafes and shops with names like Natural ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2003
He's just made an album of sublime early-'70s radio pop that could make him a big star. Now all Josh Rouse has to do is ...
Scissor Sisters: Fun with Filth: Scissor Sisters
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 9 January 2004
They come from New York's shock art scene and they write songs about drugs, drag queens and cruising. Paul Lester meets clubland's hottest new act, ...
N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams: The Hit Man: Pharrell Williams
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 February 2004
He co-produced nearly 20% of tracks currently being played on British radio. But he is also a star in his own right - as a ...
Franz Ferdinand: Almost Famous: Franz Ferdinand
Profile by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2004
The big new big band of 2004. Resistance is useless... ...
Fleetwood Mac: Earls Court, London, Wednesday December 10, 2003
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2004
There's a hip young gunslinger of Uncut's acquaintance in the audience tonight who normally writes about futuristic electronic dance music for a well-known weekly music ...
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, March 2004
1975 double concept LP from Randy California's hippie-era West Coast legends — available for the first time on CD with original vinyl's full gatefold artwork. ...
My Bloody Valentine: I Lost It: Kevin Shields Speaks
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 12 March 2004
In his first interview for 12 years, My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields talks to Paul Lester about his madness, making Alan McGee cry - and ...
The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, May 2004
Heaven-sent innovation from the legendary Beach Boy, plus supporting cast ...
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, May 2004
Twentieth solo album and full-scale return to form from the artist formerly known as TR-1. ...
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004
Lost soft-pop masterpiece from Nashville arranger and former Elvis cohort. ...
Earth, Wind & Fire: The Promise
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004
Doyens of orchestral disco celebrate 35th birthday with best album for aeons. ...
Kraftwerk: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, June 2004
The virtual electronic museum that is Kraftwerk bring their Man-Machine to London. ...
Adam & The Ants: Adam Ant: Adam And The Fall
Interview by Paul Lester, Daily Telegraph, 9 April 2005
STUART GODDARD is one of the most gifted – and most troubled – pop stars this country has ever produced. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 28 November 2005
THEIR FRONTMAN is half of a celebrity couple and they're tipped to be as big as U2. But that doesn't mean Editors are happy. ...
Editors: The Mercy Lounge, Nashville
Live Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, December 2005
Brum gloom-rockers triumph in C&W's capital city. Saturday, September 17, 2005 ...
Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips: At War with the Mystics
Review by Paul Lester, Uncut, April 2006
THERE WAS SOMETHING so ultimate about the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, emphasized by its release in the last year of the 20th Century, you ...
Editors: We don't want to win the Mercury
Interview by Paul Lester, Daily Telegraph, 17 August 2006
Editors are poised to take over from Coldplay as the new masters of navel-gazing stadium rock. As they return to UK stages, they tell Paul ...
Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah (Polydor) ****
Review and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, October 2006
BIG APPLE GLAM POPSTERS HAVE "SECOND ALBUM SYNDROME" LICKED ...
The Gutter Twins, The Twilight Singers: Bad news boys
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 8 December 2006
Tattoos, drugs, beatings, stalkers, prison, betrayal and years of making great music — could Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan be any more rock'n'roll? They talk ...
Cold War KIds: New Band of The Week: Cold War Kids
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 9 January 2007
The best new band in America, according to NME, these Los Angeles blog-buzz boys sing about robbers, rapists and religion. ...
Robyn: New band of the week — Robyn
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 January 2007
The Manga Missy Elliott from Sweden. ...
Cajun Dance Party: New Band Of The Day: Cajun Dance Party
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 29 March 2007
EACH DAY, Paul Lester puts on his hardhat and lowers himself into the mine shaft of modern music seeking sonic gold. Today, he emerges with ...
The Associates, Billy Mackenzie: The Associates: Wild and lonely
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, April 2007
In January 1997, Billy Mackenzie, the most astonishing singer of his generation, was found dead. 10 years on, no one quite knows why the mercurial ...
