Rock Sick List: Bradford Cox

Deerhunter's Bradford Cox got hit by a car and is in both a bad way, and hospital:

Cox said he was hit by a car and was “still waiting for X-ray results or any real diagnoses” and that he “can’t move much” and is in “incredible pain.”

According to wonderingsound.com, Cox has been hospitalized at the Marcus Trauma Center in Grady Memorial Hospital.

Richie Hawtin kind-of embarrassed about pushing a monitor into a fan

It was an "unexpected turn" when Richie Hawtin pushed a heavy thing into a fan's face:

"Regarding the incident at Time Warp in New York this weekend which is being posted and talked about on the web, I would like to apologise here to the girl involved
[...]
It was not my intention that the speaker fell. Only to nudge the monitors in her direction and for her to understand that perhaps she had filmed enough. I was as surprised as I'm sure she was when it moved the way it did and the top speaker fell off of the stack. For that, I'm extremely sorry and embarrassed about what happened. This was never my intention. Sometimes being in the middle of the spotlight, continual cameras and glaring iPhone lights, things can get stressful and frustrating. I”m sorry that this frustration took an unexpected turn and took away from anyone's experience of Time Warp. I have tried to reach the girl to apologise personally but have not yet been able to track her down and will continue to try to contact her.”

It must be so frustrating to go onto a stage and discover that you've got a spotlight shining on you. Who wouldn't be surprised and confused under those circumstances?

Obit: Nick Talbot

It's hard to know how to describe Nick Talbot, whose death was confirmed yesterday. He was a musician, and a producer, ran a label, and wrote well about music, most notably for The Quietus.

As Gravenhurst, he provided an until then unnoticed missing link between Kevin Shields and James Taylor, eventually expanding his stage name into a full live band over a fifteen year period.


Warp Records, who released much of Talbot's work, issued a statement:

We are shocked and saddened to share the news that Nick Talbot aka Gravenhurst has passed away aged 37. An immensely talented singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and journalist, he will be hugely missed. Nick's family and friends request privacy at this difficult time.

Manager Michelle Hilborne added:

I am utterly devastated to confirm that Nick Talbot, also known under the performing name Gravenhurst, has passed away aged 37. The finest, most extraordinary and inspirational songwriter, singer and performer, and a remarkable producer and journalist, Nick's work has deeply affected so many people all over the world. Outstandingly intelligent, compassionate, fascinating and witty, Nick was the dearest friend and his absence brings indescribable sorrow.

Indiegogo find upsell for crowdfunded projects

Ah, crowdfunding. It's great, but where's the profit for the clearing houses?

Perhaps in selling insurance.

Yes, IndieGoGo is experimenting with allowing crowdfunders the chance to purchase a PPI/Extended Warranty style product that will allow cash to be claimed back if a funded project fails to deliver.

Apart from the upselling aspect, there is surely a worry that if people working on projects are able to think 'well, the people who believed in me will get their money back if I don't deliver' that's going to lead to more, not fewer, abandoned projects and undermine the whole point of crowdfunding in the first place?

Jeremih Fuddruckers fracas

Billings Police are trying to bring Jeremih to justice, after his entourage were involved in a scrap at a Fuddruckers.

Fuddruckers. What is wrong with celebrities today? What happened to keeping your fights to a Waffle House car park?

Restaurant staff reported that members of the group ordered food and then hassled a young female employee. When the manager addressed the group and asked them calm down and move, members accused him of being racist and one of the men grabbed a microphone used to order food and spoke into it, Billings Police Dept. Chief Rich St. John said in early November.

Jeremih has said that the "incident" should never have happened and suggested that it was because of racism. You'd think he'd want his day in court.

Oh, and the concert he was in town to do? Managed three songs before disappearing, leaving the promoter struggling to repay the audience.

Rolling Stone has chosen their best album

Oh, Rolling Stone, could you be any more of a Dad? With all of 2014's albums to choose from, you've chosen the one we didn't get to choose:

There was no bigger album of 2014 – in terms of surprise, generosity and controversy. Songs of Innocence is also the rebirth of the year. Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. put their lives on the line: giving away 11 songs of guitar rapture and frank, emotional tales of how they became a band out of the rough streets and spiritual ferment of Seventies Dublin.

Or 'fading brand attempt a desperate reboot by creating a Year Zero mythos; realising nobody would buy it, they force it into people's hands'. Who would fall for that schtick, bar another fading brand?

