EARLY RAP IN THE UK TOP 40 (not a definitive list cos I’m doing it quickly and haven’t heard everything)
Dec 79: Sugarhill Gang – Rappers Delight #3
Dec 79: Kurtis Blow – Christmas Rappin #30
Jan 81: Blondie – Rapture #5[…]

“I don’t possess the necessary level of irony to enjoy the Langley kids“: this Round Table of reviewers listening to Tot Rock and other kidforms of music struggle to attain the hipsterly correct degree of witty unmovedness they appe[…]

More Bandwidth Than Sense: This is a neat concept (original vocals over R’n’B ringtones) and it’s not the creators’ fault that it sounds mostly really horrible. Having spent 4 solid weeks poring over mobile phone websites for […]

Pavement – Elevate Me Later
It’s ten years since Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain came out, it’s only a couple of years since I realised that this particular song isn’t actually called Alleviate Me Later, and only a few minutes sinc[…]

HEALTHY VEGETABLES: PART ONE aka: Broccolli For Breakfast
Last night I did a slightly retro wee dinner party for my flatmates and a friend, centrepiece being a truly magnificent Coq Au Vin. No reason why said dish should have gone out of fashion, the[…]

The chapter device used in Dogville is astute, considering the majority of people going in to see it would be well aware that the whole affair rocks in just under three hours and probably won’t be a bundle of laughs. In giving us a bill of fare[…]

Losing a match, despite scoring what seemed to be a perfectly good equaliser, is always unfortunate. However Mr Flack (scroll down, penultimate line), there’s no need to resort to stereotyping, although with babycham being PERRY after all, it&[…]

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS – “Cotton”
I’m reading this and looking at this while listening to this (and perhaps, if you’re interested, you’ll want to check this out, if you haven’t already), and I realize A) I don&#8[…]