
Blur announced some massive Wembley gigs and that was that, right? Wrong. They have surprised everyone by announcing a new album! It’s called The Ballad of Darren and is out July 21 via Parlophone. Their first since ‘The Magic Whip’. And there’s a new song too, called ‘The Narcissist.’ Damon Albarn: “This is an aftershock record, reflection and…

Donald Trump’s use of ‘YMCA’ (and to a lesser degree, ‘Macho Man’) by the Village People has been a curious thing. For someone who is, and represents everything virulently homophobic and a whole other bunch of phobics in the US, it’s particularly strange that he’d plump for a song that is not only very camp,…

You’ve invariably picked up a Beatle LP, seen that famous green apple, got an emorous sense of well-being, and got on with your day (unless you’re one of those terrible hipsters who think it’s fashionable to hate The Beatles – you do you, boo). Anyway, the famous split apple across two sides of a Beatle…

The late Japanese composer and Yellow Magic Orchestra founder Ryuichi Sakamoto’s management have shared the last playlist compiled by the late, great musician. Calling it ‘Ryuichi’s Last Playlist’, they wrote: “We would like to share the playlist that Ryuichi had been privately compiling to be played at his own funeral to accompany his passing. He…

When SBTRKT were around last time, they were known for their forward thinking dancefloor chuggers, designed for those kids who weren’t necessarily into dance music and a bit frightened of Techno Lads on pills, but still wanted to scuff their sneakers up on the dirty dancefloors. ‘Pharaohs’ and ‘Wildlife’ were solid gold bangers, but in…

10 Things I Hate About You is a fine teen movie and the popularity of it has only grown in recent years, thanks to a mildly angsty Gen X current that runs through it. Local bylaws state that you have to point out it is based on Shakespeare too. Well, looks like its going to…

Not quite grunge, not quite ’90s indie, not quite pop, Singapore’s Subsonic Eye have a new single out which scratches a number of itches, across a number of different independent music genres. That’s a good thing, obviously. They’ve announced a new LP – called ‘Singapore Dreaming’ – which you’ll be able to hear on June…

Music collective Mourning [A] BLKstar have a new song out that’s a wonderful marriage of jazz and soul, but all forward-looking rather than relying wholly on the past, and it is definitely worth your ears and time. There’s a new LP due called ‘Flowers For The Living’ and that’ll be available in May. The new…

Our problem with a lot of modern period post-punk and New Wave music is that it is so boring and conservative. Not tuneful enough, nor weird enough, it’s usually dour groups who are more well-read than they are songwriters. We get it – you’ve got a problem with too many cans during the week and…
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