Pop
The songs are still as fresh and appetising as a hot loaf: The Lightning Seeds livestream reviewed
One thing about a streamed festival is that the toilets are better than at the real thing. The other thing,…
Riveting and heartbreaking: Sound of Metal reviewed
The multi-Oscar-nominated Sound of Metalstars Riz Ahmed as a heavy-metal drummer whose life is in freefall after losing his hearing.…
Reminiscent of Roxy Music’s cocktail sound: The Weather Station reviewed
One of the unforeseen consequences of the rise of streaming was a change in the very structure of the pop…
The mystery and romance of the cassette tape
May the gods of Hiss and Compression bless Lou Ottens. As head of new product development at Phillips, the Dutch…
The triumph of bedroom pop
A short history of lo-fi, by Robert Barry
'I like upsetting people': Steven Wilson interviewed
Michael Hann talks to the cult rock star Steven Wilson about why it’s harder to write a pop song than prog
Epic prog rock without the widdly-woo solos: Mogwai at the Tramway reviewed
You very possibly know the music of the Glaswegian band Mogwai, even if you don’t think you do. You might…
Makes me nostalgic for an era when music was more than a click away: Teenage Superstars reviewed
In Teenage Superstars, a long and slightly exhausting documentary about the Scottish indie scene of the 1980s and ’90s, there…
A criminally underrated songwriter: Matthew Sweet’s Catspaw reviewed
Grade: A– The early 1990s were a lovely time for rock music: Beck, Sparklehorse, Sugar, Green on Red and Royal…
Proudly ridiculous and wholly glorious: KLF's Solid State Logik reviewed
Grade: A What a miracle the KLF were: an elaborate practical joke at the expense of the music industry, seemingly…
As pretty as anything he’s written in four decades: McCartney III reviewed
Grade: A- The greatest songwriter of the 20th century, or just one of the top two or three? Who…
'We knew there was greatness in these songs': Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks interviewed
Graeme Thomson talks to Steve Diggle, front man of Buzzcocks, about orgasms, boredom and Pete Shelley
Meet the front man of ‘the most revolting band in the world’
Michael Hann talks to Corey Taylor, front man of ‘the most revolting band in the world’, about PTSD, Donald Trump and life after alcoholism
Like much jazz, it might have benefited from being less solemn: BBC4's Ronnie's reviewed
Ronnie’s: Ronnie Scott and His World-Famous Jazz Club was like the TV equivalent of an authorised biography: impressively thorough, often…
I’ve heard worse things — the death rattle of a close relative, for example: Kylie’s Disco reviewed
Grade: B– Uh-oh. Might have to be careful here, pull my punches a little bit. The editor is a big…
One of the few genuine British visionaries at work today: Richard Dawson at the Barbican reviewed
How hard must it be to make music that sounds like no one else? And how unrewarding, often, as well?…
There’s a magic to hearing music in such small audiences: Divine Comedy reviewed
Three shows in a week! Why, it was just like the first week of March. There was, however, little of…
The sound of pop eating itself and throwing up: A.G. Cook’s Apple reviewed
Grade: A The future, then. The sound of pop eating itself, throwing up into a bag and then getting a…
More mimsy soft rock from Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman 2 reviewed
Grade: B– Time has been kind to Cat Stevens’s reputation — his estrangement from the music business and rad BAME…
Virtuosic but slight – always prog’s problem: The Pineapple Thief's latest reviewed
Grade: B– Of all the various subdivisions in that wheezing and crippled phenomenon that we call rock music, prog has…
There's scarcely a dull track: Deep Purple's Whoosh! reviewed
Grade: B+ Less deep purple than a pleasant mauve. Ageing headbangers will note a lack of the freneticism that distinguished…
'Cocaine addiction is time-consuming': the rise and fall of Kevin Rowland and Dexys
Michael Hann talks to Kevin Rowland about Dexys, insecurity and the cocaine years
The people who were idiots at gigs in early March are still idiots
Is the world ready for the return of live rock music? On the evidence of the first gig in London…
The problem with livestreaming heavy metal? No moshpits
There was only so long anyone could put up with the live musical performances of the early days of lockdown:…
Ranges from the slight to the first-rate: Neil Young’s Homegrown reviewed
Grade: B+ Neil Young has been mining his own past very profitably for a long time now, disinterring a seemingly…
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