Scouting for Girls: New band of the week: Scouting For Girls
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 June 2007
EVERY DAY, scoutmaster Paul Lester is out on campsites, chopping wood and erecting tents in the name of musical exploration. Today, he teaches three men ...
Elvis Perkins: New band of the week: Elvis Perkins
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 July 2007
WHO HAS PAUL LESTER dug up for us today? Why the singer-songwriter son of a psycho... No, The Psycho. ...
Sean Kingston: New band of the week: Sean Kingston
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 July 2007
Every day, that slippery Paul Lester is just one musical step ahead of you. Today, he introduces a fellow whose sugary reggae with a sour ...
Frankmusik: New band of the week: Frankmusik
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 August 2007
Today, Paul Lester introduces a former beatboxer reborn as a bleeptastic alien. He's Mika on acid ...
Ida Maria: New band of the week: Ida Maria
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 September 2007
PAUL LESTER introduces a band that sounds like a Sugarcubed Strokes or a less fluffy Cardigans. ...
N-Dubz: New band of the week: N-Dubz
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 September 2007
TODAY, PAUL LESTER INTRODUCES a bunch of hoodies with harmony who not only David Cameron will want to wrap his arms around and squeeze. ...
Joy Division: Torn Apart: The Legend Of Joy Division
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Uncut, November 2007
One of Britain's most influential bands is now the subject of a compelling new film. Paul Lester talks to Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard ...
Thom Bell, Blue Magic, The Delfonics, The Stylistics: Symphonic Soul: "You get more bees with honey"
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 November 2007
Take one soul ballad. Add a falsetto vocal, swooping strings, timpani and an oboe or two. That's symphonic soul. Paul Lester talks to the heroes ...
Crystal Castles: New Band of the Day: Crystal Castles
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 6 December 2007
Paul Lester hearts these darlings of the electronic underground, whose "songs" sound like a load of Gameboys going off all at once in your brain ...
Craig David: A Star Called David
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 31 January 2008
He is a black soul singer with a reputation as a ladies' man. So how come Craig David seems like such a nice Jewish boy? ...
Fleet Foxes: America's Next Great Band
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 February 2008
HOMETOWN: Xachua'Bsh, Washington.THE LINEUP: Robin Pecknold, Nicholas Peterson, Skyler Skjelset, Christian Wargo, Casey Wescott. ...
Mumford & Sons: New Band Of The week: Mumford & Sons
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 14 April 2008
THESE LONDON-BASED lovers of folky Americana sound like Coldplay reincarnated as hillbillies. Apparently this is a good thing. ...
Yellow Magic Orchestra: Royal Festival Hall, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 June 2008
JAPAN, the home of technology, was naturally going to produce its own Kraftwerk. We just never imagined Yellow Magic Orchestra, the original cyberpunks, would age ...
Cashier No 9: New band of the week: Cashier No 9
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 June 2008
Under the harsh glare of the spotlight today are a Belfast band who sound so 'baggy' their songs come with a free pair of Joe ...
Bloc Party: What's the weirdest chart hit of all time?
Comment by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 July 2008
Bloc Party's new single Mercury fires them into the realm of pop eccentricity. Who else resides there? ...
Hot Chip, Todd Rundgren: Hot Chip/Todd Rundgren: That's one potent hot toddy
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 25 July 2008
Hot Chip gave Todd Rundgren his first hit in 35 years. Rundgren talks to the band's Alexis Taylor - and almost causes an international incident. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, September 2008
As he turns 60 and prepares a new album and UK tour, Todd Rundgren surveys his brilliant 40-year career as a producer, solo artist and ...
Ladyhawke: Asperger's, allergies and aubergines
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 September 2008
Adored by Courtney and loved by Kylie, Ladyhawke is no ordinary pop star. The '80s throwback tells Paul Lester how music got her through a ...
Delphic: New band of the week — Delphic
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 1 October 2008
Delphic could be the best new band in Manchester, as they evoke the spirit of its Hacienda days in a forward-thinking, indie-rave type way. Are ...
