Abortion is not very popular among New Country’s demographic; when children are involved it’s usually a positive thing, a sign of God’s providence. There are hundreds of ‘well she got pregnant young, but we pulled through song[…]

Sofas in pubs: there is something alluring about the pub sofa. “Come sit in me” it suggests “I’m better than your poxy stool”. The poxy stool sits there making eyes at the standing punters. But I’m not sure that so[…]

PUERTO MUERTO – Jean Lafitte
What is the secret of a good record? Innovation often swings it, or even better the fine crafting of someone else innovation. It can be the pure buffing of production, or the raw excitement of something lo-fi and en[…]

The day the music died: Stuart Jeffries puts the case against Pop Idol and the colonisation of the charts by TV. A lot of blood and thunder and what seems to be a strong central point (ignoring the use of the lazy m-word) – “Manufactured […]

PROGGY WENT A COURTING
Yet again rumours of my death are exagerrated. Its true that all that breakfast has caused a significant clogging of my arteries, but nothing a stint of watching Celebrity Fat Club and a gin dialysis won’t cure. This howe[…]

Sinker vs Frith (well not versus, exactly…) – rewarding rockcritics.com online exchange with Simon Frith: readers emailed in their questions and Frith answers some more comprehensively than others. My question was “Can I be a Mercur[…]

TOM’S TOP TEN!
MALCOLM MCLAREN – “Double Dutch”
ANDREW WK – “We Want Fun”
HOLLY VALANCE – “Down Boy”
THE BEATLES – “Magical Mystery Tour”
BLACK SABBATH – “Into […]

Digital Download Day: I just got phoned up for a comment on this by M*tro – it was the first I’d heard of it (good work PR people). This is “the future of music” according to the site, i.e. “the present of music” &[…]

ANDREW WK – “We Want Fun”
How could anyone hate music as happy as this? The opening minute – with no WK in sight – is outrageously, beautifully, gleeful. Glitterbeat drums introduce the riff from “I Wish It Could B[…]

Alex came down last weekend and after the pub we went back home and listened to some records with Sarah. I had the remote for the stereo. I wanted to play them all the freshest, funniest tunes I’d found lately but it’s not a great idea to[…]