See the collection of everyone's best-of lists

Robbie Williams launches Christmas market surprise

Oh, what larks. The rump of tax-swerving middle-managers Take That are releasing an album today, called III (after the maximum rate of corporation tax they're prepared to countenance.)

But what is this coming from out of nowhere? It's a new Robbie Williams album:

Robbie Williams has announced a surprise new album. Under The Radar Volume 1, a collection of discards and demos that “cried out for a home”, is being released today, the same day as Take That’s III.

“[These are] loads and loads of songs that I’ve written that I’m incredibly passionate about,” Williams said in a handheld video to his fans. “I want you to hear them, otherwise they’re just going to remain in my computer!”

Robbie, it's the 21st Century. If your private files are remaining sat on your computer, that's probably a sign that nobody is interested in them.

It's like a battle for the number one slot. Except...

Although the digital edition won’t be available until 8 December, the CD version is on sale now. Williams is selling them exclusively through his website for £7.50 a pop, or £25 with an autograph.

... given the market for these records is clearly people whose search for a gift for older parents has dragged them into the back where Tesco racks the CDs, it's not really much of a battle. (It's also unclear if Williams' virtual selling of his CDs out the back of a van will be counted for chart returns, too.)

Madonna leaks; manager wants you to do his job for him

At first, it was just a bit of Madonna's forthcoming single, Rebel Heart, that had been pushed online.

That didn't make her happy.

But if Madonna was annoyed at her snatch leaking online, worse was to come. The whole thing is now out there.

People want to know what happened:

Guy Oseary took to Twitter to ask fans to assist in finding whoever was responsible for the leak.

He wrote: "I would be grateful to any @madonna fans that can assist us in finding those responsible for the leak. We appreciate your help."

Oseary is Madonna's manager. Not be confused with an ossuary, of course. One's job is to keep safe the skeletal remains of a human being; the other is an ossuary.

So, yes, Oseary has decided to ask Twitter if they knew "who was responsible". It's unclear if he followed up this with "nobody is in trouble, we just want to know" and "we're not angry, just disappointed".

It's surprising that Madonna's management team are so rickety they have to, effectively, ask the entire world who outsmarted them.

This week just gone

The ten most-read things this November:

1. Jo O'Meara explains why she'd be racist all over again
2. Scott Stapp got married
3. Video: Le Prince Miiaou
4. The still-controversial sacking of Simon Bates
5. Ride return
6. RIP: Johnny Elichaoff
7. Lily Allen turned down Band Aid, says Lily Allen
8. Cerys finally storms palace; accepts MBE instead of instigating plan to make 'em all get jobs
9. Nearly forgotten person off The Voice nearly part of a scandal
10. Adele dissed for not taking part in Band Aid


These releases were worth punching someone in the face to buy on Black Friday:


David Sylvian - There's A Light That Enters Houses With No Other House In Sight



McCarthy - Complete Albums & Sessions



Various - Saint Etienne Presents Songs For A London Winter

Download Songs For A London Winter



Deus - Selected Songs

Download Selected Songs

At last, a black Friday deal worth mentioning

The great Speedy Ortiz have made their first two records, Cop Kicker and The Death Of Speedy Ortiz free for the weekend. They're asking for donations, though, and all the money raised will go to Ferguson Municipal Public Library.

New Malawian authorities restore traditional fawning over Madonna. And it's mutual.

There's been some upheavals recently in Malawi - the former president, Joyce Banda, has vanished from the country, chased by claims of financial misconduct, and returning fire with claims that the new President, Peter Mutharika and his party have constructed a case against her by coercion.

All very murky.

But someone's doing alright out of it: Madonna, who had fallen out with Banda, is back in favour:

The Malawi government has announced the restoration of the status of ‘Very Very Important Person (VVIP)’ at the airport to US pop star Madonna.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Quentie Kalichero said the current administration cannot take over the disagreements which had existed between former President Joyce Banda and Madonna.

Mutharika is very much Malawi's Obama. In the sense that there's a huge row over his eligibility to be president based on questions about whether he's really an American citizen or not. That's as far as the similarity goes.

And he tried to seize power through a coup.

And there was that time he failed to support academics when they were being hassled by police and bungled it so much that he had to be moved from the Education ministry.

