Opinion & Essays
Clear-sighted and well informed opinion on the culture of our past, present and future
Black Sky Thinking
Essays, investigation and opinion on today’s cultural landscape
Black Sky Thinking
How Pet Shop Boys Sold City Glamour to Queer Suburban Kids
John Grindrod discovered his sexuality in the streets of Croydon, always looking up the tracks to London, and argues that no other artist articulate this tension between city, suburbia and LGBT+ lives quite so beautifully as did Messrs Tennant and Lowe. This BST comes with a Pet Shop Boys Suburbs vs City playlist exclusive to our Subscriber Plus supporters.
Black Sky Thinking
The Writing’s on the Wall for the Betrayal of Iran
Roshi Nasehi, a Welsh Iranian artist, speaks to fellow musicians about the dangers of allowing the protest movement to be hijacked by hard left anti-imperialist ideologues and hard-right monarchist cheerleaders for Trump alike
Black Sky Thinking
Edith’s Diary: Drew Daniel on Creating Art under Fascism
Drew Daniel of Matmos has been creating dance music as The Soft Pink Truth for over 20 years, but recently he was forced to ask himself a difficult question: what utility does making music have while the world slides inexorably towards unmitigated disaster?
Black Sky Thinking
Why Reports of the Death of UK Nightlife are Greatly Exaggerated
From venue closures to VAT, conversations around the UK’s beleaguered nightlife sector have struck a singularly gloomy tone for more than a decade. But has that pessimism become part of the problem? Ed Gillett asks whether our eulogies for the late-night scene have outlived their usefulness.
Black Sky Thinking
How Pet Shop Boys Sold City Glamour to Queer Suburban Kids
John Grindrod discovered his sexuality in the streets of Croydon, always looking up the tracks to London, and argues that no other artist articulate this tension between city, suburbia and LGBT+ lives quite so beautifully as did Messrs Tennant and Lowe. This BST comes with a Pet Shop Boys Suburbs vs City playlist exclusive to our Subscriber Plus supporters.
Black Sky Thinking
Edith’s Diary: Drew Daniel on Creating Art under Fascism
Drew Daniel of Matmos has been creating dance music as The Soft Pink Truth for over 20 years, but recently he was forced to ask himself a difficult question: what utility does making music have while the world slides inexorably towards unmitigated disaster?
Black Sky Thinking
Why Reports of the Death of UK Nightlife are Greatly Exaggerated
From venue closures to VAT, conversations around the UK’s beleaguered nightlife sector have struck a singularly gloomy tone for more than a decade. But has that pessimism become part of the problem? Ed Gillett asks whether our eulogies for the late-night scene have outlived their usefulness.
Low Culture Essay
Illuminating treasured cultural artefacts
Low Culture Essay
The Low Culture Essay: Kyle MacNeill on The Getaway
In this month's subscriber essay, Kyle MacNeill loads up The Getaway, a perfectly preserved simulator of The Big Smoke in its the early 00s
Low Culture Essay
Low Culture Essay: Jennifer Lucy Allan on Susumu Yokota
In this month’s Low Culture Essay, Jennifer Lucy Allan considers nostalgia and the Japanese idea of kona in the work of electronic pioneer Susumu Yokota. Featuring an exclusive playlist for our Subscriber Plus tier.
Low Culture Essay
Low Culture Essay: Tariq Goddard on Jeremy Brett, the Perfect Sherlock Holmes
Tariq Goddard declares that in Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective, the actor delivered one of the greatest TV performances of all time – one that was so total, it arguably destroyed him
Low Culture Essay
Low Culture Essay: Tariq Goddard on Jeremy Brett, the Perfect Sherlock Holmes
Tariq Goddard declares that in Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective, the actor delivered one of the greatest TV performances of all time – one that was so total, it arguably destroyed him
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Start Free TrialAnniversary
Spotlighting the impact of cultural landmarks
Anniversary
Retro Instinct Versus Future Fetish: Emperor Tomato Ketchup 30 Years On
By the mid-90s Stereolab should have been at the peak of their powers, so why didn't it feel that way to Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier? Fergal Kinney examines the series of events that saw the band escape the dead end they'd ended up in culminating in the release of one of their most celebrated albums
Anniversary
A Question Of Lust: Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration Revisited
John Freeman looks back at the album which saw Martin Gore find his voice against a backdrop of inter-band tension.
Anniversary
Ore Ore Ore: The Andrea True Connection’s More More More
Fifty years ago, a spat over the international market in aluminium and a porn star catching flu while working in Jamaica led to disco's most unlikely crossover into the pop charts. Wrongtom takes us through the remarkable story of 'More More More'
Anniversary
Retro Instinct Versus Future Fetish: Emperor Tomato Ketchup 30 Years On
By the mid-90s Stereolab should have been at the peak of their powers, so why didn't it feel that way to Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier? Fergal Kinney examines the series of events that saw the band escape the dead end they'd ended up in culminating in the release of one of their most celebrated albums
Anniversary
Ore Ore Ore: The Andrea True Connection’s More More More
Fifty years ago, a spat over the international market in aluminium and a porn star catching flu while working in Jamaica led to disco's most unlikely crossover into the pop charts. Wrongtom takes us through the remarkable story of 'More More More'
Beyond The Hits
A deeper dive beyond the charts
Beyond The Hits
Stronger Than Pride: Beyond The Hits Of Sade
Sade superfan Alex Macpherson celebrates the release of a career-spanning box set by selecting lesser known gems from their back catalogue
