Category: Music

  • An announcement

    Bless my cotton socks, I’m in the news: the announcement of my new book is in today’s Bookseller. It’s been *so* hard to keep this quiet so I’m really delighted to say we’re putting the band back together for another 404ink book, this time celebrating Scots music of all kinds. The book is called Small…

  • Whispered words and power chords

    Somewhat later than planned, I’m delighted to tell you about the new HAVR EP: Love Will Save Us From Sadness. Which perhaps could have been called “Hey, do you guys ever think about dying?” It’s our best work yet, I think, and I’m particularly proud of the lyrics: these are songs from a sad place…

  • Handsome devils

    I bought myself a coffee table book as a present. Marr’s Guitars by Johnny Marr is a lavishly photographed guide to some of Marr’s 132 guitars, including some very iconic instruments that played a key role in the sound of The Smiths. If you love guitars like I do, it’s absolute filth. Some of my…

  • Islands in the streams

    Most of my tech writing these days is news reporting, but from time to time I get to write something a little more reflective. Here’s a piece on how streaming services have persuaded me to get back into buying music I can touch. I think streaming is like a fast food drive-through, serving up cheeseburgers…

  • Dee eye ess see oh

    There’s a wonderful new documentary on BBC iPlayer (and on PBS in the US) called Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution. It traces disco from its origins in the basement bars and warehouses of 1970s New York to its eventual world domination, and it’s a fantastic programme with a celestial soundtrack. While the music is of…

  • Moles whacked

    Bath Moles, one of the UK’s endangered grassroots music venues, is no more. And Mark Davyd knows why. Bath Moles is closing because right now, in 2023, it simply isn’t possible to present original live music in a 220-capacity venue without losing money. He’s right, and he’s also right that by ignoring what’s going on…

  • A true original

    It’s Wendy Carlos’s birthday today. Carlos is one of the most influential electronic musicians of all time: half-artist, half-scientist, she is a pioneer without whom today’s music would sound very different. Her 1968 album Switched-On Bach introduced a generation to the synthesiser, she was an early creator of what we now call ambient music, and…

  • Motion picture soundtrack

    At the risk of sounding like those obviously fake stories that end “and everybody applauded”, I’d like to share a lovely little real-life movie moment that happened to me yesterday. I was bouncing around the flat with my youngest and, as I often do, I picked up a guitar to plonk away on it. I…

  • Pop perfection

    I went to see the Taylor Swift tour film last night. It’s one of the greatest live music things I’ve ever seen, and if you’re even vaguely interested in pop music it’s definitely worth a trip to the IMAX. Swift is a fantastic songwriter, an incredible performer and the sound and staging of the show…

  • Achtung Vegas

    U2’s Achtung Baby is the greatest album ever made. Okay, maybe not to you, or to most of the Earth. But to 19-year-old me – the album was released the day before my 19th birthday – it was the most amazing and important record I’d ever heard, and it was followed the year after by…