And his brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, when he was president, spent $13.26 million buying a private jet which used so much of the nation's currency reserves it led to a fuel shortage for ordinary Malawians. And Bingu gifted Peter the leadership of the party - which happened despite, rather than because of, the rules for electing a leader. Those who objected to this were kicked out the party.

And what does Madonna do when getting to hang out with a guy like that?

She salutes him.

But then, he did give her back keys to the airport's luxury lounge, right?

Lewis Hamilton reckons he could have a go at music next

Lewis Hamilton, who is known for driving cars very fast, is planning to build on his fame as a fast car driver by making music. His plans are well advanced:

Hamilton says he is influenced by artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Kodaline and Jay Z, as well as by his girlfriend, pop star Nicole Scherzinger.

Oddly, Hamilton doesn't mention the influence of the Arctic Monkeys or Gary Barlow, but they share a penchant for trying to squirrel money away so they don't have to pay their share of tax.

Lady GaGa: Very much 'dog bites man'

Oh, Pulse Nigera, that's not really a news item, is it?

Although some respect for their plaintive cry:

Will Lady Gaga ever dress up normal?

If you must go out dressed like a firework, Gaga, at least wear sensible shoes.

Incidentally, most people seem convinced this was 'being dressed as a firework':

... but clearly she's just bought fall-apart statue The B Of The Bang from Manchester:

What the pop papers say: Rounding up the best albums

A quick word of praise for NME's current issue, the 50 Best Albums of the Year - one of the few list-based issues that makes sense. And it's been done in a lovely way - each album given a full page, and a lovingly written piece about it.

It's also striking that, when asked to talk about the current music it loves, the NME is a very different beast from the magazine you'd expect looking at the parade of the dead and the sainted that mark the front pages.

In fact, the only record on the list which feels driven by market forces rather than genuine passion is Morrissey's World Peace Is None Of Your Business. Three writers have a crack at explaining what it's doing on the list, and even then the sense that this is a continuation of the High Court Apology to Mr Morrissey never quite goes away. "It's a return to form" - well, yes, but it's a return to disappointing mid-solo career form, which is hardly a leap forward. "It's the best thing he's done since You Are The Quarry" - well, yes, but that's like saying "no more painful than sciatica."

St Vincent comes out top, and her prize appears to be a cover feature for next week. That's quite a coup, as shockingly, she'll be the first woman to appear on the cover since the start of November. November 2013. When it was MIA. (There was a montage which had Wolf Alice, if you want to be pedantic.) That's a pretty poor show.

2014 Forever: Other people's lists

This list is a work in progress, and will be added to over the next few weeks.
Last updated: 13-12-14

Billboard's best albums of 2014:
5. Ed Sheeran - X
4. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
3. Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour
2. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
1. Taylor Swift - 1989

Capital Xtra best house music tracks of 2014:
Wanklemut - Head Is A Jungle (MK Remix)
Duke Dumont - I Got You
Shiba San - Okay
Patrick Topping - Forget
Oliver$ & Jimi Jules - Pushing On
Zhu - Faded
Daniel Steinburg - Let Me Down (Tube & Berger Remix)
Keisza - Hideaway
Klingande - Judel
Second City - I Wanna Feel
Route 94 - My Love
Oliver Heldens X Becky Hill - Gecko (Overdrive)
Watermat - Bullit
MK - Awlays
Disclosure - Latch
Doorly & Shadow Child - Piano Weapon
Jonas Rathman - I Hope I'm Wrong
Ten Walls - Walking With Elephants


The 405's best free albums & mixtapes of the year:
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
Mick Jenkins - The Water[s]
Raury - Indigo Child
King avriel - thesis
Childish Gambino - S T N M T N
Shlohmo and Jeremih - No More
Jaden Smith - Cool Tape Vol. 2
Sango - Da Rochina 2
Mac Miller - Faces
Travi$ Scott - Days Before Rodeo

GQ pop star of the year:
Weird Al Yankovic

Loudwire's best rock video of 2014:
Monster Magnet - The Duke


NME top albums of 2014:
5. Caribou - Our Love
4. Aphex Twin - Syro
3. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream
2. Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
1. St Vincent - St Vincent

NME top tracks of 2014:
5. Run The Jewels - Blockbuster Night Part 1
4. The War On Drugs - Red Eyes
3. Fat White Family - Touch The Leather
2. Caribou - Can't Do Without You
1. Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You)


Paste's best albums:
5. Alvvays - Alvvays
4. King Tuff - Black Moon Spell
3. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2
2. St Vincent - St Vincent
1. The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

