Category Archives: Music

So this is Christmas… (and time to open up your first advent calendar surprise: 2012’s best pop video)

Posted on December 1, 2012 by PopLifer

“So this is Christmas And what have you done? Another year over, And a new one just begun.” Happy Xmas (War Is Over), John and Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band Let’s leave aside the addled chronology in this lyric, Lennon’s … Continue reading →

Posted in "Art", 2012 Advent Calender, Music | 13 Comments

Take a girl like that – 25 years of “Savage”, Eurythmics’ avant garde masterpiece

Posted on November 25, 2012 by PopLifer

The third in a series where Pop Lifer tests music, film, television etc by the rules laid down in Lupe Fiasco’s “Superstar”: “Did you improve on the design?/ Did you do something new?”. If the answer to either of those … Continue reading →

Posted in "Art", Lupe Fiasco Award for Services to Pop Culture., Miscellany, Music | 6 Comments

Such bloody awful poetry – the words of The Smiths

Posted on October 31, 2012 by PopLifer

Number 4 in our series of blogs on the best ideas The Smiths had, the ones that changed pop and people’s lives forever. In the first blog, we argued that the band’s best idea of all was breaking up and … Continue reading →

Posted in "Art", Gay shit, Music, The Smiths | 3 Comments

Turn Off Your Mind and Float Upstream – 50 years on from “Love Me Do” can we listen to The Beatles objectively?

Posted on October 5, 2012 by PopLifer

50 years ago today, The Beatles released their first single, “Love Me Do”. Pop Lifer couldn’t let this anniversary pass without comment. A  longer version of this article is available at the Huffington Post.  50 years to the day after … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, The Beatles, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The songs that made you cry: The Smiths and the art of the b-side

Posted on October 2, 2012 by PopLifer

This is the second in our series of blogs on the best ideas The Smiths had, the ones that changed pop and people’s lives forever. In the first blog, we argued that the band’s best idea of all was breaking … Continue reading →

Posted in "Art", Gay shit, Music, Straight shit, The Smiths | 2 Comments

On the 25th anniversary of “Strangeways, Here We Come”, why The Smiths’ light has never gone out

Posted on September 27, 2012 by PopLifer

This is the first in a series of blogs we will be running over the next couple of weeks exploring the extraordinary legacy of The Smiths, 25 years to the day after their swanswong, “Strangeways, Here We Come”, was released. … Continue reading →

Posted in "Art", Gay shit, Music, Politics, Straight shit, The Smiths | 4 Comments