Suicide: How the Godfathers of Punk Kept The Faith
Interview by Paul Lester, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 10 October 2008
New Yorkers Alan Vega and Marty Rev were punks before punk was invented, known in the '70s for their violent gigs and raging synth rock. ...
The Big Pink: New band of the week: The Big Pink
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 November 2008
Today's bright young things take their name from The Band, and their inspiration from the early '90s. ...
The Big Pink: New Band Of The Week: The Big Pink
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 November 2008
TODAY'S BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS take their name from the Band, and their inspiration from the early 90s. ...
La Roux: New Band of the Day: La Roux
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 19 November 2008
Make no mistake, today's new artist is a solo female synth star in waiting. ...
Shontelle: New band of the week: Shontelle
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 November 2008
Today's new artist was once an army cadet forced to give Rihanna punishment push-ups for being late. Lucky old tarmac, eh? ...
ABC, Heaven 17, The Human League: ABC/Human League/Heaven 17: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 10 December 2008
THERE ARE QUEUES around the building for the Sheffield groups who brought electro-funk (Heaven 17), orchestral disco (ABC) and synth pop (the Human League) to ...
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, 2009
HE NEVER MADE that much of an impact in the UK, but over in the States Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, aka Ginuwine, has, for the last ...
Hudson Mohawke: New band of the week: Hudson Mohawke
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 2 February 2009
This 22-year-old Warp signing sounds like Crystal Castles holding a disco inside an early '80s Atari computer console with the entire crew of George Clinton's ...
Ellie Goulding: New Artist of the Day — Ellie Goulding
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 February 2009
THIS CURRENTLY UNSIGNED Welsh lass is a cross between a singer-songwriter and a synth-pop starlet. Is she another Kate Nash? A kooky British Lykke Li? ...
The Noisettes: "We've come to clean up the indie landfill"
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 17 April 2009
NOISETTES ARE in a TV studio just outside Paris – along with the Sugarhill Gang and singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. They are just some of the ...
Paloma Faith: New Band of the Week: Paloma Faith
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 April 2009
This former burlesque performer updates Amy Winehouse's tourch-song soul with a vampish, theatrical flair ...
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 April 2009
GRIME IS THE NEW POP. The screams that greet support act Tinchy Stryder are shrill enough, but when N-Dubz bound on they're almost deafening. The ...
Local Natives: New band of the week — Local Natives
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 June 2009
ONE OF THIS YEAR'S SXSW hits, this "vocal group" are like Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire in one hairy package. ...
Crystal Fighters: New band of the week: Crystal Fighters
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 June 2009
This East London five-piece bring traditional Basque folk music screaming and kicking into the 21st century by fusing it with heavy dance rhythms and synthesisers. ...
The Mars Volta: Somerset House, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 15 July 2009
THIS MAY HAVE TAKEN PLACE in the idyllic environs of Somerset House, and the band might describe their latest album, Octahedron, as "acoustic", but reports ...
The Ting Tings: Somerset House, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 July 2009
WITH LA ROUX, that other boy-girl synthpop duo, currently dominating the charts, the Ting Tings have started to look a bit, well, 2008. ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 27 July 2009
This electro-pop boy-duo look as though they've been styled by Helmut Newton, directed by Anton Corbijn and produced by Trevor Horn on a Martin Hannett ...
ZE Records: 'It Was Like A Fairytale'
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 July 2009
The extraordinary story of the trail-blazing New York label that launched Was (Not Was), Kid Creole and Suicide ...
Beth Jeans Houghton: New band of the week — Beth Jeans Houghton
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 6 August 2009
This quirky newbie could easily be dismissed as just another kooky songstress were it not for the quality of her music and voice. Oasis fans ...
Toro y Moi: New Band Of The Week: Toro Y Moi
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 August 2009
THOUGH HE DOESN'T SOUND like the Flaming Lips, this multi-instrumentalist whiz-kid blurs the boundary between electronica and Americana in the same way. ...
Editors: 02 Birmingham Academy
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 15 September 2009
THE FACT THAT THIS was the opening night of Birmingham's new Academy meant there was already a buzz. There was added excitement because Editors are ...
