Thursday 26th August
This missive was written in my parents place in Spain, and for suspense value, shall let out on a day by day basis. My parents like the Olympics. It is hence much harder to avoid, as they have the power over the TV remote. Nevert[…]

Dorian Lynskey takes aim at Goldie Lookin’ Chain: I generally think that GLC are harmless shite, Lynskey identifies a more sinister agenda among their fans, of mocking hip-hop via laughing at people who do it badly. This is a bit over the top &[…]

ILM is big and unwieldy enough now that doing this seems sensible as a way of a) directing the casual reader to good stuff and b) maybe drawing in new people who will say good stuff in their turn. Of course part of the appeal of ILM is always in the […]

Europop Vs Alan
(This is a CD-R I made for Alan’s birthday, but I haven’t been able to give it to him yet. Thankyou to the several websites some tracks were plundered from – you know who you are.)
ANNIE – “Heartbeat&#822[…]

POP FACTOR: 620 CONTROVERSY SCORE: 248
What you hear in Baby Cakes depends on what story you’ve been following. The story of garage? Then it’s an afterthought, a sidestep, barely even vital enough to qualify as a move backwards. The sto[…]

Bank Holiday Sounds: I am in a good mood this weekend, and it’s time to share it with you. Download this song (2.5MB) and see how you feel. This is not some kind of evil trick.[…]

Sasha Frere-Jones guest-posts at Fluxblog and raises some really interesting questions about repetition, formula, and ‘badness’ in music. The comments box, delightfully, lives up to them.[…]

THE SQUARE TABLE 13 / The Libertines – “Can’t Stand Me Now?”
Pop Factor: 510
“How can anyone still get it up for this?” asked Blissblog a bit ago. Good question. Listening to this I can’t help thinking of wh[…]

Glad It’s All Over: Where have I been? Off for one last – well, maybe – fling with ILM, having fun on the Top 100 Albums of the 00s thread (plus the tracks one which you should find quite easily). I knew the results three weeks ago […]

Law of Averages
Reviewing new album Showtime in the Guardian today, Dorian Lynskey comments that ‘ Too often [Dizzee Rascal] dwells on internecine squabbles of which the average listener knows, and cares, little’. Which raises some fascin[…]