Black Sky Thinking

Why President Wyclef Jean Is The Last Thing Haiti Needs

Wyclef Jean's bid to be President of Haiti looks to have fallen at the first hurdle. This is no bad thing for the people of the Island, argues Lewis G Parker

Bauer Failure: Why Stuart Williams Is Wrong To Blame Music For Mag Decline

Publishing exec Stuart Williams reckons that a dearth of good music is to blame for the decline in magazine sales. Luke Turner counters by arguing its the like of Williams himself who are responsible.

Sam Herlihy Of The Northwestern: The Age Of Austerity

"I know they look like Skeletor's fingers but give 'em some time and they taste like real chicken, not like breast implants and doom". Sam Herlihy brings you a guide to bargain shopping. Photograph by Barney Britton www.photoinsensitive.com

Why George Formby Was The First Modern Pop Star, By John Robb

Forget Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard - it's our homegrown legend, the banjolele-wielding George Formby, who was the world's first King Of Pop

John Moore Is Cheered By Port Eliot & Luke Haines Being Nice

After a spell in the doldrums, our man Moore heads to the West Country for the fruity extravaganza of the Port Eliot Literary Festival, where he plays some songs and Mr Haines does a reading

The Inevitable Rise And Fall Of The UK Film Council

Last week's decision by the Coalition Government to close the UK Film Council offended many. But, argues Austin Collings, it was an organisation that represented the worst side of London-centric English culture under New Labour

Never Mind The Mercury Prize, It’s The Quietus Jovian Bow Shock Award 2010

Yah boo! Mercury rubbish etc blah splurge until the internet pops. It matters not one jot in the mighty cogs of the Universe, but here's tQ's Alternative Mercury Prize 2010

When Athletes Attack: Musical Sporting Idols

Sport and music: whose bright idea was that? With the World Cup nearly over, Wyndham Wallace looks back at some of the more unusual attempts to bring the two together…

Eazy Eavis – Glastonbury Finally Embraces The Urban

Melissa Bradshaw didn't think Glastonbury was for her... until the sun-blissed 2010, when Snoop, Joy Orbison and Hyperdub ruled the parched fields. Images thanks to Georgina Cook.

Black Breath And The Loss Of Inculcation

Jamie Thomson takes a long hard look under his sleng teng while listening to Black Breath's excellent Heavy Breathing album and finds we've lost something essential in the hyper-accelerated way we consume music...

John Moore Remembers His Friends Mr Horsley & Mr Wojas

Why Glo-Fi’s Future Is Not Ephemeral

Yesterday we had the cold, now it's time for Ross Pounds to look at chillwave, and argue that this is a genre that's here to stay

Why Factory Floor Are My Favourite Band, By John Doran

Even though most of their brilliance is still contained in potential, Factory Floor are one of the few bands to inspire John Doran to violent bloody endeavour

Audio Foie Gras: The Summer Of Smooth

They don't come much smoother than Charles Ubaghs, which is exactly why we asked him to investigate why 2010 has seen the return of smooth...

Pop Will Eat Itself: Oasis As Mass-Catering Phenomenon

As Oasis release their _Time Flies..._ retrospective, Roy Wilkinson recalls various encounters which argue that this most patchy of British groups have much in common with cheap eat catering

Givin’ It To The Homegirl: The Trouble With Kelis

With Neil Kulkarni finding something rotten in the state of girl-pop, he turns up his nose at Kelis' curdled Milkshake and explains why Brit Envy has it right

Death Of The Rock Gods: The Stones, Pussy Galore & Exile On Main Street

With the anniversary of _Exile On Main Street_ garnering 523,456 column inches, Huw Nesbitt explains why Pussy Galore's bastardised version is the better listen

The Time I Went To Eurovision, By Steve Jelbert

As this weekend's Eurovision Song Contest approaches... chapeau! It's free-wheeling Steve Jelbert remembering a trip to the contest of European harmony, and musical dischord

No Flak Jacket Required: In Defence Of Phil Collins

In his first piece for the Quietus, Gary Mills hits the ground running with a one-man Dunkirk-style rescue mission for the sake of the reputation for drumming Tory homunculus Phil Collins

Primavera Sound 2010: Five Festival Moments Not To Be Missed

Kev Kharas is off to Primavera tomorrow, the bastard. Here's a Dragnet special on his top picks and why the Barcelona bash is an antidote to 'festival season'

Secret Diary Of A Rock & Roll Star, Aged 45 ½: Part Three. By John Moore

After slicing his hand open and whiling away the hours turning his hand into a newsagent's top shelf, our man Moore falls off the wagon...

Disco Discharge: Alan Jones On The Gayest Of Disco & Free Boogie Mix

After his brilliant piece on the first in the Disco Discharge series Alan Jones gives the Quietus another essay about coming out and the non-stop party that was the 70s

Why A Heart Attack Must Not Arrest The Cardiacs

With friends like Napalm Death, Israel and Eastender’s Phil Mitchell, who really cares what your enemies think of you. Graham Bendel explores the appeal of a band that many love to hate.

Sam Herlihy Of The Northwestern: Memories Of A Closet Fat Kid

In this month's column, Sam Herlihy explains why it's the rumblings of his gut that bring back the memories. Photograph by Barney Britton _www.photoinsensitive.com_

This Right-Free Bauer My Prison: Contract Strife Bodes Ill For All Journalists

Publishing group Bauer's new "draconian" contracts for music journalists is bad news not just for Mojo, Kerrang! and Q's freelancers but for all journalists, says Ben Hewitt

Twenty Thoughts About Love & Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part Two

Neil Kulkarni gets to grips with Erykah Badu's new long player. _Photo by Jay Electronica_

Why Music Criticism Is Important, By Zer0 Books’ Tariq Goddard

In a response to last week's piece on Nick Kent's new book, zer0 Books editor Tariq Goddard argues that music journalism is a vocation worth pursuing

Secret Diary Of A Rock & Roll Star, Aged 45 ½: Part Two. By John Moore

In his first diary for the Quietus, John Moore had a nasty accident with a pair of scissors and a shredder. Ever the artist, he didn't let this stop him making some fingerbob bongo. Pictures may appear work unsafe...

Reformed Libertines Drop A Bomb On The Boogaloo

"What was it about the £1.5million fee that made you reform The Libertines", Lewis G Parker asks Pete & Carl. But will his cynicism hold when he hears them performing? All pictures courtesy of Alice Wagstaffe

Secret Diary Of A Rock & Roll Star, Aged 45 ½: Part One. By John Moore

Former thirsty absinthe importer, Mary Chain drummer, Black Box Recorder guitarist and debonair man of letters Mr John Moore starts a new diary for the Quietus. In Part One, an altercation with a shredder leaves him rueing the fact that, all too often, the first cut is the deepest

Trash, You & Me: The Story Of Suede’s Coming Up, By David Barnett

As Suede prepare to take the Royal Albert Hall by storm, biographer David Barnett recalls their last gig there 15 years ago, and the troubled times that would result in the triumph of _Coming Up_

Why Closing BBC 6 Music Is A Disaster For Independence

Luke Turner says that today's announcement will be a disaster for independent record labels and, given the current reach of digital radio, bizarrely timed.