Mar 7, 2021Calling it out: women are making better music than menAccording to definition, a troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word troubadour is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz. So, it seems that the male appropriation of all things music began back in…International Womens Day3 min readInternational Womens Day3 min read
Mar 5, 2021The Art of Longevity: a podcastTo hear the podcast choose on of the various services: Spotify Amazon Music Apple Podcasts A few years ago, I read an interview with Brett Andersen from Suede, in which he said something along these lines: all successful artists have followed a similar journey, comprising four stages: the struggle, the…Podcast4 min readPodcast4 min read
Feb 10, 2021The Cure took Glastonbury 2019, let’s hope both return soonOh Glastonbury. Cancelled again. One begins to wonder whether…no, no, no. Let’s not go there. Glastonbury will return in 2022 as part of the ‘new roaring 20s’, when the virus lifts and we can all celebrate humanity once again: connection. In real life connection. The recent news about Glastonbury’s enforced…The Cure5 min readThe Cure5 min read
Dec 17, 2020Happy Holidays USA or Merry Christmas UK? Who does Christmas songs better?Every year without fail, I make December an all Christmas songs affair. Never before December 1st of course, and never after the 26th, but for every minute in between, it is Christmas music in my house (and my car and on my headphones). This will absolutely include the minor 1984…Christmas Music6 min readChristmas Music6 min read
Nov 29, 2020Sonos Radio HD — has a third way to listen just arrived?The pandemic-induced lockdown created a listening boom for traditional radio, along with an uptick in the streaming of more comforting genres (classical, easy listening, soul) with catalogue music enjoying another wave of popularity around the world. With long hours working from home, I for one bought into both of these…Sonos10 min readSonos10 min read
Oct 29, 2020MUSIC FILM REVIEW: PHIL LYNOTT: SONGS FOR WHILE I’M AWAYOctober 29, 2020 It’s funny, just a few weeks ago I was imagining that someone could, and should, make a documentary film about Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. Somehow, I hadn’t spotted that Emer Reynolds had done just that and that the trailer for the film was first put…Thin Lizzy6 min readThin Lizzy6 min read
Oct 21, 2020Is high definition audio ready to re-invent music (again?)According to a growing community of audiophiles, we are all being short-changed by the current wave of digital music. Since the first appearance of the MP3 in the late 90s, we have never looked back in terms of music’s abundance and availability, yet in the glut, we traded off access…Devialet5 min readDevialet5 min read
Oct 9, 2020Thank you for the music: paying more attentionBack when we used to attend live shows (it’s coming back, don’t worry, eventually, I hope) how often did you find yourself at a gig and wonder why the people at the back or next to you seem to be spending more time talking (loudly, so as to be heard…Michael Kiwanuka6 min readMichael Kiwanuka6 min read
Oct 6, 2020UK National Album Day 2020 Reader: The excess of the 80s produced monster pop albums that many artists still aspire to today, but times have changedI was just up in Dundee, Scotland, where I found myself stopping off for a few moments at a record shop (Assai Records, 33 and 1/3rd Union Street, nice address). Browsing vinyl (even in the age of COVID19) is still one of the best experiences in music, and most of…80s Music7 min read80s Music7 min read
Sep 28, 2020Up Next: The lost art of the song segueI remember when Beats first launched it’s pre Apple-Music service back in 2014. The vernacular was very much about human curation over algorithms — giving Spotify a preemptive poke in the eye. Jimmy Iovine’s favourite saying of the time was “What song comes next is as important as what song…Playlist4 min readPlaylist4 min read
