Nite Songs

  “I’m riding the bullet train to your central nervous station…” - Flesh For Lulu - Postcards From Paradise I remember where I was when I got the news - on the platform at Harlow Town station on a sunny June morning in 2015 waiting for a train into London. At the time I was working at Harlow hospital and part of my job occasionally required me to commute into the Smoke for the odd day of meetings there. Waiting for the train I was checking Facebook on my phone and saw the news from Nick Marsh's wife Katharine Blake that he had tragically lost his year long battle with cancer. Hands up, I'd only met Nick once at a gig by the Urban Voodoo Machine, the "bourbon soaked gypsy blues bop 'n' stroll" band he played guitar in fronted by the inimitable Paul-Ronney Angel at the Lexington venue in Islington. A girl I was friends with who knew I was a huge Flesh For Lulu fan was nice enough to guide me over to him and we had a quick chat during which I told him how much I ...

  Getting close to the top of the chart now as we enter the alliteratively alluring Nite Songs' Top 20 albums of 2020. Some crackers in here and no mistake. 20. SPARKS - "A Steady Drip Drip Drip" ( Review ) Scary to think that Sparks are now almost half a century into their careers. And scarier still that they're still putting out albums as great as A Steady Drip Drip Drip  way after most of their contemporaries had given up the creative ghost. Taking in the group's formative glam stomp as well as excursions into everything from samba rhythms to music hall stylings to pure pop, this is just as much of a joy to listen to as ever. Great stuff. *** 19. DIABLOFURS - "Neon Satellites" ( Review ) With controls firmly set to the new wave era of the early '80s. Nottingham glitter merchants Diablofurs came up with one of the best debut albums of 2020 mixing Tubeway Army style electronica with pure power-pop sensibilities to great effect on tunes like Rival Gr...

  Nick Marsh's passing five years ago following a protracted battle with throat cancer saw him leave behind an incredibly rich and under-rated legacy. From his work in the '80s with Flesh For Lulu (a band who in a just world would have gained the sort of plaudits and sales that their fellow year zero goths the Sisters of Mercy did) through his haunting 2010 solo album A Universe Between Us  to his woozy guitar work with the Urban Voodoo Machine, his back catalogue is well worth exploring. Waltzing Bones  represents the final chapter in Marsh's legacy - he was working on the album at the time of his passing and the album has been finished over the last couple of years by his widow, Katharine Blake (Miranda Sex Garden, Medieval Baebes) as well as a number of his friends and musical collaborators. The seasick six minute waltz of Masquerade sees Marsh continuing with the sinister themes of A Universe Between Us and sets the scene nicely for this effort before the flamenco-fol...