Watching the spire of Notre Dame fall live on television was something I doubt I’ll ever forget. One of the most famous buildings in the world gutted, almost irreparably. Thankfully, the cathedral will be rebuilt. It must be. As one of the most important pieces of architecture in the world, it is vital that it…
Music
Blood Like Honey – Hurricane Headaches
There was an era in the late noughties when British rock bands knew how to make a chorus. Not just a repeated verse with identical lyrics, but a chorus. Hooks and all. It doesn’t take long before Blood Like Honey remind everyone what that’s like on their new EP, Hurricane Headaches. Opener 67 wastes no…
Music
Mental health and music
CW: Mental health, suicide The music industry is well known for its highs and lows. Despite this, so many people seem to flock to the business. I became acutely aware of the toll that music can take on mental health last summer, sat behind the bins of a pub in Leeds, having a full-on panic…
Fashion
Supreme and the marketing of radicalisation
Introducing the latest in late-stage capitalism: a brick. With a logo. A logo which is ripped off from left-wing pop artists. A logo which is not even that visually interesting. I hope I am not regarded as hyperbolic when I say that Supreme is the most openly festering symptom of the dying days of capitalism…
Music
Sex sells: the modern music video
Music videos are, at heart, a marketing exercise. Labels don’t throw thousands of pounds at a band to make art, they do it to promote the music and try to sell it. There are four historical ways to market any product: humour, showcasing, controversy and sex. This Is America is a great example of a…
Music
Sssnakebite: Shikari at the LCR
I remember the first time I saw Enter Shikari like it was yesterday. It was the first time I ever felt like I could actually be injured at a gig and I loved it, coming out dripping with sweat, bruised by a thousand person strong mosh pit and having only fallen on my face three…