La Roux: 'Of course Lady Gaga's not my thing'
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 September 2009
IT IS MORNING, and 21-year-old Elly Jackson – or La Roux, arguably the biggest new pop star of the year – is on the Eurostar ...
Esben and the Witch: New Band Of The Week: Esben and the Witch
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 25 September 2009
BRIGHTON TRIO ESBEN AND THE WITCH channel literature, nature and sorrow to create hauntingly ethereal tales of dark, foreboding romance. ...
Chase and Status: New band of the week — Chase and Status
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 October 2009
HAILED BY PHARRELL, Snoop and Jay-Z as go-to remix guys, this drum'n'bass duo capture a mood of high-energy menace ...
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Times, 11 October 2009
Paul Lester remembers the two years when the band ruled the world ...
Egyptian Hip Hop: New band of the week: Egyptian Hip Hop
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 12 October 2009
This Manchester band have never set foot in Cairo and don't rap on their records, so they're perfectly named then ...
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, December 2009
'70s hit-makers Pilot were the missing link between pop and prog. Paul Lester meets the (oh-oh-oh... it's) magic band. ...
Little Boots, Gary Numan: When Gary Numan met Little Boots
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 December 2009
He arrived in 1979, bringing synthpop to the masses. She is part of the bold new wave reinventing the genre for the 21st century. So ...
Beach House: New Band Of The Week — Beach House
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 December 2009
It is only a matter of time before these US alt-rockers will be acclaimed for their slow, atmospheric lo-fi lullabies. ...
Vampire Weekend: 'They're Attacking A Version Of Us That Doesn't Exist'
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 January 2010
VAMPIRE WEEKEND are being mobbed in California. By teenage girls. In a skate park normally frequented by crystal meth addicts. What makes this so unexpected ...
Summer Camp: New Band Of The Week — Summer Camp
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 January 2010
This secretive boy-girl duo have so far retained a sense of anonymity and mystique, but not for much longer — they are going to be ...
Manchester's Music Scene Now Has Everything Everything
Overview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 January 2010
Never mind the Buzzcocks... or Stone Roses, or New Order: Manchester can stop trading on its former glories. Three new bands explain how they are ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 January 2010
THERE'S AN OLD adage in the trades (the music business, newspapers and magazines) that value glamour and novelty: two's a coincidence, three's a scene. In ...
Lonelady: New artist of the week — Lonelady
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 29 January 2010
This solitary singer's bad-mood music conjures the dark, dour Manchester of Ian Curtis and Ian Brown. ...
Lissie: New artist of the week — Lissie
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 12 February 2010
A guitar-toting Americana lovechild who belongs to the 1970s, and whose new single is more freeway rock than floaty folk. ...
Syd Arthur: New Band of the Week: Syd Arthur
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 15 February 2010
These funky folkies are sons and heirs of those Canterbury musicians who did whimsical things with psychedelic and progressive rock. ...
Ronika: New band of the week — Ronika
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 February 2010
THIS CANDY-COATED QUEEN might look like Gwen Stefani, but her sugary surface conceals a deeper link with underground dance. ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 10 March 2010
This mysterious crew appear to be some kind of strange Manc cult, full of quasi-spiritual fervour and revolutionary intent. ...
Lady Antebellum: New band of the week: Lady Antebellum
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 17 March 2010
There's no denying their huge success in the US, but the polished country-rock trio are simply not worthy of an iPod slot next to the ...
I Am Arrows: New Band Of The Week: I Am Arrows
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 15 April 2010
FORMER RAZORLIGHT DRUMMER Andy Burrows turns clever multi-instrumentalist — with surprisingly listenable results. ...
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, June 2010
DRAKE IS THE Vampire Weekend of rap – he ticks all the wrong boxes, especially for a milieu that privileges poverty and strife. ...
Katy B – New artist of the week
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 19 July 2010
This Brit School graduate is to dubstep what Tracy Thorn was to trip-hop — the go-to girl for those wanting classy female input. ...
