Crucial Track for 07 March 2026
"Violin Concerto No. 1: I. Quarter note = 104 — quarter note = 120" by Gidon Kremer, Christoph von Dohnányi & Vienna Philharmonic
Philip Glass again. My friend Michael always took a dim view of him - and I get it. There's a brash cheapness to Glass that even a skilled violinist like Gidon Kremer can't entirely disguise. But if you asked me what was the music of the great American city before the Fall, I'd say maybe because of its brash cheapness: Glass's Violin Concerto 1. You just have to listen to it to know the fascists will hate it.
In the patriarchy, where girls are “underage women”, is it any wonder that journalists struggle with the word “traditional”?
Global survey shows young men and boys hold more traditional views about gender roles than older generations: Gen Z males twice as likely as baby boomers to believe wives should obey husbands
Was 2004’s NESNO Dominic Cummings’ original sin? Or a mistake he was paid to make? I think about this from time to time when I imagine a Britain that didn’t take the path to sectarian hatred.
Crucial Track for 21 February 2026
"Our Lips Are Sealed" by Fun Boy Three
Can you hear them talking about us? "Our lips are sealed" turned up in my iTunes. I had completely forgotten about this song despite its immediate familiarity.
🤮 “Sir” Robin Wales and “open” Clive Furness announce in Spiked that they are leaving the Labour Party - and will doubtless be joining Reform alongside “Lord” Peter Mandelson.
Crucial Track for 08 February 2026
"Mabrouk el hanna" by Cheba Maria
Fancy re-adjusting your musical aesthetic? Here's Mabrouk el hanna from Cheba Maria 15 years ago. It's always time for Raï.
Crucial Track for 07 February 2026
"Loa Do Mar" by Eta Carinae
I have no idea how or why Loa Do Mar by Eta Carinae is in my iTunes library, or how it got there. But there it is - and you should listen to it.
Banger of a piece from Rafael Behr in the Guardian on the regulation of social media.
The Epstein files: literal evidence you are living in the patriarchy. What will change? My guess: absolutely nothing.
An interesting thing about the Mandelson-Epstein affair is that no one is expressing any surprise at Mandelson’s venality and corruption. Yet until recently the media treated him as a “serious politician”, albeit controversial. Which leaves me wondering, what is it that political journalism does?