Rock
A Saturday-night variety show: Take That at the O2 reviewed
Being old is big business in live music nowadays, in a way it wasn’t even 25 years ago. When Take…
Magnificently incoherent: Royal Trux’s White Stuff reviewed
Grade:A Royal Trux are back — kind of. Singer (if that’s what you want to call what she does) Jennifer…
An undervalued songwriter and decent man: Bryan Adams at Wembley reviewed
On 29 June 1991, a record called ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ by Bryan Adams entered the…
1975 was a great year for pop – worthy of a better band than The 1975
Grade: C A derided year in pop music, 1975 — and yet a great one. The mainstream was horrible, but…
Why David Byrne deserves every penny he makes from his tour
Let’s get the ‘was-it-good?’ stuff out of the way first. Yes, it was good. It was better than good. It…
Paul Simon says farewell with a daring and inventive show
Early in 1987, a middle-aged woman approached me on the record counter of the Slough branch of Boots. ‘What do…
Thank you, West Midlands, for the blind alley of heavy metal – blues without rhythm, wit or soul
They’re still alive, then. Chuggedy-chug, grawk, screech screech, chuggedy-chug. First mention of demons — line one, song two. Song one…
St Vincent’s Masseduction is my album of year (in that I don’t actually hate it yet)
This has not been an appalling year for pop music — it was better than 1984, for example, and 1961.…
Baxter Dury on London going to the dogs, his acclaimed new album and his dad
Michael Hann talks to Baxter Dury about his acclaimed new album – and the challenges of being Ian Dury’s son
St Vincent may be this decade’s Prince
Grade: A The old Tulsa sound was a rather agreeable low-key, shuffling, blues-inflected rockabilly — primarily J.J. Cale and Leon…
Forget Bowie – our times are ripe for Black Sabbath’s worldview
To get a reminder of how strange the 1970s were, there’s no need to plough through lengthy social and political…
Modishly morose but full of fine moments: LCD Soundsystem's American Dream reviewed
Grade: B+ Number one. Everywhere, just about. You have to say that the man has a certain sureness of touch.…
Glam is back
Late on the Friday afternoon of The Great Escape — the annual three-day event for which the London music industry…
Elvis would have loved it: Elvis in Concert at the O2
Elvis Aron Presley departed this world on 16 August, 1977. Even if you delight in conspiracy theories and believe the…
Was 1966 really as grim as this BBC4 documentary suggests?
In the song ‘All the Young Dudes’, David Bowie gamely tried to reassure the youth of the Seventies that, despite…
Was 1971 really the best ever year for music?
According to David Hepworth, the year he turned 21 was also the year when ‘a huge proportion of the most…
Phil Lynott, from Dublin teenager to rock'n'roll burnout
It’s often said that there are only seven basic plots in literature. When it comes to biographies of rock stars…
Dear Mary: I was at the dinner party when the text came disinviting me
Q. While renting in Rock last week, I ran into an acquaintance who invited me to join her large house…
Why plotting a sound map of London is impossible
It’s easy to tag the city’s terrain by writer. But what, wonders Philip Clark, might a map of its music look like?
Why do we always beat up on drummers?
It’s rare that I see a piece about music that makes me want to cheer from the rafters and shake…
Ringo's no joke. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him
Ringo’s no joke, says James Woodall. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him
Michael Eavis has brought more joy to more people than almost any Englishman alive
I had meant to write a dispassionate account of this year’s Glastonbury, really I had. But I’m afraid my plans…
Three tiny cheers for Mumford & Sons’ new album
Like a lot of essentially cautious people, I like my music to take some risks, play with fire and damn…
Don’t mock Elvis’s style - he was ahead of the curve
In the giftshop at the new Elvis exhibition at the Dome, you can buy your own version of his flared…
Why Yes are still the funniest rock band in the world (although Radiohead are catching up)
My favourite comment about the Scottish referendum came from the eminent comedian and novelist David Baddiel. ‘What if Yes wins,…
Most Popular
- Read
- Recent
- Read
- Recent
Editor’s Choice
Cartoons
