Spotlighting the impact of cultural landmarks
40 years on from its release, Wayne Gooderham revisits the second album Richard Thompson recorded in the wake of his split from wife Linda, and finds a subtle, off-kilter – and unfairly overlooked – mid-career masterpiece (and an utterly essential live sister album)
Four decades since its release, Toby Manning revisits how Prince's oft-overlooked seventh album dared to draw on 60s psychedelia at the height of 80s hippyphobia – producing the most countercultural sounding work of his career
Lesley Chow dissects the (semi-) serious intent behind Stephen Malkmus' nonsensical rhymes on Pavement's 3rd album which was positioned as the "logical end-point of rock". This feature was originally published in 2020 to mark the album's 25th anniversary
Cian Traynor celebrates the 30th birthday of a unique and brilliant album and re-appraises a hip hop anomaly by speaking to some of those who knew its creator, Ol' Dirty Bastard, the best. This feature was originally published on 30 March 2015
Though The Bends has since been overshadowed by what followed, its release 30 years ago found Radiohead on the cusp of stardom. Wyndham Wallace joins them on a journey from their early days to their inevitable worldwide breakthrough. This article was first published on 3 March 2015
David Bennun interviewed Tricky several times for Melody Maker in the 1990s and reviewed Maxinquaye on its release. He assesses how his relationship to this landmark album has changed over the intervening decades. This article was first published on 20 February 2015
Ridiculed and written off, Slowdive produced a meditative post rock masterpiece before quietly splitting up. Joe Banks reflects on why no one was listening at the time, and why we all need to listen now. This article was originally published in 2020
A quarter of a century ago, a constellation of stellar artists performed a kind of musical alchemy in a fabled New York studio. Voodoo has lost none of its allure and retains all of its impact 25 years on. How did they do this, a still dumbfounded Angus Batey asks
As The Transfiguration Of Blind Joe Death turns 60, Will Snelling explores how the record's combination of bare-bones intimacy and haunting atmosphere, post modern edge and inherent tension loom large over myriad artists today
On 3 December 1984, Wham! released a Christmas single that over the years would lose none of its power despite becoming a sonic monolith of the festive season. Ian Wade reflects on how the song has haunted his life, and the strange melancholy of a Christmas pop death.
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