2018 has been a odd year for pop culture. I feel like we’re stuck in stasis, waiting for something exciting to happen. But can the underground really throw up anything truly transgressive when there are a thousand blogs (like this one) waiting to find The Next Big Thing and hurl it upwards long before it… Continue reading The Best Of 2018
Category: Music
Hall Of Fame: Evol by Sonic Youth
There are certain albums within a band's canon when everything works. The formula is finally perfected. It may be the case that a band finally discover what makes them great, or it could be an addition to the group adds something that was previously mission. Whatever the reason, everything works and nothing can ever be… Continue reading Hall Of Fame: Evol by Sonic Youth
Hall Of Fame: Viva La Woman by Cibo Matto
Hall Of Fame is the strand of this blog where I discuss my favourite things. It might be a book, an album, a movie or a video game. Can you imagine being the A&R man (or woman) responsible for signing Cibo Matto? Here's the concept: two Japanese artists, one rapper and a multi-instrumentalist, in a… Continue reading Hall Of Fame: Viva La Woman by Cibo Matto
Riot Grrrls. Diet Grrrls. Who Really Gives A F**k?
It started with Shampoo, a band whose bratty attitude and shouty vocals made me want to stay out too late and hitch a lift home on a milk truck. Except the local dairy farm went bankrupt and I wasn't allowed out too late in case I accidentally walked into a fight between The Greenfaulds Stab… Continue reading Riot Grrrls. Diet Grrrls. Who Really Gives A F**k?
Three Record Labels And Some Records
Some people follow singers and bands, but it takes a special kind of obsessive to follow a record label. Small indie record labels were willed into existence as a result of major label complacency; they were a necessary presence, a revitalising shot in the limp arm of a dying, overblown music industry back in the… Continue reading Three Record Labels And Some Records
The Night Nu Metal Died…Or Did It?
Nu-Metal. Everyone hates and disdains it, but for teenagers hooked on S Club 7 or Steps, it was poppy enough to lure them away from the fake smiles and slick dance routines, and loud enough that it appealed to their burgeoning - some might say inevitable - rebellious streak. Just like other genres of music,… Continue reading The Night Nu Metal Died…Or Did It?
Hall Of Fame: Disgraceful by Dubstar
Hall Of Fame is the strand of this blog where I discuss my favourite things. It might be a book, an album, a movie or a video game. The Britpop boom saw nearly every band with a guitar get signed up by a major label. Sometimes these bands were very recognisably Britpop in their appearance… Continue reading Hall Of Fame: Disgraceful by Dubstar
