Decent dream pop: Beach House’s Once Twice Melody reviewed
Grade: B+ Everything these days devolves to prog — and not always very good prog. Where once synths were vastly…
Kamala Harris and the problem with racist trees
I was intrigued to learn that Kamala Harris, the Vice President of the US, is worried about racist trees. I…
Oh dear, Abba’s new album is a bit of a dog: Voyage reviewed
Time has been very kind to Abba. No one back in the 1970s thought of them as geniuses. But they've even lost the talent for writing memorable tunes
Who owns the language?
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is giving local residents £25,000 grants to enable them to change the names of…
The ideology of madness
On the wooden jetty from which the ferry used to depart for the little island of Utoya, there stood for…
Israel has been spared Sally Rooney
I have not watched the BBC’s new period drama Ridley Road because I knew it would be impossible for the…
Blame it all on the middle-class drug users
We can suffer a lethal pandemic with lockdowns, petrol shortages and supermarket shelves almost entirely denuded of sausages. But when…
Labour has gone back to 1983
One day quite soon someone at a petrol pump is going to get a tyre iron wrapped around their head.…
God, it's slight: Lindsey Buckingham's new album reviewed
Grade: B– The first time Lindsey Buckingham had a big falling out with Stevie Nicks we at least got some…
The war against intelligence
Two weeks have passed and somehow James Conway is still in a job. He is the director of the English…
In defence of Jess Brammar
I noticed with interest that Gigalum island — off the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll — was up for sale for…
The political power of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown
There is a rather sweet moment in the middle of each Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown show where, after some magnificently obscene…
Repetitive, spiritless, god-bothering music: Kanye West's Donda reviewed
Grade: C– The nicest thing one can say is that this is a marginally better album than we would have…
The Nobel truth
I suspect that there are no people in the world quite so right-on as the Nobel prize committee members. A…
The neocolonialist legacy of Tony Blair
The Americans may have pulled out, but luckily the Afghans have the world’s vibrant community of witches intervening to save…
Lily Cole, the burka and why we were right to leave Afghanistan
I have the feeling that Joe Biden will have to wait a while before he receives his Nobel Peace Prize,…
Will anyone publish my rabbit tale?
The literary sensation of the season is apparently a book called The Constant Rabbit, by Jasper Fforde. In brief, a…
Hugely unmemorable: Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever reviewed
Grade: C+ Time to get the razor out again — Billie’s back. The slurred and affected can’t-be-arsed-to-get-out-of-bed vocals. The relentless,…
Putting the commie in committee
Last month an epidemiologist called Professor Michael Baker described the UK government’s decision to free its people from Covid restrictions…
The sorry state of the modern apology
I think I would like to apologise for this article in case someone who reads it takes offence. I will…
Will England pull out of the World Cup?
I wonder if the moral guardians of our country — the England football team — intend to participate in the…
What did the Romans ever do for us?
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is planning to install a statue of John Chilembwe in Trafalgar Square. Mr Chilembwe…
England had it and they threw it away
England 1 (Shaw) Italy 1 (swarthy cheat) England had it and threw it away. Much the better side in the…
Is there anyone more irritating and stupid than Bobby Gillespie?
Grade: B– Is there anyone in rock music more irritating and stupid than Bobby Gillespie? The rawk’n’roll leather-jacketed self-mythologiser. The…
Why the mangling of language matters
I thought that this week I would share with you a bunch of words and phrases which are currently overused…
