QuoteKarl Wallinger, the Welsh-born musician, composer and frontman of World Party, has died at the age of 66.

His death was confirmed in a statement from his publicist, who said Wallinger was "presciently ahead of his time". According to the statement, Wallinger died on Sunday; no cause of death was given.

In 1983, Wallinger joined the Waterboys and played on their first three albums as a multi-instrumentalist, including on the folk-rock band's biggest hit, The Whole of the Moon.

Best known for his work as World Party, which he formed in 1986 after leaving the Waterboys, Wallinger also worked on Sinéad O'Connor's 1987 debut album, The Lion and the Cobra.

Quote from: NZZTragedy in Valais: On Sunday, five ski tourers were found dead on Tête Blanche at an altitude of over 3,500 meters.

Quote from: Aargauer ZeitungThe search was very difficult due to gusts of wind and snowfall. The rescue workers continue to look for the sixth person at high pressure.

Quote from: MeltingMan on March 11, 2024, 11:18:47[ and negotiations.

QuoteIn an interview that has so far only been partly in public, Pope Francis comments on the continuing war in Ukraine. Without calling the country, he calls Ukraine to "Courage to the White Flag" and negotiations. The full interview will be broadcast on March 20.

QuoteIn mid-2023, one of the UK's most beloved bands reactivated on social media, hinting at greater things to come. The band in question is Cranes, a legendary band formed by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw in Portsmouth, England in 1985.
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Additionally, the band announced two shows, one in hometown Portsmouth and the other in the heart of London, both of which sold out immediately. Both shows were meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1993's Forever, one of the band's most beloved recordings that also earned them a slot opening for The Cure's celebrated Wish tour, which alongside a single remix of "Jewel" remixed by Robert Smith himself, helped usher in a new legion of fans. These new gigs reunited the Shaws with original guitarist Mark Francombe as well as Paul Smith, who began recording with the band with 2001's Future Songs album. These shows were special occasions through and through, with fans (including myself) traveling far and wide to attend. While the band was originally unsure what would be in store next, they seem to have rekindled the spark and reclaimed their stake in today's robust scene. More live dates have been booked for 2024 in Leeds, London, Brussels, and Rotterdam...

We had the immense pleasure of speaking to vocalist, guitarist, and bassist Alison Shaw about all of this activity.

Will these upcoming shows still be part of the Forever anniversary celebration, or will you be doing a more varied set?

To be honest, we haven't decided yet! I think we might do more of a kind of a mixture, maybe a few songs from the Loved album, but we're not quite sure yet.

Right, and Mark played on Loved as well, yes? That first era of the band with Mark and Matt on guitar and Jim on drums had quite a groove going throughout the nineties. But then you changed lineups and your sound evolved from there...

Yeah, Mark actually first played with us in 1988, I think. And then he left in 1997/1998, soon after the Population Four album. We did a long American tour for almost every album we did up until that point, but I think the last time we were there was for Future Songs in 2002.

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It was quite important for us not to sound like anyone else directly. We used to edit ourselves. Jim's kind of obsessed with the idea – if anything sounds remotely like someone else he'll get rid of it. We were fans of other people's music at the time of course, but it was a key thing in Cranes, to choose our own path...

Wings of Joy, Forever, and Loved were all recorded in the same studio in London, called Protocol Studios. It was the same studio where everyone at the time recorded, including The Sundays, or My Bloody Valentine, who were recording Loveless at the time. So many bands who were recording in the early nineties recorded there, and that place felt like our home, just off Holloway Road in North London.

The more electronic stuff that you you mentioned, that was our third phase, after the year 2000. The old version of Cranes had finished – we ceased to be around 1998. Mark left in 1997 and got married after we did that last tour in America, and we pretty much stopped for a good three years. We weren't sure what we were going to do or if we were going to record again. But then Jim and I just got together, I guess because we're brother and sister, it's hard to split up completely...  I had been living in London at that time and during that break at the at the end of the 90s, I'd been doing some other stuff. I had a couple of ideas for some songs and I came back down to Portsmouth one day, and Jim had couple of ideas for some songs. We basically just started to write and we felt that there was the basis for some new material, and that's when Future Songs started to come together.

Going back to the gigs you've been playing – once you were committed to doing the shows and were back in the rehearsal room, was the focus really just on the older material? Did you happen to do any writing, whether it was accidental or intentional?

To be honest, it was a lot of the focus was on the Forever songs, because quite early on, people asking if we were going to play the entire album. There are several songs on the album which we'd never played live before..

So, here's a more open ended question – do you have a favorite moment throughout all the years you've been together as a band?

Favorite moment? Well, I mean obviously the tour with The Cure was completely awesome for us. I remember especially on the American leg of that tour, I remember just being happy every day, like every moment of every day, driving from city to city and playing these incredible arenas and auditoriums and stadiums, even...

How did that come about – how were you first approached by the band?

Apparently, Robert, and Simon had heard the Wings of Joy album, and they liked it. We had an agent at the time, and I think that's how they approached us. We met them around that time, they did a few warm up shows before the tour, playing in much smaller venues in the UK. They played in our local town hall, which is called the Guild Hall in Portsmouth. We were invited to the show, and that's where we met the band and that's when they invited us on the tour.

QuoteAs the front man of London punk rock band The Damned, Dave Vanian swapped digging graves for rock'n'roll, leaning into his love of film noir, gothic fiction and vampire obsession for his stage persona.

At 67, Vanian has spent the last three days in a London rehearsal studio with his band mates getting ready for their Australian tour.  He's happy they're back together for nostalgia's sake, but isn't one to dwell on the past too much.

"I am always moving forward with music; I am all about new challenges and new things in life. I don't sit thinking about the past," says Dave Vanian. "But it's certainly been nostalgic lately because the band has been in the same room again and a lot of memories come to the fore yet again," he says.

When Vanian was last in Melbourne, he took a bus to Elsternwick to see the Ripponlea Estate where Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries TV series is made – yes, he's a big fan. He's also a huge fan of the gothic architecture of Melbourne; the Victorian terraces that spook all the feels.

"I also love checking out bars, museums and lots of architecture when I am in Melbourne. I also went to the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show on my last visit," he says. "I am a punk with a shovel and like to garden back at home."

When it comes to cocktail hour, he prefers speakeasy moods over loud venues.

"I tend to go to old hotels because if they make good martinis, that's where you'll find me," says Vanian.

"I also love to drink rye whiskies and brandy. I am not much of a beer drinker. I like old men's colonial style clubs – somewhere I can settle in for a few drinks," he adds.