In this month's essay, Jeanette Leech seeks to reclaim the legacy of Elastica's vastly underrated second album from prurient mutterings about drug addiction and the collapse of Britpop, celebrating Mark E. Smith collaborations and the birth of M.I.A.
The mainstream media are currently engaged in a collective misty-eyed throwback to the 'glory days' of the mid 90s. Luke Turner, who was a teenager at the time, argues that the current canonisation of Britpop is as musically and socially conservative as 1960s nostalgia
In this month's antidote to the algorithm, Justyna Banaszczyk (whom regular tQ readers will know as the musician FOQL) guides us through summer woodlands and murky memory with a terrific selection of Polish contemporary experimental music, including Krolowczana Smuga, pictured below.
To see himself through lockdown, James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers has been compiling tailor-made crossword puzzles for his family and friends. He tells Patrick Clarke about the therapeutic effects and extreme cultural wormholes they can inspire. Plus, solve an exclusive '80s indie crossword compiled by JDB himself!
These are our favourite tracks of the last 12 months as voted for by Jennifer Lucy Allan, Bobby Barry, Aaron Bishop, Patrick Clarke, John Doran, Christian Eede, Noel Gardner, Ella Kemp, Fergal Kinney, Sean Kitching, Anthea Leyland, Peter Margasak, David McKenna, JR Moores, Luke Turner, Kez Whelan and Daryl Worthington. Illustration by Lisa Cradduck