Rolling Stone's best albums of 2014:
5. Miranda Lambert - Platinum
4. St Vincent - St Vincent
3. The Black Keys - Turn Blue
2. Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes
1. U2 - Songs Of Innocence


Slate's best jazz albums of 2014:
5. Fred Hersch - Floating
4. Ambrose Akinmusire - The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
3. Kenny Barron & Dave Holland - The Art of Conversation
2. Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden - Last Dance
1. Sonny Rollins - Road Shows, Vol. 3

Included in XFM's 50 best albums of 2014 (which has no particular order):
Blood Red Shoes - Blood Red Shoes
Manic Street Preachers - Futurology
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Pixies - Indie Cindy
Royal Blood - Royal Blood

2014 Forever: The uberlist

The year is almost gone and, unlike every band ever, once it's split, it's not coming back.

This post does little more than collects the pages that form the annual review.

Other people's lists - a collection of favourite albums & tracks from the year

Month-by-month reviews:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November


Valete

Interesting releases

Reading/Leeds headliners announced

The first names for Reading/Leeds have been announced, and the NME has got a photo on their page:

Blimey. Status Quo? That's a surprise.

Hang about, if I squint a bit... oh, it's not Status Quo at all. Or not quite, anyway:

Metallica, Jamie T and Run The Jewels are among the first names confirmed to perform at next year's Reading & Leeds Festivals.

I don't know how I could have confused a one-trick pony who have spent the last decade or so complaining about the music industry while churning out the same song over and over again with Status Quo.

A letter to The Guardian, illustrated

Catatonia, 1999:

Storm the palace

You can stick you obe
I'll sort out your bad Feng Shui
'Cos tourism is congestion
Tourism is congestion

Cerys Matthews, 2014:

"Sorry, did I say stick you OBE? I meant stick your MBE on my lapel. And I literally meant I'd sort out your bad feng shui - I've moved your animal statues into the money corners of the palace. Which is all of them. And now we can talk about a ticketing system to ease the congestion of tourism..."

Inspired by this letter from yesterday's Guardian:

Lovely photo of Cerys Matthews receiving her award at Buckingham Palace (Medal citizen, 22 November.) Would this be the same palace which we were urged to storm in the song on Catatonia’s album Equally Cursed and Blessed, the lyrics of which included the line “You can stick your OBE”?
Jim Naylon
Stonesfield, Oxfordshire

Joey Fatone is keeping himself busy

Hey, don't think because N'Sync stopped being a going concern over a decade ago that time weighs heavily on Joey Fatone's hands.

Joey's got stuff to do:

Joey Fatone Visits Brookings For Worlds Largest Pillow Fight

What this story really says is not 'Joey Fatone went to a pillow fight' but 'America desperately lacks a pantomime tradition which would mop up the formerly famous and give them something to do every few months'.

Lily Allen turned down Band Aid, says Lily Allen

John Peel used to say that he'd accepted the offer of an OBE because he didn't want to be the sort of person who spends their time talking about how they were offered an OBE, but turned it down.

Which is something to think about as we cross over to Lily Allen, talking about how she turned down the chance to be on Band Aid 30:

“It’s difficult to give an explanation why I didn’t do it without sounding like a complete cunt,” she told the Mail on Sunday.

“I prefer to do my charitable bit by donating actual money and not being lumped in with a bunch of people like that.

“It’s like the ‘success club’ and I’m not really in that club. I don’t think I’m above it all – I’m way below it. But there’s something a bit smug about it.

That's true enough. But considering the turn she did alongside Kate Moss and Dave Gilmour at Hoping's Got Talent or her appearance on War Child compilations, or popping up duetting with Robbie Williams at another charity event, or the work she did for Tarka & Friends, or the video with Chris Martin for dementia care, or the Royal Albert Hall Coram gig, you might wonder why this specific success club for charity is such a bad thing. Or why, on those half-dozen other occasions Lily didn't apply the 'I do my charity by giving money' rule.

Still, it's possible that the sudden hand-waving about Band Aid is less about charity, and more about distracting attention from the closure of her vanity label ITNO. With only two acts signed, and Allen apparently drawing down a £100k salary for her work for it, you can see why she might feel better placed to give to charity directly.

No longer en vogue

Lifetime, the US network which makes the Hallmark Channel look like a Cage Fighting marathon, is airing a Christmas special:

Lifetime has "En Vogue Christmas" on its schedule this weekend ... it's a fictional movie about a family that convinces the group to reunite to save a local concert house.

