I was a teenage dark elf priestess

Hazel — 1 Jul 2013

This article by Laurie Penny on the pervasiveness and persuasiveness of the manic pixie dream girl trope is really good.
I’m the same age as Laurie Penny, so was plagued by the same cultural stuff as her- I don’t know if it’s just e[…]

The FT Top 25 Pubs of the 00s No 1: Glasshouse Stores

Pete Baran — 9 Jul 2010

So we get a winner, down on Brewer Street in Soho, the Glasshouse Stores was voted the number one pub of the noughties by those of us who voted. A nice pub sure, but so much better than the others? To find out why it scored so highly I thought I woul[…]

The Sex Pistols At The Manchester Free Trade Hall: THE TRUTH

Tom — 14 Apr 2007

Plenty of words have been written about the seminal Sex Pistols’ seminal gig at the seminal Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1976. There has even been a whole book about it! Everyone knows that the gig was really very important indeed and that eve[…]

Do You Feel Real, And If So I’d Like To Know…

Tom — 30 Jan 2000

I. 

The cod-philosophical question at the centre of pop fandom is this: is pop a genre or a state? Not all records designed to be ‘great pop’ – in the sense of being good for the feet, the heart and the bank balance – […]

Call For Submissions: THE LONG EGG

Pete Baran — 18 Aug 2006

The man who invented the Gala Pie is a hero of mine. Not just because he took one of natures nicest foodstuff (namely the pork pie) and made it even better. He made it better by the addition of the hard boiled egg. But not just any old hard boiled eg[…]

Rage vs X-Factor: Winners and Losers

Tom — 21 Dec 2009

Well, that’s that: the machine has been given a good beating and we can look forward to “Bulls On Parade” on the festive Argos ad next year. I will admit I didn’t think the RATM crew could do it: I was wrong. But as the dust s[…]

EVERY WORD IS TRUE – “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina”

Tom — 1 Oct 2002

IntroductionIt was about 2 in the morning and I was trying to get a handle on Alexander the Great. I had a final exam coming up and I’d missed half the syllabus – and something else was missing; a way into the man’s head. Alexander […]

Enormous Legends

Tom — 8 Feb 2001

Charlemagne Palestine – Four Manifestations on Six Elements 

1.Charlemagne Palestine approaches a piano like a climber approaches a mountain. He does not play the instrument so much as he lets it test him: he starts each performance lik[…]

Omargeddon #37: El Bien y Mal Nos Une

Bec — 17 Jul 2023

I am making a concerted effort to both seek and recognise joy, in whatever form it takes, as often as possible. As such, I am recognising the shit out of the sheer unmitigated joy experienced at the Mars Volta’s Troxy show and the ripples of yay th[…]

I Want To Know What Love Is – Eighties Revisionism

Tom — 2 Jan 2001

On Skykicking last week, Tim touched, popwise, on the continuing cultural battle over what the eighties were or are or mean or meant. The story of mainstream rock and politics in the 1990s was among other things the story of a similar battle, that ti[…]

Why, Claudius? – Poison is Queen

Bec — 7 Apr 2024

As per usual, we begin with a flash-forward to Old Clavdivs writing in his study when he’s presented with some research materials that were lost among the usual crap squirrelled away in cellars. It’s the final will and testament of Gaius Julius C[…]

Why, Claudius? – What Shall We Do About Claudius?

Bec — 31 Mar 2024

The last time we saw old Clavdivs, he was seething with hatred. Now, he’s self-medicating his impotent rage with wine. We don’t linger for very long on his blank expression en route to numbness and sweet oblivion, but flash-forward to another fam[…]