Rumer: New band of the week — Rumer
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 21 July 2010
FOUR NEW SONGS prove that forthcoming single, 'Slow', isn't just a beautiful fluke for this soulful, Karen Carpenter-esque vocalist. ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 August 2010
This 25-year-old MC is clearly going to be massive but it remains to be seen if he is the true saviour of Real Hip-Hop ...
Nicki Minaj: New Band of the Day: Nicki Minaj
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 August 2010
Can Nicki Minaj challenge the likes of Lady Gaga when it comes to future-female pop star? Or will her super-sexualised persona seem dated in six ...
Stromae: New Band of the Week: Stromae
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 19 August 2010
You don't need a degree in French to realise this Belgian exponent of mournful Euro disco is not a happy bunny ...
Bruno Mars: New Band of the Day: Bruno Mars
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 September 2010
From adoration to zzzzzzzzz, purveyor of mellifluous pabulum Bruno Mars runs the whole gamut of romantic cliche ...
Paramore: "We're not just teenybopper superstars"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 November 2010
Noisy guitars, angsty lyrics, inter-band romance, a little light rebellion — it's a formula that has made Paramore huge. Paul Lester meets their star singer ...
Jamie Woon: New Band Of The Day: Jamie Woon
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 November 2010
You'll love the dark side of the Woon, a Brit School singer-songwriter moving towards dubstep. But his smoother songs ... ...
Niki & the Dove: New Band Of The Week: Niki & the Dove
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 19 November 2010
THIS SWEDISH GROUP'S goth-tinged electro-pop is full of witchy darkness and mystical allure. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, December 2010
Paul Lester celebrates the enduring pop power of the Bangles. ...
Daft Punk's robots aren't the only ones rocking the multiplex
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 December 2010
AT THE END of the trailer to forthcoming movie Somewhere, we are given just two pieces of information: 1) that the film was written and ...
Lady Antebellum: Grammys 2011: Why can't Lady Antebellum find success in the UK?
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 14 February 2011
COUNTRY-POP TRIO Lady Antebellum were The King's Speech of last night's Grammys, winning six awards (compared to Firth and Co's seven at the Batfas), including ...
Kenny Gamble: "Philadelphia was the party with a tormented soul"
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 March 2011
Philly Soul's sweet sound hid masked warnings about growing chasms in 1970s American society ...
Crystal Fighters: Bringing Basque the beats
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 28 March 2011
The UK's Crystal Fighters are reinventing Spanish folk. How? ...
Destroyer: New Band of the Week: Destroyer
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 1 April 2011
Rescuing qualities such as "good playing" from critical hell, Dan Bejar's band serve up a feast of unironic '80s fetishism. ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 May 2011
Tyler the Creator touches down to talk goblins, chillwave and the trouble with saying stupid stuff ...
Laurel Halo: New band of the week: Laurel Halo
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 May 2011
This ambient artist cites the "asymptotic quantification of memory" among her influences. A Wire cover star is born ... ...
Civil Wars, the: New band of the week: The Civil Wars
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 June 2011
We have Adele to thank for introducing us to this Americana duo, whose songs deal with affairs of the heart and lives lived hard ...
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Liverpool
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, 20 June 2011
The second album from Liverpool's second most famous sons. ...
Kings of Leon: Hyde Park, London
Live Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 June 2011
IT HAD BEEN pouring with rain all day, but by the time Kings of Leon came on stage, the dark clouds had gone – they ...
August Darnell, Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole: "I'm not a party man anymore"
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 September 2011
He was a zoot-suited wise guy who crooned out hit after hit. Now Kid Creole is back. Paul Lester meets the man who blew a ...
Childish Gambino: New band of the week — Childish Gambino
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 September 2011
As comedians dabbling in rap go, Donald Glover has lot more going on than Will Smith. ...
Lady Leshurr — New artist of the week
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 October 2011
Birmingham MC Melesha O Garro is making a creditable crack at being a homegrown Nicki Minaj or Missy Elliott. ...
