Former Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S Howard has passed away after struggling with liver cancer. A towering influence in Australian post punk, Rowland's guitar technique - a meld of Morricone twang, blues slide and cauterising feedback - marked him out as a true original. Although best known for his work alongside Nick Cave in the Birthday Party, Rowland also make great work with Crime And The City Solution, Nikki Sudden, Jeremy Gluck, Lydia Lunch and These Immortal Souls, and had just released his second solo album Pop Crimes at the time of his death. So long soldier.
