The Church Of Me on Metal Box – this is COM at its absolute best, taking the usual ‘mumblemumbleclassicalbumofcourse’ line on PiL (why is it PiL rather than PIL btw?) and fleshing them out rather than taking them as read. You know i[…]

Wasps Nest by the 6ths- Stephin Merritts other band- is a dress rehearsal for the 69 love songs. It doesn’t move through genres and literary devices with his opuses whirl wind speed or ease- sticking to the campy, faggy indie pop, it does have[…]

Far be it from me to bitch about Good Charlotte selling the ideals & crusty tenants of punk rock to the strip malls and outlet stores of suburbia. I’m all for young, upwardly mobile punks using the system to their advantage. Get yourselv[…]

Music blogs are waking up from their Xmas/New Year slumbers. Current highlights…
– Simon Reynolds’ albums of the year including some rare affection for Britrap (!) and agreeable discussion of most other stuff.
– Marcello Carli[…]

TOM’S TOP TEN!
ABBA – Happy New Year
DIZZY RASCAL – I Luv U
PREFAB SPROUT – Nightingales
THE LIBERTINES – What A Waster
PAULINA RUBIO – Don’t Say Goodbye
AUTOBIANCHI – All Around (Everybody’s Kiss[…]

Watch This! (2002): Pete’s Top 40 films of 2002 – and there’s also the third part in my own 2002 retrospective up here!.[…]

Somewhat against my better judgement, this year I bowed to reader requests and ran an ILX Readers Poll. It turned out to be good fun, though I don’t agree with very many of the results. Here they are, anyway:
Records of the Year
Tracks Of The Y[…]

IT’S THE FREAKY TRIGGER CHRISTMAS JOKE!
Thanks to e-mail problems this could not appear before Christmas but at least we got it in before 12th Night eh? Based on a punchline by Pete Baran.
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It’s Christmas time, and U2 have lined up a ser[…]

30 Seconds Over Dayton
Brainiac’s ‘NOTH1NG 3V3R CHAN935’ would have been Walter Benjamin’s wet dream. It never really sings about the bricks, dirt and whatever else you can’t find outside suburbia… but it sounds ev[…]

101. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS – ‘My Elastic Eye’: ‘It sounds exactly like an elastic eye!’ said Fred S. I scoffed, but you know what? – it does! Though maybe more a clockwork one – but the wobbly fuzz-bass still sounds like[…]