The 1980s is a decade most often defined – at least in Western countries by some of its most visible features; greed and consumerism, accelerated capitalism, wealth-as-glamour, blockbuster entertainment (and not just in Hollywood; what could be more 80s than the novels of Jackie Collins…
2019 is (to me at least) one of those times when the zeitgeist feels like an actual entity, less the ‘spirit of the age’ and more an actual ‘time ghost’, a baleful Lovecraftian presence whose unseen influence poisons the atmosphere of the era, insidiously…
There’s a moment in Peter Bagge’s immortal Generation X soap opera comicbook Hate¹ where a character says “That need to reclaim a dusty corner of your youth can be overwhelming at times” and even when I first read that in my late 20s, the truth of…
There have been a lot of obituaries for the great Mark E. Smith in the last week. This will not be one of the better ones, but it is my one. In my experience, the bands you love in your teens are, although they have…
“Time, time, time, see what’s become of me…” When The Bangles covered Simon & Garfunkel’s A Hazy Shade of Winter in 1987, the song was 21 years and one month old, now The Bangles’ version (from the underrated – according to me – movie of…
Despite the title, this isn’t really about earworms as such – although they certainly have a place here – this is to do with the background music/soundtrack to your – or my – life. There are serious, life-changing conditions like ‘Musical Ear Syndrome” (kind of…
So, I’m taking far too long faffing with the more (relatively) substantial things I’ve been working on, so in the meantime I will try to reinstate the weekly updates. Just to stop the whole thing becoming too repetitive, this one is in a very slightly…
Where does your taste in music come from? Why do you like some things but not others? It’s mysterious, but to try and find out, I thought I’d look at the issue from the (my) beginning. So what is the first music you remember…
After many delays, another week, another playlist… 1. Kristin Hersh – Wyatt At The Coyote Palace (Omnibus Books, 2016) Review here! 2. Stench Price – Stench Price EP (Transcending Obscurity Records, 2016) 3. Baby Tears – Succubus Slides (Choice Records, 2016) 4. Bethlehem – Bethlehem (Prophecy Productions, 2016)…
Naturally some crossover with last week’s since my attention span isn’t all that horribly tragic… 1. Kristin Hersh – Wyatt At The Coyote Palace (Omnibus Books, 2016) Review here! 2. ThrOes – This Viper Womb (Aesthetic Death, 2016) 2. Black Angel Drifter – Black Angel Drifter (Bastard Recordings, 2016)…