The story of the diamond-selling pop culture phenomenon, and the effect it had on Kurt Cobain.
One of the very few dance records that isn’t tied to its era, ‘Screamadelica’s timelessness was cemented by how it doubled back on rock history, rearranging the past so it pointed to the future, and is arguably the most far-reaching piece of musical exploration in pop’s vast canon.
Consisting of lean, back-to-basics compositions denuded of the lengthy musical explorations of its predecessor and precision-tooled for radio airplay, Coming Up was conceived of as the antithesis of Dog Man Star right from the start.
by Ed Biggs By the time 1966 rolled around, The Beatles had unquestionably re-asserted their primacy in British pop music as a creative force, in addition to their long-standing commercial triumphs which had never shown any sign of flagging. Rubber Soul, hot on the heels of Help! in 1965, had been one of pop’s greatest artistic achievements, and their relentless touring schedule had ground on in the face of exhaustion. But
Continue reading…
by Ed Biggs Ten years after the wider world took notice of them for the first time, TV On The Radio have long since cemented their place at the top table of indie acts, consistently releasing albums of outstanding quality and building up an impeccable reputation. With their own, distinctive vision for the ‘rock anthem’ that they’ve re-shaped and re-formulated many times over the years, most recently with 2014’s explicitly danceable
by Ed Biggs Following the enormous success of his breakthrough single ‘Loser’ in 1994, Beck Hansen faced the prospect of being pigeonholed as a one-hit wonder, weighed down by an albatross of a song with which he would be associated in the minds of the public, in the mid ‘90s. But just like Radiohead, who had themselves written a huge hit the year before in ‘Creep’ that had also been adopted
by Ed Biggs By 1986, nearly three years of quality singles and equally great albums and compilations had established The Smiths as one of the most consistently brilliant and distinctive guitar bands of the eighties, but they had yet to make an undisputed masterpiece – one of those instant, all-time classics that cement an artist’s place in pop history. 1984’s sepia-tinged, self-titled debut had established their trademark sound – jangly guitar
by Ed Biggs The success story of Tigermilk, the beautiful and understated album by Belle & Sebastian that turned out to be first record of a two-decade long career that the band themselves didn’t expect to last more than a few months, was and still is one of most heartwarming throwbacks in recent pop history. Formed by lead singer and songwriter Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David in Glasgow in 1996 for
by Ed Biggs Any discussion of Smashing Pumpkins’ career tends to get dominated by their twin masterpieces, Siamese Dream (1993) and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995). Which is fair enough, as these are unquestionably two of the greatest alternative rock records of the nineties, testament to Billy Corgan’s unique vision for heavy rock, but crucial in explaining those albums’ successes is the group’s debut Gish.
by Ed Biggs Hot Chip’s signature song, the maddeningly catchy chart smash ‘Over And Over’, very quickly became their passport to mainstream attention and remains one of the most distinctive songs of the noughties. However, less attention is paid to its parent album The Warning, which truly displayed the London quintet’s talents after something of a false start.