Foxes: New Band Of The Week — Foxes
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 November 2011
Does the world really need another big-voiced belter of witchy gothisms? Foxes doesn't make a wholly convincing case it does. ...
Those Darlins: New Band Of The Week — Those Darlins
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 28 November 2011
ONCE HEAVY on the hillbilly, these southern girls have ditched yee-haws and ukuleles to be a power-pop proposition. ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 January 2012
Watch out, Nicki Minaj, there's a host of feisty, eccentric female rappers on your trail – and not all of them are here to pay their ...
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All: The OF Tape Vol. 2
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, 20 March 2012
'Post-fame' follow-up to notorious rap crew's 2008 online-only debut. ...
HAIM: New Band of the Week: HAIM
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 23 March 2012
A band featuring three sisters, who combine the wafty whimsy of folk with R&B beats. It shouldn't really work. It does ...
The Flaming Lips: The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, April 2012
First album of original material since 2009's Embryonic for Oklahoma's finest. ...
Hall Of Mirrors: New Band Of The Week — Hall of Mirrors
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 April 2012
BOASTING A MAGICAL retro-60s sound, Jessica Winter's pretty nightmares are enchanting. Think Julie Andrews in hell. ...
Palma Violets: New band of the week — Palma Violets
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 17 May 2012
GROUNDED IN GARAGE ROCK and psych, Palma Violets struggle to achieve the epic and intense — but they'll still be hailed as heroes. ...
Alt-J: New Band of the Day: Alt-J
Report by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 May 2012
This Cambridge four-piece not only write clever music and boast more references than a jobs agency, they've also set tongues wagging with their rapturously received ...
Chvrches: New band of the week: Chvrches
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 26 June 2012
With their super-heavy brand of "Neon Gold pop", we have nothing but praise for this Scottish indie group. ...
Robert Ellis: New band of the week: Robert Ellis
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 July 2012
Gram Parsons is long dead, but those with a taste for LA country might sense the return of the Grievous Angel in this singer ...
Dinosaur Jr.: J Mascis: "I never took it that seriously"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 August 2012
The godfather of grunge on being rock's least loquacious talker, the merits of free dental care, and whether his band Dinosaur Jr were the Chuck ...
Kendrick Lamar: New band of the week: Kendrick Lamar
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 3 August 2012
Independent, idiosyncratic 25-year-old rapper from Compton who's been making waves in hip-hop circles and has just cooked up a recipe for the big-time ...
MF DOOM: Doom: "It's all new, all fun"
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 August 2012
Rapper (MF) DOOM is back in London, the city where he was born, with Key to the Kuffs, an album that references rhyming slang and ...
The Lumineers: New Band Of The Week — The Lumineers
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 17 August 2012
With a cornucopia of campfire singalongs, this Colorado crew are poised to paint the world sepia with their rousing, rustic folk. ...
Mika meets Dita Von Teese: "I've had to work hard to stay like this"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 11 October 2012
The flamboyant singer and the burlesque performer share their thoughts on fetishism, sexuality and pop as the ultimate masquerade. ...
Matthew E. White: New band of the week
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 25 October 2012
So in thrall to the golden age of country-soul is White that you'll find yourself using the phrase "tasty licks" without irony. ...
10cc: "It was a tragedy we didn't stay together"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 November 2012
They made some of the cleverest and most inventive music of the 70s, but split up at the height of their success. 10cc come together ...
Public Service Broadcasting: New band of the week — Public Service Broadcasting
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 12 December 2012
This London duo put archive sounds to an electronic beat — think Pathé meets Pet Shop Boys. ...
Drowners: New band of the week: Drowners
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 December 2012
Meet the New York punk-pop band named after a Suede single and fronted by a male model ...
Laura Mvula: Ones to watch in 2013: Laura Mvula
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 31 December 2012
Her soulful vocals and florid soundscapes have helped this 26-year-old invent a new musical genre – gospeldelia ...
Review by Paul Lester, bbc.co.uk, January 2013
Debut album proper from the hyped New York rapper doesn't quite deliver ...
