The Style Council’s Café Bleu and David Sylvian’s Brilliant Trees at 40
With Café Bleu and Brilliant Trees, Paul Weller and David Sylvian looked forward to jazz as a renewed source of inspiration; but was their pop music still pop?
sophisti-pop
Memories of Basia’s ‘The Sweetest Illusion’ 29 Years Later
Basia’s The Sweetest Illusion speaks to my family’s migration from Poland to France, the US, and the UK. Like Basia, I’ve picked up various cultural ephemera along the way.
Philosophy and Pop Harmonize on Scritti Politti’s ‘Songs to Remember’
In Scritti Politti’s Songs to Remember, Green Gartside comically challenges hegemonic structures in a perfect harmony of philosophy and pop.
‘The Best of Roxy Music’ Gets a Vinyl Re-Issue
As this vinyl reissue of Roxy Music’s 2001 compilation makes clear, the only thing cooler than Roxy Mark II was Roxy Mark I.
Roxy Music Invented the 1980s with Their Swan Song ‘Avalon’
Forty years ago, Roxy Music stepped away from the recording studio, but not before leaving behind an album that defined the 1980s. It’s the ultimate marriage of high concept, high art, and high-quality popular music.
Level 42 Deliver a Masterclass of Aspirational 1980s Pop
Level 42 started off wanting to be Return to Forever and ended up next to Culture Club and Spandau Ballet in the top 40. How did that happen?
“Coast” Is the Dark Shed’s Hip-Swaying Art-Pop Summer Jam (premiere)
The latest collaboration between Winston Cook-Wilson and Ryan Weiner, “Coast” mixes pandemic-era dread with funky, irresistible beats.
Pre-Brexit Optimism in Basia’s London Warsaw New York
Sophisti-pop singer Basia's 1990 album, London Warsaw New York, speaks to a friendly pop-globalism and the spirit of internationalism that would lead to the forming of the European Union in 1993.
‘Long Hot Summers’ Is a Lavish, Long-Overdue Boxed Set from the Style Council
Paul Weller's misunderstood, underappreciated '80s soul-pop outfit the Style Council are the subject of a multi-disc collection that's perfect for the uninitiated and a great nostalgia trip for those who heard it all the first time.
Jessie Ware – “Spotlight” (Singles Going Steady)
With "Spotlight", Jessie Ware delivers a smooth pop masterpiece of driving rhythms, understated vocals, and lyrics of longing and lust.
Deacon Blue Continue Their Resurgence on Anthemic ‘City of Love’
Much loved Scottish band Deacon Blue deliver a confident set of arena-friendly songs of hope on their ninth studio album, City of Love. Just don't call them a legacy act.
Prefab Sprout’s Audacious Pop of 1984-92 Is Illuminated on Four Vinyl Re-issues
On remastered and reconfigured versions of Prefab Sprout LPs Swoon, From Langley Park to Memphis, Jordan: The Comeback, and A Life of Surprises, songs involving a chess grandmaster, Springsteen, Elvis, Jesse James, God and Lucifer get a deserved new lease of life.