Black Sky Thinking
Essays, investigation and opinion on today’s cultural landscape
Black Sky Thinking
The Rammellzee: From Beat Bop To Cosmic Flush
As the UK's Gamma Proforma label releases The Rammellzee's final album and launches an exhibition of inspired artwork by his peers, Kevin Foakes - aka Strictly Kev - takes us on a rollercoaster ride through 30 years of the maverick's complex recording career
Black Sky Thinking
Social Media Snakepits & Solidarity Versus Corporate Shafting, UK 2015
In the first of this year's Wreath Lectures, Luke Turner looks back over 2015 and argues that the decline of small, unfashionable institutions and professions is opening the door for an increasingly boring, corporate future. What alternative, resisting communities are being formed?
Black Sky Thinking
The Deathly 90s, Corbyn & An Old Post Punk Hails A New Counterculture
Many of the post-punk generation like to sit on Facebook moaning about how the LOL-addled youth of today lack the political gumption of their forebears. David Stubbs, on the other hand, got stuck in making fanzines with a bunch of teenagers and found that a new generation are far from apathetic
Black Sky Thinking
Charlie Sheen Plays Patient Zero: On HIV & Mainstream Culture
Thought we were over the AIDS panic of the 80s? Think again. In the wake of Charlie Sheen's revelation that he is HIV positive, Mike Miksche argues that mainstream heterosexual culture has a lot of catching up to do, and prejudice to overcome
Black Sky Thinking
Overview Of A Vampire: A Closer Look At The Weeknd’s Lyrics
John Calvert is a "guilt-ridden ultra-fan" of "misogynist" Canadian R&B star The Weeknd and here, instead of brushing the themes of his music under the carpet or attempting to explain them away as 'theatre', he takes a forensic look at his lyrical content
Black Sky Thinking
The Great Divide: On Laibach In North Korea
As Laibach return from their controversial visit to Pyongyang, North Korea, Alexei Monroe looks at the frequently unhinged Western media reaction to the trip, and asks where it sits with their long-standing ambigious exploration of totalitarianism. Photo by Jorund F Pedersen
Black Sky Thinking
I’m One Of 1000 UK Artists Boycotting Israel. Here’s Why
As Thurston Moore, Miss Lauryn Hill and Primus become the latest to cancel shows in Tel Aviv, British-Palestinian musician Samir Eskanda makes the case for the boycott, with contributions from Moore and Jean-Hervé Peron of Faust. Photos by Valerio Berdini
Black Sky Thinking
Derelicte: Ricki Hall, Fashion, Homelessness & The Language Of Privilege
In a Sunday Times Magazine interview this weekend model Ricki Hall told a journalist that he takes his fashion cues from children and the homeless. Karl Smith considers why it might actually not be okay to transfer the aesthetics of necessity and marginalisation to a position of extreme privilege
Black Sky Thinking
The Utopia Of Records: Why Sound Archiving Is Important
Sound is not permanent, and much of the recorded recent history of humanity is currently disintegrating. Robert Barry reports from the British Library Sound Archive and Internet Archive to find out what's being done to preserve these audio records, and explains what you can do to help
Black Sky Thinking
A Fine Blend: The Quietus Writers’ Favourite DJ Mix Albums
Following yesterday's celebration of Coldcut's illustrious mix album 70 Minutes Of Madness, tQ writers have contributed a selection of their favourite DJ mixes, taking in sets from Surgeon, Carl Craig, Shackleton, Grouper, Perc and many more
Black Sky Thinking
Punch In The Corinthians: Why Simon Pegg Is Wrong About Geek Culture
Simon Pegg says that he wants to become a 'serious' actor and leave sci-fi behind. Mat Colegate takes him to task for parroting the tired old argument that geeks are infantile creature who refuse to leave their childhoods behind
Black Sky Thinking
Sing For Silenced Voices: Eurovision 2015 & The Armenian Genocide
On the centenary of the genocide that scattered them across the globe, members of the Armenian diaspora have united for the country's Eurovision Song Contest entry. With perpetrators Turkey refusing to accept responsibility (with the support of the UK and US), Alex Robert Ross argues that this political moment is timely
Black Sky Thinking
Is Labour The Albatross Around The Neck Of Progressive Politics?
With the Labour party reeling from last week's General Election defeat, Joe Kennedy asks if the party rested on its post war laurels just as it kowtowed to neoliberalism, that force he argues is responsible for the 'shittification' of everything
Black Sky Thinking
General Election 2015 & Why Parliament Deserves To Be Hung
If - or, more likely, when - today's vote reveals that no party has a majority, it won't be a reflection of voters being apathetic, rather the blasé attitude of those they're voting for. This, John Tatlock argues, doesn't necessarily have to be seen as a negative
Black Sky Thinking
EXCLUSIVE! Morrissey & Farage: The Flirty Faxes Found!
In the wake of Morrissey's declaration that he had toyed with voting UKIP, tQ's David Stubbs chanced upon a discarded stash of recent correspondence between the one-time Smiths singer and Nigel Farage outside the party's HQ. The exchange covered Morrissey lending his support to the party, British currency, Coronation Street, the Royals and farm animals
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