Pop
Range and power – and amazingly she sang all her songs: Christina Aguilera at Wembley reviewed
In every respect bar its austere pews, the Union Chapel is one of the best venues in London: beautiful and…
Fascinating and compelling: Bruce Hornsby at Shepherd’s Bush Empire reviewed
In the unlikely event that Bruce Hornsby and Morten Harket, A-ha’s singer, ended up featuring in the Daily Mail for,…
Mick Hucknall on women, rejection and cultural appropriation
What makes someone become a pop star? Sometimes, it’s true, pop stardom arrives by accident, and its recipient responds not…
The open-hearted loveliness of Hot Chip
Squeeze and Hot Chip are both great British pop groups. But they never defined a scene. Their ambitions extended further…
At their best the Psychedelic Furs are fantastic
It’s amazing what the movies can do. In 1986, the John Hughes teen flick Pretty in Pink — the one…
An eight-year-old’s dream: Muse at the O2 reviewed
‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ by Muse was on heavy rotation on MTV at a time, 15 years ago, when my infant…
Great title – shame about the songs: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell reviewed
Grade: B+ Get the razor blades out, Ms Misery is back. Only the truly affluent can immerse themselves in such…
Reliably odd but the deranged proggery grates: King’s Mouth by The Flaming Lips reviewed
Grade: B- So a queen dies as her giant baby is being born. The baby grows very big indeed and…
Why I’m done with Fleetwood Mac
There is something inexplicably exciting about pop’s notion of a ‘scene’: young musicians of similar outlooks drawn together by a…
Enveloping and gorgeous: Cate Le Bon reviewed
The last time Bikini Kill played in London was in a room that now serves as the restaurant of a…
Way more fun than the media would have us believe: The Spice Girls tour reviewed
If you’ve paid even passing attention to early reports of the Spice Girls comeback tour, you will be aware of…
Much as I admire Morrissey’s refusal to conform, I don’t much like his music
Grade: B Rock stars who utter something a little gamey, something a tad right-wingish, are usually coerced by the lefties…
A very odd two hours: Sting and Shaggy reviewed
Many is the pop star who has craved gravitas. Only Sting, however, has pursued it by covering John Dowland on…
Rocketman is cheesy and clichéd – and all the better for it
There have been claims that Rocketman, the biopic of Elton John, is ‘cheesy’ and ‘clichéd’, but, in truth, you do…
A Saturday-night variety show: Take That at the O2 reviewed
Being old is big business in live music nowadays, in a way it wasn’t even 25 years ago. When Take…
Maybe the best thing this skag head’s ever done: Peter Doherty & the Puta Madres reviewed
Grade: A Old skag head’s back, then — older (40 now!), probably none the wiser, still a very good songwriter.…
At her best Robyn is magical – but her contribution to pop is hardly unique
Last autumn, anyone who a) has an interest in pop music, and b) reads the weightier end of the press,…
Thick 12-year-olds listen to Ariana Granda, smart ones to Billie Eilish
Grade: A– If your 12-year-old daughter’s a bit thick, she probably likes Ariana Grande. Come on, dads — you’ve got…
The greatest Beatle? Pete Best
Which of the Beatles would you most like to have been? Not either of the dead ones, presumably. Nor the…
It’s shocking how many Michael Jackson fans are still determined to take his side
Halfway through the first part of Channel 4’s extraordinary documentary Leaving Neverland (Thursdays), I flicked through the comments on social…
An undervalued songwriter and decent man: Bryan Adams at Wembley reviewed
On 29 June 1991, a record called ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ by Bryan Adams entered the…
As so often, teenage girls called this one right: The 1975 reviewed
The teenage girls are often right. They were right about Sinatra and they were right about Elvis. They were right…
Gary Kemp on pop, Pre-Raphaelites, politics and playing Pinter
The first thing Gary Kemp bought when Spandau Ballet started making money was a chair. He’s very proud of that…
1975 was a great year for pop – worthy of a better band than The 1975
Grade: C A derided year in pop music, 1975 — and yet a great one. The mainstream was horrible, but…
They. Cannot. Write. Songs: Mumford & Sons reviewed
Grade: D+ I promise you this isn’t simply class loathing. Yer toffs have contributed to British rock and pop and…
