post-punk
The world is on fire – yet navel-gazing still reigns in pop
There is no better cultural weather vane than pop. It’s not that pop singers possess incredible analytical skills – they…
Ten times better than Taylor Swift: Romance, by Fontaines D.C., reviewed
Grade: B+ Almost all modern popular music is afflicted by a desperate yearning for importance, and thus – as it…
Triumphant: Big Thief, at Green Man, reviewed
One of the first things I learned after seeing Big Thief triumph at Green Man is that some long-time fans…
In praise of goths – the most enduring of pop subcultures
Michael Hann on the most enduring of pop subcultures
Pretty astonishing: Black Country, New Road's Ants From Up There reviewed
Grade: A+ It is not true, fellow boomers, that there is nothing new under the sun nor no good new…
Could she be the new Sade? Celeste at Union Chapel reviewed
Some years ago, when I was the music editor of a newspaper, I called a number of historians of black…
A perfect welcome back to live music: Sarathy Korwar at Kings Place reviewed
There is a reason music writers tend to stick with music writing rather than transferring their manifold talents to the…
Taylor Swift is fascinating – but you really wouldn't want to be her
There had been some question about whether Taylor Swift’s Netflix special would actually appear. Last year it seemed that the…
The most exciting band I have seen for years and years: the Murder Capital reviewed
It’s entirely possible for a band to be quite the most brilliant thing in existence for the briefest of times,…
Why I’m done with Fleetwood Mac
There is something inexplicably exciting about pop’s notion of a ‘scene’: young musicians of similar outlooks drawn together by a…
LCD Soundsystem: American Dream
Grade: B+ Number one. Everywhere, just about. You have to say that the man has a certain sureness of touch.…
If the idea of disturbing kraut-punk sung by a troll appeals, you'll love The Fall
I had a fair idea of what I was in for when I went to see The Fall at Brixton’s…
