“In my view, it is not a gimmick” sez ENO spokesman of opera at Glasto. No, sorry, IT IS A GIMMICK. But I am thoroughly pro-gimmicks, so that’s fine – especially in the classical world where the gimmickal imagination rarely st[…]

Easy as it is to believe, sellout culture guru Malcolm McLaren had a shot at writing a musical with none other than Pete Waterman back in the early nineties.
What did this consist of? Its hard to say based on the evidence presented here, but plenty […]

The Wilkinsons-LA
Its about a girl whose boy has gone to Los Angeles,
with Prada stores and electric cars, and about the
worries that correspond to that move–namely “I don’t want to
lose you to LA.
But the thing is is not really abo[…]

If anyone (ideally anyone who I see fairly regularly) has a copy of George Melly’s Revolt Into Style I could borrow, I would be very grateful. I would take very good care of it! It seems to be out of print at the moment and the asking price on […]

Having moved to Belgium to study and model, the French femme fatale Sonia Dronier was discovered by Francis Depryck, the producer who had made Plastic Bertrand. She re-invented herself as Viktor Lazlo stepping out of Casablanca. In many ways she rese[…]

Dirrrty Pop: Another pop blog, if you like “Talent In A Previous Life” or “Enthusiastic But Mediocre” you should look this one up too. I really should give my links sidebar a good kicking, I should also categorise them a bit m[…]

Thank Me For The Music: new MP3 blog! Very pop! Lead track currently is the stupendous “Never Felt As Good” by Belvedere Kane. If everyone goes there and hears it maybe I can play it at the next FT night and people will know what it is an[…]

Eamon’s on the radio! Good old Eamon with his novelty swearing. Of course it’s the ‘radio edit’, which reduces Eamon’s foul mouth to an impotent stutter – but it does make me think of how the technology of swear-re[…]

Better Late Than Never: Stereophonics ex-drummer says they were “a little bland”. Very perceptive of him.[…]

Why Doesn’t Sean Paul Release More Singles?
One of the many scenarios thrown out by MP3 optimists (within and without the record companies) is a future in which artists drip-feed their work to the public, putting new tracks up for sale and down[…]