Parquet Courts: New band of the week: Parquet Courts
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 January 2013
This New York band are so New York it's not true — but they're more Brooklyn than Staten Island ...
John Fullbright: New band of the week: John Fullbright
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 March 2013
NEW AMERICANA singer-songwriter from Woody Guthrie-land winning converts including the great Jimmy Webb. ...
Lorde: New Band Of The Week: Lorde
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 June 2013
THIS NZ TEEN is about to make a big splash beyond blog-land. Think Lily meets Lana, only cuter and more cutting. ...
Jungle: New band of the week: Jungle
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 19 June 2013
Unknowns create mesmeric urban-tribal music with potentially viral video ...
FKA Twigs: New Band of the Week: FKA twigs
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 6 August 2013
So, so amazing ethereal dubstep pop from Gloucestershire ...
Prefab Sprout: Paddy McAloon: "I'll do without an audience to make the music I want"
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 September 2013
Prefab Sprout sold millions of records in the '80s, but singer Paddy McAloon always made music for himself rather than the masses. Now he's back ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 October 2013
Sour female attitude from Minneapolis, with a little help from Bon Iver and chums. ...
Glass Animals: New band of the day: Glass Animals
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 7 November 2013
This quirk-pop quartet are the first signing to super-producer Paul Epworth's new label ...
Clean Bandit: New band of the day: Clean Bandit
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 December 2013
They're the brainy Cambridge grads with the classical strings and background in Russian cinema making groovy garage pop. ...
Angel Olsen: New Band Of The Day — Angel Olsen
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 January 2014
Intense spectral country with a hint of grunge from Missouri ...
Disclosure on disco, Sting and their new romantic parents
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 February 2014
They craft immaculate dance-pop hits with big names from Lorde to Mary J Blige, but when we caught up with them on their US tour ...
The Smiths: Life in Rough Trade: How Geoff Travis became a major player for indie bands
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 17 February 2014
AS FOUNDER of the Rough Trade record store, distribution company and label, Geoff Travis has done as much as anyone to promote indie music as ...
David Crosby: "The FBI scare me more than Hell's Angels"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 26 February 2014
The legendary songwriter on Janis Joplin, being "the voice of cosmic America" and Croz, his first solo album in 20 years. ...
St. Paul & the Broken Bones: St Paul & The Broken Bones
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 April 2014
The latest soul revivalists from the US who wowed the crowds at the recent SXSW (allegedly). ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 15 May 2014
Why star producer intends to have a ball ...
Echo & The Bunnymen, Ian McCulloch: Echo & The Bunnymen
Interview by Paul Lester, Record Collector, June 2014
Post-punk marvels Echo & The Bunnymen are back — and Ian McCulloch is older, wiser, and far less inclined to boost his own legend. Yeah, ...
The Kooks' Luke Pritchard: "When I look back on some of the songs I wrote, it makes me laugh"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 August 2014
The new Kooks record features electric church music, a strong Ethiopian-jazz influence ... and no songs about the singer's penis. No wonder Luke Pritchard thinks ...
The Deers, Hinds (formerly The Deers): New band of the week: The Deers
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 12 September 2014
This all-female Spanish band capture the sound and spirit of C86 via Spector and the Velvets. ...
Julian Casablancas: "I have nothing against gentrification"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 9 October 2014
The Strokes singer on brunch and banks, dictatorship in the US and his Voidz protest album, Tyranny. ...
Jess Glynne: The chart-topper who lives with her mum
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Jewish Chronicle, 25 November 2014
The pop sensation explains how being a family girl helps her keep fame in perspective ...
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Independent, 5 December 2014
They're not "super-girly", nor are they rabidly feminist. They just want to be in a band, the way men can just be musicians without having ...
D'Angelo: Black Messiah — First-Listen Review: 'Investing Vintage Soul With A Fresh Lustre'
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 15 December 2014
D'Angelo's Black Messiah, his first album since 2000's Voodoo, looks back to the funk greats while retaining a modern political edge ...
