Phantom Power, the new album by the Super Furry Animals is named after a switch you see on lots of mini-amps. It is a switch, and associated light, which has also beguiled me. What is this phantom power, how can it seemingly power the amp to greater[…]

In the Ghetto-Elvis
Fat Elvis high on Secanol and fried chicken emotes for the african american children.
The sheer sincere chutzpah of the tune, the belief that he is doing good is so camp that its easy to laugh at it.
Country still does this th[…]

The ape is our era’s creature, we know this now – from Freud who led our animal selves into metaphor and Darwin who led our metaphorical selves into the animal. This history I have written is a re-orienting of the origin ape of Freud (who[…]

Freaky Trigger’s September issue is now online, with a good number of music-related articles.
– The Pinefox on the ATP festival.
– Alex Thomson on the Thrills and Adorno.
– Jerry The Nipper on Paul Morley’s book.
–[…]

Continuity, Fandom and Pop
Anyone with more than a passing interest in the geekier elements of mass culture – superhero comic books or genre TV, for instance – will be aware of the idea of continuity. (more…)[…]

CLAY AIKEN – “THIS IS THE NIGHT”
so this all happens because i happen to be listening to erasure; because i heard this clay aiken song on the radio; and because, hey, doesn’t the nylpm redesign look nice? why not bring the sit[…]

What a difference a beat makes! Both of these tracks are channelling the spirit of ’81 Tim Hopkins was talking about below – a kind of wired weakness, a sussed vulnerability, a stumble into hoped excitement – I was wondering if the guy on t[…]

Is there anyone who isn’t working with The Matrix now? Is there any way in which “Sleeping With The Light On” differs from a Matrix ballad anyway? Will The Matrix’ own record (ye gods) be the pop-rock answer to N.E.R.D.? Why d[…]

In case you hadn’t heard – TONIGHT is the third Freaky Trigger club night, at Parker Place, on Parker Street, off Kingsway, very near Holborn Tube, in London, from 6.30 until closing time. Come along if you’re at a loose end and say[…]

LUMIDEE – “Never Leave You (Uh-Oh)”
People’s antipathy towards this track puzzles me, but then again I can’t think of a more divisive R&B track in recent memory. You either “get it” or you don’t. […]