Category: Popular Music
-
Radiohead’s The Bends at 30: this fraught, compassionate, violently disturbed record remains one of their best
There was a time in the early to mid-2000s when naming The Bends as your favourite Radiohead album was like opting for chicken korma from the takeaway menu, while the gourmands decided between the bangla shatkora and jhinga bahar. Thirty years after its release, and with such musical snobbery now thankfully consigned to the past,…
Written by
·
-
Obsessing over the ‘true’ meaning of lyrics misses the point of songwriting
Many of us assume that everything a musician sings emerges from some autobiographical impulse. Pop music lyrics in particular are often read literally by fans as transparent disclosures about the singer’s life. For some reason, this seems to apply solely to lyrics. Writers from other media, such as film and TV, are generally presumed to…
Written by
·
-
Three pop beefs that were more cutting than Matty Healy and Taylor Swift’s
There has been a sharp intake of breath among Taylor Swift fans following reports that 1975 frontman and songwriter Matty Healy is soon to release a song addressing their public romance from 2023. The song in question, God Has Entered My Body, is reportedly the title track of an upcoming 1975 album. According to a…
Written by
·
-
Six covers of Bob Dylan songs that were better than the originals
He may never have strayed far from the minds of many music fans, but with his biopic A Complete Unknown hitting UK cinemas on January 17 and heartthrob Timothée Chalamet in the lead role, Bob Dylan may be about to gain an entirely new audience. Considered by many to be the greatest songwriter of all…
Written by
·
-
The ten best albums of 2024 – according to music experts
Alastair Gordon, De Montfort University; George Reid, Kingston University; Glenn Fosbraey, University of Winchester; Julia Toppin, University of Westminster; Katherine Schofield, King’s College London; Lillian Hingley, University of Oxford; Mykaell Riley, University of Westminster; Neil Cocks, University of Reading; Paul Stephen Adey, Nottingham Trent University, and Stephen Ryan, University of Limerick With Something Good, the…
Written by
·
-
David Lynch’s musical creations were as visionary as his filmmaking
Glenn Fosbraey, University of Winchester and Daniel Ash, University of Winchester The dark, surrealistic artistic vision of David Lynch, whose death was announced on January 16, was shown through films like Eraserhead (1977), Mulholland Drive (2001) and Blue Velvet (1986), and his TV show Twin Peaks (1990-2017). Lynch’s work is unique and influential enough to…
Written by
·
-
Midas Man: Brian Epstein biopic captures the complexity that made the Beatles manager so brilliant
A few minutes after I took my seat at an advanced screening of Amazon Prime’s Brian Epstein biopic, Midas Man, I found myself engaged in Beatles chat with the chap next to me. I wasn’t surprised to find a fellow Fab Four fanatic at such an event. But I was surprised when I realised I…
Written by
·
-
Family Harmony: The ongoing brilliance of The Finn Brothers
Family Harmony: The ongoing brilliance of The Finn Brothers
Written by
·
Glenn Fosbraey 