Drake: If You're Reading This, It's Too Late
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 13 February 2015
ON THURSDAY NIGHT, Drake did what is increasingly becoming known as "a Beyoncé" and dropped, without warning, If You're Reading This, It's Too Late, the ...
Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Lives On
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 22 February 2015
Political activist, rap pioneer and poet Gil Scott-Heron shaped the sound of today – from Talib Kweli and Kanye West to Kendrick Lamar. His friends ...
The Pop Group: Have the Pop Group finally become a pop group?
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 26 February 2015
Bristol's post-punk provocateurs have released Citizen Zombie, their first album for 35 years. In 1975, they drew on dub, free-jazz and Baudrillard; 2015 finds singer ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Sunday Times, 1 March 2015
Touted by Lorde and Kanye West, Raury has the nerve to live up to his billing ...
Tyler, the Creator: Cherry Bomb
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 30 June 2015
IT'S A GOOD TIME for Odd Future fans. Earl Sweatshirt's new album just dropped, Frank Ocean's follow-up to Channel Orange is imminent and there's even a Golf Wang app: "Tyler ...
Earl Sweatshirt on Hollywood parties, deconstructing Hermann Hesse and therapy
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 16 July 2015
Once the world's most notorious teenage rapper, the 21-year-old is back with a second full-length album — and a more mature outlook ...
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 September 2015
She's the new superstar-in-waiting, dividing the critics — but amassing an army of believers — with her powerful yet sorrowful pop-R&B ...
The Eagles, Don Henley: Don Henley
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 1 October 2015
YOU WOULD NEVER know that a member of the biggest American band in history had just entered the building. Dressed down in chequered shirt and ...
Afrika Bambaataa, Mark Ronson: Afrika Bambaataa and Mark Ronson: Uptown and Downtown Funk Masters
Report and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 27 October 2015
The pair remember two influential generations of hip-hop dance parties ahead of being honoured next month for their contributions to New York City's club scene. ...
The Weeknd: Trend of the Year: Weird R&B Goes Overground
Comment by Paul Lester, MOJO, January 2016
The success of The Weeknd saw a new weird kind of underground R&B enter the charts. Paul Lester charts its strange, slow, four-year rise. ...
A-ha's Morten Harket: "I'm not an entertainer, I'm an engager"
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 4 May 2016
The A-ha frontman talks longevity, Kierkegaard, Uriah Heep, why John Barry rubbed A-ha up the wrong way, and the problem with large breasts ...
Tommy Genesis: New band of the week: Tommy Genesis
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 20 May 2016
In the beginning, there was rap. Tommy Genesis, from Canada, takes it to a new level with her brittle, daring and cold ATL trap. ...
Pavlov's Dog: They specialised in music you couldn't dance to, but how prog were Pavlov's Dog?
Retrospective and Interview by Paul Lester, Prog, 17 July 2016
Some hailed them as America's first prog band, they played with members of King Crimson and influenced generations of prog bands... But just how prog ...
The Lemon Twigs: New band of the week: The Lemon Twigs
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 18 July 2016
Prodigious brothers from New York make lush, lo-fi pop inspired by the Beatles, Beach Boys and any number of eclectic influences. ...
Slick Rick: "You learn from prison time – what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
Profile and Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 24 November 2016
His morality tales of ghetto life made the Anglo-American rapper famous – and chillingly predicted his imprisonment for attempted murder. Now, 13 years since he ...
Phoenix and the Flower Girl: New band of the week: Phoenix and the Flower Girl
Profile by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 27 March 2017
The last ever New Band of the Week brings an appropriately phantasmagoric end to the column's 11-year run ...
Tyler, the Creator: Flower Boy
Review by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 21 July 2017
Is the rapper once banned from the UK for homophobic lyrics now coming out? Either way, this heavenly hip-hop record visits multicoloured corners of his ...
Interview by Paul Lester, The Guardian, 5 October 2017
In 1987, his debut album saw him hailed as a rival to Michael Jackson and Prince — but then his star crashed and burned. He ...
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