Michael Hann

The real death of rock

Twenty years ago the Strokes's Is This It was meant to usher in a new wave of guitar music – but it proved not to be the beginning but the end

What would a rock band have to do now to be seen as heralding the future? Twenty years ago, it was enough to be in possession of sharp cheekbones, tight jeans and 11 fantastic songs.

The first album by the Strokes, Is This It, was released 20 years ago this month.

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The chilling link between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism

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Isn’t it remarkable how similar anti-Zionism is to anti-Semitism? The latest proof of an intimate link between these two ideologies comes from Philadelphia. There, last night, a baying mob gathered outside a Jewish-owned restaurant to accuse the owners of being complicit in ‘genocide’. Guys, the 1930s called, they want their bigotry back. Last night’s protest was a

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