Shoegaze is the stealth teenage pop culture. I was talking to two black teens at the MBV gig the other day.

The joy of Belle and Sebastian Do Belle and Sebastian have the most polite audience in pop? Normally when a pop singer leaves the stage to promenade through the audience, they are besieged. Even in seated venues most stars ​will ma...

I reviewed Belle, Sebastian and Cosmic Psychos. spectator.com/article/the-...

I know nothing about games, but as both kid and adult I have found the Moria chapters the most exciting and vivid and intriguing. Also, of course, they contain the great unexplained miracle of the whole trilogy: the rebirth, offstage, of Gandalf.

Charlie's Angels (1977)

Charlie's Angels (2000)

We are now further away in time from Charlie's Angels than Charlie's Angels was from Charlie's Angels when they made Charlie's Angels.

Oh Benn’s statement is risible. I was more saying there will be a crowd for this.

My son (22) says all the kids his age want to go. He says he’ll be going, because Kanye “is the GOAT”. I disapprove, but I’d have loved to see the Zep reunion, and Page’s past is truly and utterly heinous. It’s really easy to forget we don’t condemn artists we love half as hard.

“Fascism is great; it’s only fascists that are the problem.”

True story: RFK Jr once shouted and swore at me down the phone when I was a teenager,

I went on the Who Cares About The Rock Hall podcast to argue the case for Phil Collins. open.spotify.com/episode/2Yur...

It’s time to redefine what we mean by classic rock Classic rock used to be an American radio genre made up of bluesy guitar bands from the past. It spawned Fathers’ Day compilation albums, a magazine and endless lists where ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Bohe...

In which I argue that “classic rock” should now mean 80s and 90s indie. spectator.com/article/its-...

The Q&A with Pat McFadden is genius

Hang on, when did Spurs sign Chuck Schumer? Who are they replacing him with? I’d go for Mainoo.

The alluring mess of CMAT The last time I saw CMAT – Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – was in the middle of a grey afternoon at a festival. She brought a charismatic refusal to be embarrassed to the day, and walked off with rather m...

In which I think CMAT is great, Cardinals are loud and Little Grandad are truly the great new British band. spectator.com/article/the-...

‘A lot of late 70s bands wore grey. But we were determined to have fun’: the return of the mega-influential Swell Maps after 46 years Championed by the BBC’s John Peel and signed to Rough Trade, the band were punk when that meant DIY, psychedelia and prog as well as screaming chords. What’s more, they loved Pink Floyd …

Wrote about Swell Maps yesterday, in my mind day after day www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...

Captions not my doing

Flexible and imaginative: Wednesday at the Roundhouse reviewed How is it that two things that are fundamentally the same can be completely different? Two bands, each harking back to a specific historical reference point in heavy music, each using distortion and v...

I went to see both Wednesday and Airbourne and reviewed them. spectator.com/article/flex...

Thank you. I was pleased with it

‘Everybody wants a bestie like this guy!’ Rush on rock’s most anticipated reunion – and its greatest bromance After drummer Neil Peart died in 2020, many thought the Canadian prog legends would never reform. As they book a mammoth global tour, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson explain how their lifelong bond drew th...

I interviewed Rush the other week and they were delightful. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

What is a sorts opinion that is both a) supported by evidence and b) one only someone of your nationality would have?

Me (English*): Brian Clough is obviously the greatest team sports coach of all time

(* There would be no UK consensus on this)

John Mulhaney at his best is unstoppable John Mulaney appeared to be just another of those identical, slick, clean-cut, young comedians in suits until Covid. But all was not well. In December 2020, a bunch of his showbiz pals staged an inter...

Went to see John Mulaney. The headline typo is not mine. spectator.com/article/john...

Wednesday

The Benn idolisers only ever think of the cuddly, “principled”, post-Kinnock version of Benn.

Looking for guests for my new podcasts, The Rest Is Podcasts and The Podcast Agents, in which me and an amusingly contrary but also sympathetic co-host take a look at the stories behind the podcasts everyone is talking about.

Political writers need to stop describing Mandelson as having a "fatal weakness" for very, very rich people, or similar phrases. It isn't a fatal weakness. His career-long purpose has been to get close to the very, very rich and powerful as an end in itself.

Electrifying: Annie & the Caldwells, at Ronnie Scott’s, reviewed Annie & the Caldwells are a long-running family gospel ensemble from West Point, Mississippi – father and sons playing guitar, bass and drums, mother and daughters singing. The chaps offer a sinewy, s...

I reviewed terrific shows by Annie and the Caldwells and Westside Cowboy. spectator.com/article/elec...

Why have so many prime ministers in recent decades employed absolutely psychotic advisers? Psychotic press secs I kind of get, but advisers who routinely press terrible courses?

Who can forget all the masterpieces he wrote last year?

The notion that Bill Gates needed Epstein’s help to meet super rich charity donors is like Paul McCartney claiming he needed Gary Glitter to put him in touch with other rock stars.

DEADLINE DAY LATEST: Just in - there is no chance of a Real to Rotherham loan deal for Bellingham, sources say

What a “Melania” Cinematographer Hoped to Accomplish Dante Spinotti has had a legendary Hollywood career. Why is he making propaganda for the Trump family?

This is painful to read. Someone not quite grasping his interviewer is telling him he has become a de facto fascist. www.newyorker.com/culture/q-an...