My dad is often to be found listening to Sounds of the 60s. As far as I can tell, the programme is often filled with complete drivel. But I can easily see the appeal. Even the biggest pile of crap can take on greater significance when viewed through those special rose-tinted nostalgia-spectacles. Anything that reminds […]
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Robert Sandall
I was sad yesterday to learn of the death of Robert Sandall. While he is most celebrated as a music journalist, I was more aware of him as a radio presenter. In 2001, when I was discovering my interest in experimental music, I was advised by someone on a messageboard to listen to the Radio […]
Autechre — Oversteps and Move of Ten
Autechre really annoy me. They are too good. What I don’t understand is why no-one else is apparently able to make music like this. Autechre may be perceived as being wilfully difficult. Maybe they are. Almost without fail, the first time you listen to new Autechre material it is impossible to get your head around. […]
Frank Sidebottom should be at number 1
I was sad to read that Frank Sidebottom — or Chris Sievey, his real name — died today. I have vague memories of him being on television when I was very young, and it was a joy to rediscover him when he made his comeback four or five years ago. He never returned to the […]
Scarce resources of the social media age
There is something about the way that economists think that makes them different. Sometimes this makes them downright brilliant. Other times it makes them complete outcasts. I often enthuse about the paradox of voting — the phenomenon whereby economists struggle to explain why people vote. But when I talk about it to anyone else, the […]
As if the real Kate Nash wasn’t bad enough
I do enjoy the Eurovision Song Contest. I can’t stand other Saturday night television extravaganzas, but there is something different about Eurovision. Probably the fact that it’s actually a contest. I like trying to work out what the countries are trying to achieve by entering the songs they enter — the strategic element is a […]
Gristleism: a different take on the Buddha Machine concept
I have written before about the Buddha Machine. It is like a mystical modern-day music box. I’m a big fan. The original was described by some as the anti-iPod. It looks like the sort of iPod knock-off that you might get free in a cereal packet. Instead of loading it with several gigabytes of your […]
BBC 6 Music should be enhanced, not killed
If the reports that the BBC will close down 6 Music are true, it is a great shame. Of course, this could be seen coming. The BBC has been utterly weak in almost every respect for the past few years, and it is difficult to escape the notion that it is too big, with too […]
My top ten albums of 2009
10. The Fiery Furnaces — I’m Going Away It wouldn’t be an end-of-year music roundup from me without something related to The Fiery Furnaces appearing on the list. And here it is: I’m Going Away. This is probably the lowest they have appeared in my end-of-year list since I discovered them. Not that I’m Going […]
My top twenty albums of 2009 — part one
It is the end of the year. I like music. That can only mean one thing: a run-down of the music I have bought this year, arranged into vague order of how much I enjoyed them. In this twentieth anniversary year of Warp Records, it has been a stonking year for the label in my […]