Issue 331

Grandaddy.



It was my little sister Jacqui who first introduced me to Grandaddy with their storming Summer Here Kids single in 1998, but my love blossomed with their dystopic masterpiece 'The Sophtware Slump' (2000) and last year's marvellous 'Sumday.' I'd heard that frontman/singer/songwriter Jason Lytle was a tricky, often uncommunicative interview, but the chap on the other end of the line is anything but...

Jolie Holland
Escondida
Anti/Shock

What a remarkable album.

'Escondida' is the second solo album from Be Good Tanyas founder Jolie Holland in less than two years and its unconventional jazz-tinged folk compositions are set to win over anyone prepared to listen. Holland's sparse yet striking debut 'Catalpa' was so strong it made admirers of the likes of Will Oldham and Tom Waits, and it even had Nick Cave stopping in the street to thank Holland personally for the release. The charm obviously hasn't disappeared from Jolie Holland's music, for follow-up 'Escondida' is an equally appealing album bound to rally many more fans to her banner...

Kiss.



Thirty years of playing cat and mouse with the media has made Paul Stanley a master of the soundbite. Ask him what the most valuable thing in his Beverly Hills mansion is, and he says, "Me". Ask him why Kiss have thundered down to Australia twice before claiming to play their final tour - the last was only 14 months ago - and he sighs as an irritated school teacher would. "Why is that a problem for you, if fans keep demanding that we provide them with two Christmases?"...