Music Sounds Better With Evil Corporations
Last night I walked past two major record stores in Boston. As I crossed in front of the Virgin Megastore, they were playing “Hombre” by M.I.A. When I went into Newbury Comics, they were playing […]

A big thank-you to everyone who came to Poptimism last week – it was a huge success, with over 100 people turning up (I had expected about 60 and sneakily hoped for 80). I do hope you enjoyed it and that if you did you’ll come again.[…]

Great Moments:
‘Mmm Bop’ by Hanson 0:55-0:58
(an occasional series reviewing all of music a few seconds at a time)
(suggested by Pete during Poptimism)
This has a fairly undistinguished start, and the strangulated and weak vocals inspire […]

…and you will know us by the trail of dead: and the rest will follow
They are a real lower case sort of band, a sorta Archers of Loaf/Polvo/Iron Maiden mish-mash. I like this song for three main reasons:
1. It’s an anthem with a marching […]

SARAH’S POP POSER!
In “Negotiate With Love”, Rachel Stevens sings:
“The other day you said hello/We had a coffee/Now the next thing I know you’re playing me/Crap”.
Now. Is she saying, “the next thing you&#821[…]

Mike’s Pop Pilgrimages
No.5 – Wayne Hussey’s willy, London
I used to be a bit of a goth. No, that’s not true, I used to be a lot of a goth; a suede-booted, black-haired, cross-in-ear, bangle-wristed embarrassment to my parents[…]

Mike’s Pop Pilgrimages
No.4 – Rachel and James, Manchester
A different sort of pilgrimage this time. Rachel was a college hanger-on. One of those lost souls who drifts about campus, knows everyone, but doesn’t technically belong the[…]

Or “The Bravery single”. This was the dread revelation that came upon me after buying Now 60, as headphone listening transformed “half-memorable blur on the office radio” into “sharp well-produced pop single”. Web […]

I haf written my first FT essay as such in a while — I suspect some will look at it askance. Attempts to talk about things in a broader scale as well as a specific one, so hopefully who the essay is about won’t annoy, well, most everyone[…]

REM of course. And the B52’s. And Pylon I suppose, but REM mostly. I’ve wanted to visit for years. I remember old interviews with the band where they raved about the city. I grew up on REM and I stick by them even now, in their run-out-of[…]