Category Archives: Uncategorized

Rock Dinosaurs Team Up

It could only happen in America. I can just picture hundreds of thousands of psychedelic beach chairs, picnic hampers and parasols spread out on the ‘Empire polo field’ (that famous rock’n’roll venue…) as Bob Dylan, the Stones, Paul McCartney, The Who, Roger Waters and Neil Young perform at a mega-gig in Indio, California this October.Continue reading “Rock Dinosaurs Team Up”

You can call him Al…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywjb0pSCfSU In the seventies there was a slew of tracks that blended folky balladry and rock textures and, although not neccesarily sounding like Dylan, they were clearly in debt to his epic style of songwriting. A long and winding melody would be combined with tasteful instrumentation and cryptic, poetic lyrics that were sometimes comprehensible, sometimesContinue reading “You can call him Al…”

Under The Radar

To all members of the soiled siblinghood who cling to the city streets, that feral fraternity bequeathed to us by Madame Thatcher, for whom the park bench is a couch and the church steps a social club, who live alongside our absurd society and happen to be addicted to the wrong things… To these homelessContinue reading “Under The Radar”

On The Other Side of The Wall

                  There will be no more divisions, No cultural collisions, Or blinkered racial visions On the other side of the wall There will be no flagellations, No female mutilations Or power-hungry nations With no mercy at all There won’t be terror forces, Denial of resources Or distantContinue reading “On The Other Side of The Wall”

Under the Skin: The Lure of Leather

I have fond memories of certain headshop in Sheffield that helped me through my adolescence. I often used to go in there, and after browsing the vinyl LPs and sniffing the packets of incence I would look through the second-hand leather jackets, trying one on occasionally as a kind of rebel fantasy. But one dayContinue reading “Under the Skin: The Lure of Leather”

Hipsters: The Phantom Menace

To many, they are the scapegoats of the age, the visible minority it’s ok to hate. Not gypsies, junkies or chavs but HIPSTERS. Here they come with their beards and bobble hats, on rusty racers and skateboards, to take over derelict buildings, open coffee shops and artists’ studios. Uniformly non-conformist, they are the 21st centuryContinue reading “Hipsters: The Phantom Menace”

Ten Great Protest Songs (for Pete Seeger)

The music community recently mourned the great Pete Seeger, who finally left the stage at the grand old age of 94. Seeger was a key figure in the protest song tradition, nurturing and inspiring a generation of left-leaning folkies including Bob Dylan. It occurred to me that when Seeger started performing in the 1940’s, heContinue reading “Ten Great Protest Songs (for Pete Seeger)”

Laundro-matters…

The washing machine in my house has broken down again…so while I’m waiting for the landlord to fix it, I’m visiting that unique institution, the launderette (to North-Americans, the laundromat). Students, tourists, bedsit-dwellers, the homeless or victims of mechanical breakdown like me can all rely on these places with their quaint retro fittings, wooden benchesContinue reading “Laundro-matters…”

BROMANCING THE STONED (boho buddies in popular culture.)

  Over the last 60 years or so, a distinct sub-genre has emerged across film, TV and literature: the slacker buddy narrative. Inspiring devoted cult followings, these often comic tales follow the misadventures of two males on the bohemian underbelly of society who are usually co-habiting in conditions of abject squalor. At least one ofContinue reading “BROMANCING THE STONED (boho buddies in popular culture.)”