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Spotlighting the impact of cultural landmarks
40 years after it stormed to the UK number one, Wrongtom charts the history of ‘I Feel For You’, from an overlooked Prince album track to Chaka Khan’s smash hit, via Stevie Wonder, Patrice Rushen, glitching tape machines, the death of Sugar Hill Records and more
On the fortieth anniversary of Welcome To The Pleasuredome, Toby Manning explores how Frankie Goes To Hollywood's debut was the album that owned 1984, thanks to its ability to inhabit the liminal space between the queer margins and the straight mainstream
50 years ago, John Cale found himself at Heartbreak Hotel, producing sweet and unhinged music from its rooms. Reassessing Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy, Darran Anderson explores the musician’s remarkable year-long burst of creativity for Island Records, half a century on
On the 50th anniversary of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Mat Colegate pushes back against the common consensus that its director Tobe Hooper spent the rest of his career merely failing to escape its shadow, and argues that he deserves just as much acclaim for the misunderstood filmography that was to follow
At odds with the world, with reality, with Britpop and with each other, Suede were in a terrible place as they wrote and recorded Dog Man Star. But, writes Matthew Lindsay, it's the album that would end up as their masterpiece. This feature was originally published in 2014
Forty years on from its release – and with the band’s popularity in question more than ever – Wyndham Wallace returns to The Unforgettable Fire, U2’s incendiary denial of expectations and their first encounter with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. (This feature was originally published in 2014)
Recorded at King Crimson’s nadir, Red looked destined to be just another forgotten final album, its release playing second fiddle to Robert Fripp’s idiosyncratic “retirement”. 50 years later, its influence is immeasurable, the perfect distillation of what’s possible from a rock trio, says Jeremy Allen
On March 10, 1997, Angus Batey was due to interview Biggie Smalls, a conversation that never took place after the rapper was fatally shot a day earlier. Here, he takes an in-depth look at the "masterpiece" that was the debut album from the hip hop luminary. This feature was first published on 11 September 2014
Medúlla is arguably the point at which Björk turned from creating pop to a journey into the radically obscure, but in reality it is one of the most fully realised examples of an artist pushing the boundaries of what pop music can be and do, writes Matthew Barton
Wayne Gooderham explores the influence of Hubert Selby Jr's transgressive masterpiece on popular music; and on the gender sensibilities of The Smiths, Van Morrison and The Velvet Underground in particular. CW: Some may find the language quoted in this article that describes LGBTQI people & sex workers outmoded or offensive
Forty-five years after it was first released, Joseph Burnett returns to Young's fifth solo record, an album that marked an angered transition from Harvest, bolstered by some of his bleakest and greatest moments. This feature was first published on 9 August 2014
The diaristic title of the Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico's live record demands it be put into some kind of historical context. Michael Bellis looks at a highly unusual album released in a time of great cultural and social change
The Rotherham-based musician and artist looks back 40 years and considers the noise of industry, the noise of industrial action, the noise of excessive police violence and electronic music as political resistance. Digital and 35mm photographs of the site of the former Orgreave Coking Works taken by Max Roberts. In memory of drummer and producer Keith LeBlanc
It’s four decades since Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their debut album From Her To Eternity, a record that found Cave attempting a new musical and lyrical language that could free him from his past and help him create – and curate – his future, says Wesley Doyle
With its roots in both the avant garde and novelty music, cut & paste came of age in 1987 with the likes of Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu, Coldcut, Steinski, Bomb The Bass and M/A/R/R/S. Angus Batey traces the history of this magpie movement
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