29www.thestar.co.uk The Star,Thursday, August 30, 2012

TIMEOUT

n Seth MacFarlane MusicIs Better Than Words (Decca)

THE appallingly talented Fam-ily Guy, American Dad andTed creator’s debut album fol-lows his Proms performancewith arecordthatmaysur-prisemany,evenif hedoesvoicesongs on his shows.

Duets with Norah Jonesand Sara Bareilles aid thisclassy, warm revival of some’40s/’50s big band gems.

n Dave Stewart The Ring-master General (MCPS)

LENNOX – that’s Annie notboxer Lewis – may have gotmajor Olympic exposure buther former Eurythmics play-mate isback aswell.

Aid-ed bythelikes ofJossStone,DianeBirchand Alison Krauss, he servesa country, bluesy, rockygumbo, a sometimes cornyworld away from a better-known musical past.

n Easy Star All-StarsThrillah (Easy Star Records)

YOU read it right.This timereggae’s ultimate makeovermen re-work Jacko’s colos-sal-selling classic 30 yearson,havingbroughttheirunlikelysun-shinevibes toRadio-head,Floydand The Beatles.

A suitably bonkers tributeto pop’s greatest fruit loop,Thrillah is a curious ratherthan vital exercise.

listeningpost

alongside the likes of AnnieMac, Swedish House Maffia,P Diddy, will.i.am and BustaRhymes. He initially playedall trumpets on Mainline.

All in all, this adds up toa record that promises to bereflective and often intro-spective, dealing with theproblems life throws at twopeople trying to live together.It features earlier singlesParadise And Guapa – thestory of a rebel soldier fallingmadly in love with a girl daysbefore he is likely to meet hisdeath – and We’re A Crowd, acall to arms addressing whatpeople can achieve when theycombine in a positive way,and written at the height ofthe 2011 summer riots.

to be

SHEFFIELD venue TheLeadmill goes back to itscommunity arts roots onSaturday when it hosts aday led by local clothingand art collective HANTU.

Featuring “bands, artistsand interesting people”,from 3pm, they will trans-form a section of the club’smain room with a new wallmural by artists Geo Lawand Louise Wheeler along-

side five other guest artistswhile independent stalls sellclothing, jewellery, maga-zines and posters.

DJs from Threads, SOYOLive,The Tuesday Club andthe Leady will be followedby live sets from bluesstompers Hot Soles andMad Colours, with theirunpredictable costumesand stage banter, and DeadSons.

Stalls out for summermusicnotes

WHEN local band The LastThrow Of The Dice, picturedabove, play Sheffield’s Nia-gara Sports and Social Cluba week today they’ll havesomeone in mind.

For Clive Davis wasprompted to organise amusical night with a big’60s theme to help combatan illness that struck a col-league last year.

“Motor Neurone Diseaseis the most appalling, debili-tating illness for which there

is no cure and which has adevastating impact on thevictim and their families,”he says.

“We thought it right toraise the profile of the workof the local branch of theMotor Neurone Disease As-sociation.”

Tickets cost a fiver via0114 296 4945, crucian48@mac.com or 07595 229935and on the night (under 16sfree with adult), ’60s dressoptional.

Retro for a good cause

THE Mystery Jets will guestDJ for the Harley launchparty of Sheffield bandBest Friends’ new single onSaturday.

Too Pure are puttingout a seven inch featuringSurf Bitches and Grow Old,which follows BF’s recent‘split cassette’ with localhardcore band Grazes andprecedes a two-week tour.

Formed 18 months ago,Best Friends, pictured right,play a sunshine-driven,danceable mix of surf, popand garage influencedby the likes of The BeachBoys,The Black Lips, PhilSpector and The Ramones.They chased their summer

of 2011 debut EP with theThrowing Up EP this spring,released on Art I HardRecords.

Friends’ Pure thoughts

Blues stompers: The Hot Soles. picture: tracey Welch

as Rush hit 20

helped the band sell 45 mil-lion albums and maintain afriendship that for Geddy andAlex began in childhood.

That solidarity is reflectedby intensely loyal fans, oftenvery defensive of a band thathas rarely been fashionable.

“I don’t think there is atypical Rush fan because thediversity within the Rushcommunity is striking, atleast from the stage lookingout.

“I see young guys who look

too hip to be Rush fans stand-ing beside a guy who looksmy age and has come with hiskid and handed Rush downlike a father teaches his kidto throw a baseball.

“There’s always going tobe the muso fan; players whocome to see us because ofour chops and that’s how westarted. We are musos andare always into that thingthat makes you want to playbetter, faster, with moreconfidence.

“Some nights you feel youcan play anything and that’spart of the addiction of beinga musician. You’re lookingfor the perfect evening wherethe three of you are in thatsweet spot all night long; itdoes happen but not as oftenas you would want. On thenights where you feel stiff,you’re the same player,but some nights are moremagic than others. I loveit.

“We’ve had a long run

and feel really fortunateabout that. We’ve come allthis way, we want to get ourmoney’s worth by playingall these songs, just like thefans.”

Rush play the Motor-point Arena on May

28.Tickets, priced£60/£75, from 0114 2565656 or motorpointare-

nasheffield.co.uk

rush:GeddyLee andAlex

Lifeson