I'm not sure that getting En Vogue back together is the strategy I'd have gone with - I can see that a Destiny's Child reunion might do the trick, but what cold-hearted developer is going to be impressed with En Vogue?

In real life, the builder would be going "ooh, En Vogue? Tell you what, if you can get the Honeyz back together I might leave car park untouched."

I could just be being cynical, of course. Maybe right now, getting a couple of tunes out of Sisters With Voices can be more effective in protecting an old building than a Grade II listing.

But the plot isn't what's interesting about the story. It turns out, Dawn Robinson - who quit En Vogue in 1997 - is upset that she's not been invited back to the fictional reunion, and is demanding payment. TMZ reports:

Former En Vogue singer Dawn Robinson will sue Lifetime if it dares to air a movie about the group that doesn't include her character.

"Her character" is, of course, not a character at all. It's her.

What makes it even more odd is that the film that Robinson is angry at being left out of is, in her opinion, likely to be shit:

Robinson says, at the very least, she will boycott Lifetime, telling us ... "I have no interest in watching it. It looks horrible. I'm sad for them. ... After seeing the Aaliyah biopic, I'm extremely worried that this is going to be a trainwreck."

So, yes, by her own analogy Dawn is like someone trying to sue a rail operator for not letting her board a train that subsequently crashed, killing everyone on board.

I really hope Lifetime counter-sue, demanding payment for having kept her out of it.

I really, really hope Lifetime have added in the following dialogue:

- Have all the band agreed to take part
- Well, Mommy, I still gotta call Dawn Robinson
- Oh, don't call her, poppet; she's so awful there's every chance they'd raze the whole neighbourhood, never mind the concert hall, if she was involved

How local news works, part 376

There's a contestant on The Voice from Fort Worth. Your local beat is Wilkes County, a seventeen hour drive away?

NO problem:

A singer with ties to Wilkes County has made it into the Top 10 finalists on NBC’s reality competition series “The Voice,” according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Luke Wade is from Fort Worth, Texas, but spent summers during his childhood in Moravian Falls visiting family there, according to his cousin, Kelly Pipes.

Person says man off television spent an unspecified amount of time over an undocumented period of years visiting?

Local boy. Front pages held.

Kelis swaps Milkshake for egg nog

It's in no way odd that Kelis' new project is a Christmas food cookery show.

No, really it isn't; she's a proper, certified chef:

“My mom had a catering business growing up, so I fell in love with cooking early on,” Rogers, a Le Cordon Bleu-certified chef and saucier, tells the Daily News.

“We’d make everything from couscous to Swedish meatballs.”

- I understand that Kelis is not just a certified chef, but she's got some other skills as well
- Saucier?
- Compared with Jamie Oliver, I suppose she is, yes.

This week just gone

The most-read things this week:

1. Jo O'Meara on how she was the victim that time she said Indians don't cook their food properly
2. Ride are back
3. Even though Bob wasn't bothered, apparently Adele is wrong for not doing Band Aid
4. Video: Le Prince Miaou
5. Star-Tribune think Jimmy Ruffin was mostly someone's brother
6. Simon Bates got sacked by Smooth
7. Tony Hadley was suddenly separated from his appendix
8. RIP: Johnny Elichaoff
9. RIP: Northern Uproar's Jeff Fletcher
10. Late starting doesn't work in pop

These were the interesting new releases:


Paul Smith & Peter Brewis - Frozen By Sight

Download Frozen By Sight



Einstürzende Neubauten - Lament

Download Lament



Robert Wyatt - Different Every Time



Ariel Pink - Pom Pom

Download Lament



Fugazi - First Demo

Download First Demo

Billy Bragg on wrong side of history, again

Billy Bragg is having a terrible year - having backed the South Bank and its sponsors against the Undercroft skaters, he's now had to apologise to Taylor Swift.

See, when Swift pulled her music from Spotify, Bragg concluded somehow that this was because she was clambering into bed with Google:

"If Ms Swift was truly concerned about perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free, she should be removing her material from YouTube, not cosying up to it," Bragg said.

"Given that this year is the first to fail to produce a new million selling album, I can understand Taylor Swift wanting to maximise her opportunities with the new record – and it worked: she shifted 1.28m copies of 1989 in the first week of sale. But she should just be honest with her fans and say “sorry, but Sergey Brin gave me a huge amount of money to be the headline name on the marquee for the launch of You Tube Music Key and so I’ve sold my soul to Google,” Bragg continued.

