Pop
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…
Dysfunctional music for dysfunctional people: The Public Image is Rotten reviewed
A star is born, but instead of emerging into the world beaming for the cameras, he spits and snarls and…
The festivalisation of TV
Televising Glastonbury has changed the festival, and in turn transformed television, says Graeme Thomson
Contains the loveliest new song I've heard in decades: Bob Dylan's new album reviewed
Grade: A ‘Rough’ in terms of the mostly spoken vocals, but only ‘rowdy’ if you’re approaching your 80th birthday, which…
In defence of Prince’s late style
In 1992 Prince released a single called ‘My Name Is Prince’. On first hearing it seemed appropriately regal. Cocky, even.…
As a lyricist, Ian Dury had few equals in the 20th century
The National Theatre’s programme of livestreamed shows continues with the Donmar’s 2014 production of Coriolanus starring Tom Hiddleston. The play…
The power of cheap music: pop podcast round-up
Noël Coward was so right that his words have become a cliché: it is indeed extraordinary how potent cheap music…
The problem with mystery podcasts like Wind of Change
Did the US secretly write a power ballad in order to bring down the Soviet Union? That’s the question behind…
Skates on the edge of parody: The 1975's Notes on a Conditional Form reviewed
Grade: B+ Just what you wanted. An opening track that matches banal piano noodling to an address by Greta Thunberg.…
