Fake Dancehall vs Real Dancehall: very interesting ILM thread started by Chuck Eddy. So interesting that I almost posted – but what’s the answer?
I think the difference is one of inclusivity – the ‘real’ stuff in these s[…]

THE FT TOP 100 SONGS
91. Ike And Tina Turner – “River Deep, Mountain High”
At the time, notoriously one of the biggest records ever made. But if there’s one thing the recording industry has worked at since 1966, it’s mak[…]

GLORIA 1: THE CASE OF THE BILINGUAL BALLOONS
Thankyou for your many comments on the thorny question of whether Nena’s German original “99 Luftballons” is better than “99 Red Balloons”. We have fed the two records, your c[…]

DAFT PUNK
Human After All
Yes, it’s hardly out yet or anything, but after the leak on Monday I witnessed what had to be one of the most intense fracturings of opinion over a long-expected album in a while. To pick just one example, the ILM thr[…]

SCOOTER – “Shake That!”
There is a very common trope in science fiction whereby a society of the future has evolved curious and inexplicable customs which turn out to have – oh irony – been based on misunderstandings of […]

Disco! Disco! DIS-DIS-DISCO!
Told you it would be a good one.
My head is a little bit sore today so I may not get around to firing up The Poptimizer in order for it to take its Nena decision.
Here’s a question, though. What is the most danceabl[…]

THE GLORIAS
A new NYLPM feature – will it get as far as its third entry? You decide! Well, no, I decide probably.
A few years ago I was reading a comic called Starman. The hero of Starman is, frankly, a big nerd. This particular issue had him t[…]

Seelenluft-The Way We Go

It’s worth noting (and a real shame) that distribution problems have meant this record flew undetected past the radar last year. It’s probably my number 1 album of 2004. So it’s only an undiscovered classi[…]

THE FT TOP 100 SONGS
92. Girls Aloud – “Love Machine”
There is one good thing, and one good thing only, about indie zine The Fly. It is free, and handily available for homeward bound tube reading from Victoria HMV.
This month is the[…]

THE FT TOP 100 SONGS
93. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers – “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”
Cis says:
I loved doo-wop when I was little. The black-and-white photographs on record covers, smiling boys in ill-fitting suits, close harmoni[…]