"Google are going after Spotify and Taylor Swift has just chosen sides," wrote Bragg. "That’s her prerogative as a savvy businesswoman - but please don’t try to sell this corporate power play to us as some sort of altruistic gesture in solidarity with struggling music makers."

There's two problems here: the first, that Swift's pulling of music from Spotify is unconnected with her selling over a million copies of her album. How dispiriting it is that Bragg assumes her sales are simply a function of a basic supply and demand curve; that it is the scarcity of supply rather than the quality of the experience that has seen 1989 fly off shelves or down wires or whatever it is records actually do now.

The second, more important problem was Bragg's accusation that Swift was acting not out of principle but greed was... well, it was very wide of the mark. Here's his climbdown:

"I want to apologise to Taylor Swift for accusing her of selling her soul to Google," wrote Bragg on Facebook. "I have learned that her music will not now be available on the new YouTube Music Key service, which launched this week."

So, sorry about that. Bragg then launches into an explanation of how he got confused, based on how he'd read in The Observer that Google had used Swift's music at the launch, and then goes into a bit of a ramble about how music being available for free on the internet made him do it.

The time will surely come when content creators have to band together to challenge deals done between rights holders and service providers, details of which are kept from artists and their representatives. If Ms Swift is going to lead that fight for transparency, she will have my full support.

I'm sure she'll be delighted to have your full support, Billy. Perhaps not in the research department.

On the other hand, Bragg did have a good joke to end on:

I would like to add that I will be boycotting the first media outlet to use the headline ‘Bragg makes Swift apology’

It's a good gag, but perhaps having accused a person of selling their soul to Google for a large sum of money requires more than a boom-tish.

What the hell, Minneapolis Star Tribune?

We need to talk, Star Tribune:

You think that being related to someone out The Temptations in Jimmy Ruffin's main claim to fame? Seriously?

Bookmarks: Elastica & Mark E Smith

The AV Club remembers that time Elastica and Mark E Smith worked together:

It’s a corker of a tune, with Frischmann spitting some abstract fatalism about there being no way out and “last chances,” which resonate even more knowing that Elastica would break up shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, Smith barks about breaking through “glass barriers/class barriers,” which could possibly be read as commentary on Elastica being held down by a boys’ club music scene that saw it as irredeemable. Or, maybe it just sounded good.

Legendobit: Jimmy Ruffin

Jimmy Ruffin has died.

Amongst his many other musical accomplishments, let's never forget that he took on Thatcher, on the side of the miners, when he joined Weller's Council Collective to raise funds for the strikers (while putting their side of the story):

(In obituaries this morning, the BBC is coyly describing this as "a charity single" rather than a political act.)

But this... this is what he'll be best remembered for:

Daily Mail & Dave apparently believes Hear'Say still a going concern

The funniest thing about Dave Cameron's embrace of Myleene Klass and her 'how can you punish me for being rich' special pleading - and the gurgling delight the Mail has shown - is that both seem convinced that Klass is still a pop star.

Hear'Say broke up on the 13th May, 2003 - so not pop for 11 years - and hasn't troubled the top 10 since 2002. So not a pop star for a dozen years.

What's strange is, if Dave had gone with the more accurate 'woman from the Littlewoods catalogue adverts', it would probably have had more sting.

Back, back, back: Ride

I'm genuinely conflicted about this:

Friday 22 May Barrowland Ballroom Glasgow, UK
Saturday 23 May 2015 Albert Hall Manchester, UK
Sunday 24 May 2015 Roundhouse London, UK
Tuesday 26 May 2015 Paradiso Amsterdam, Holland
Wednesday 27 May 2015 Olympia Paris, France
Friday 29 May 2015 PrimaveraFestival Barcelona, Spain
Tuesday 2 June 2015 DanForth Music Hall Toronto, Canada
Thursday 4 June 2015 Terminal New York, US
Sunday 7 June 2015 Field Day London, UK

Ride were one of the most important bands in my life. One of the most important things in my life. Seeing Chelsea Girl on Snub TV is one of those events where my narrative changed.

But also: late-period, when Andy took over most of the duties. When they were a pre-echo of Hurricane Number One.

They changed my life.

They broke my heart.

Do I want to go back to that?